Wreck of Titanic was hit by a submarine but kept secret by US
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The Telegraph, in an exclusive report, reveals that the wreck of RMS Titanic was hit by a submarine last year but the crash was kept secret by the US government.
The claims emerged ahead of a landmark court battle set to decide the future of Titanic, more than a century after the so-called ‘unsinkable’ ship went down in the North Atlantic.
Next month a major US salvage firm named RMS Titanic Inc will ask a judge for permission to retrieve precious artefacts hidden inside the rusting wreck for the first time, including a Marconi wireless described as the “voice of Titanic”.
Officials never revealed that a $35 million underwater vehicle hired by a British adventure company had struck the sunken liner, according to legal papers seen by the Telegraph.
The expedition leader on Tuesday admitted that the state-of-the-art Triton submersible collided with the wreck in July when “intense and highly unpredictable currents” caused the pilot to lose control. It is the first collision with the Titanic made public since the wreck was rediscovered in 1985.
Organised by EYOS Expeditions, an adventure firm based in the Isle of Man, the trip was accompanied by scientists from Newcastle University and was the first dive down to the Titanic for nearly 15 years.
It was equipped with the $35 million Triton DSV Limiting Factor, the only submersible in the world capable of diving below 7,000m.
