PFor more than a century it has rested in the dark depths of the Atlantic Ocean. The wreck of the mythical titanicdiscovered in 1985 by nearly 4,000 meters under the surface of the water, fascinates almost as much as the gleaming liner and its tragic sinking in 1912. From the cult film by James Cameron, back in cinemas in 2023 for its 25th birthday, to the many underwater expeditions, many are the enthusiasts who maintain the legend.
What remains of titanic ? At first glance, a heap of rust-ridden steel, inexorably disintegrating. Many objects have nevertheless survived the years, some remarkably preserved, revealing incredible stories about the thousands of passengers and crew members. In the part of the liner that is still intact, even emblematic pieces are revealed. Paul-Henri Nargeolet, author of In the depths of the Titanic (Harper Collins), dove 37 times on the wreck. Tireless, this 77-year-old Frenchman even plans to return there this summer. Interview.
READ ALSO“Titanic”, anything but a shipwreck
Point : Do you remember your first meeting with the titanic ?
Paul-Henri Nargeolet: I was in the French Navy, and Ifremer offered to work with them when the wreckage was discovered in 1985. My first dive was in July 1987: I was in the submarine, to explore the places and collect objects to exhibit. We arrived by the front part, the best preserved and the most symbolic. The emotion was such that for ten minutes we did not exchange a word.
What type of objects can we still find, a century after the sinking?
When the boat broke in two, the bottom completely disintegrated. Between the front and the back, which are several hundred meters apart, there is a field of debris. It’s the object fair. We find crockery, suitcases, telegraphs, lamps… But also pieces of the hull. On the four chimneys, there were the largest whistles ever built at the time, we were able to recover several of them. Some objects are very well preserved: in particular, we spotted a fairly concentrated pile of crockery. Others would be interesting to reassemble but would require significant resources, such as 60-tonne boilers.
READ ALSOThe radio transmitter of the “Titanic” soon fished out?
What do these remains tell us?
When we manage to identify objects belonging to passengers, we can tell their story. We found letters that we could still read, because they were preserved by the leather satchel or suitcase in which they were, it’s fabulous! We brought out some extraordinary stories, like these two American friends returning to the country at the request of a fiancée. One ultimately never boarded: he had gotten drunk the day before, had fought in a bar and had been kidnapped to work by force on another ship. But he survived…
Much has been said that the wreck is deteriorating rapidly. THE titanic will it be gone soon?
The future of a wreck is to disappear, there is nothing to do. The currents act, as do the bacteria that nibble the metal. That of titanic deteriorates at normal speed: there will still be visible things in two hundred years! The bridges are collapsing on top of each other, especially around the grand staircase. In a few years, I saw the roof of the gymnasium disappear. The walls sag under the weight of the portholes, which they no longer support, and reveal parts. This is the case of the commander’s room: at first we only saw a part of his famous bathtub, now we have a complete view.
Finally, the gradual disappearance of the wreckage also reveals new secrets…
This actually makes it easier to see inside. We never touch anything, and we stay at a reasonable distance from the wreckage. There are quite extraordinary views inside, you can see fireplaces with the clock still intact above.
Are there any mysteries left to uncover?
The debris zone has nevertheless been well furrowed, and even mapped with very precise sonars which allow us to position the elements. But there are places where we have never been. When James Cameron had made his documentary with his robot which could enter the wreckage to explore it, I had asked to see the swimming pool, but he could not access it because the door was closed. We also regularly discover things that we had missed. We always hope to have things to discover.
In the depths of the Titanicby Paul-Henri Nargeolet (Harper Collins, 144 p., €18).