This is what the Titanic looks like under the ocean

The RMS Titanic, the most famous ocean liner in history, sank at 02:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, only five days after starting its inaugural voyage between Southampton and New York. Since then, it has been resting in the depths of the ocean, more than 3,800 meters in the North Atlantic and 600 kilometers off the coast of Newfoundland.

Between passengers and crew members, 1,496 people died and only 712 managed to survive. A shipwreck that continues to arouse interest, in part, thanks to how James Cameron depicted it in his 1997 film. In the image, we see one of the last photos of the Titanic leaving the port of Southampton (England) on April 10, 1912.

The wreckage of the Titanic was discovered on September 1, 1985, by an American oceanographer from the University of Rhode Island named Robert Ballard. And the reality is that it was by chance, in the context of a secret mission of the US Army.

Then it was possible to corroborate what, contrary to the official version, some of the survivors claimed: before going to the bottom of the ocean, the Titanic was divided into two parts, which are found separated on the seabed.

Since the wreck was discovered, interest in the history of what is considered to be the most famous shipwreck in history has continued to grow, leading to various expeditions to recover some of the thousands of objects that remain on the seabed.

Most of the remains are damaged and show obvious deterioration. Some have passed into the hands of individuals, others are exhibited in museums around the world, but there are many that are still down there since the ship sank when it hit an iceberg.

In this image, we see an open window that invites us to lean out to let our imagination fly and move to the last moments of the Titanic.

In this other one, we can see one of the three propellers (it had two of them with three blades on each side and a central one with four blades).

It is fascinating to observe these remains that speak of an accident that is now part of our shared culture.

But bacteria in the water are "eating" the ship, and experts estimate that by 2050 most of the Titanic's structure could be gone.

They are iron-eating bacteria that, little by little, are consuming the structure. The degree of deterioration varies depending on the different metal alloys used.

In 1991, Canadian scientists collected samples from the Titanic and, after years of research, discovered a previously unknown type of iron-eating bacteria they called Halomonas titanicae.

As a result of the corrosion process, we can see some hanging structures known as rusticles, a kind of reddish stalactite produced by rust.

Within a few decades, these bacteria will end up turning the Titanic into an unrecognizable structure. But some objects will remain as witnesses of what happened there. An example is the glass bottles that we see on the left of the image.

Or this heeled shoe, which invites us to think about the life of its owner. Did they survive the shipwreck?

An Explorer's Club plaque rests on the capstan of the Titanic wreck, to commemorate the expedition that discovered the ship.

Any explorations to the Titanic have to follow the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage, to avoid the risk of causing damage to the remains of the shipwreck.

The lucky ones who have the opportunity to go down to such depths can see with their own eyes remains like this bench, where some of the Titanic passengers spent their last hours sitting.

And here we see, thanks to the powerful lights, the mast of the ship, quite deteriorated.

And what is this? It is one of the Titanic's boilers, which remains down there as another of the silent witnesses of this historic event that continues to hypnotize us year after year.

The now infamous company Oceangate has organized expeditions to the shipwreck since 2021. It would take 10-day trips to the location with five opportunities to dive down to the Titanic. The cost: €250,000.

Photo: @oceangate / Instagram

Of course, after the catastrophic implosion of the OceanGate submersible in June 2023, it is uncertain whether, or when, new expeditions to the ill-fated location will occur again.