More than a century after the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean, the world’s most famous shipwreck is being seen in a new way.
Researchers have produced the first full-sized digital scan of the Titanic, using deep-sea mapping to create a detailed 3D reconstruction of the wreck, located 12,500 feet below sea level. Captured in summer 2022 by deep water specialists Magellan Limited and Atlantic Productions, which is making a documentary about the project, the project used remotely operated submersibles that spent over 200 hours gathering more than 700,000 images. The result shows the ship in striking detail, as if the surrounding water has been removed, with the bow and stern lying approximately 2,625 feet apart amid a wide debris field.
The scan reveals some never-before-seen minute details, from unopened champagne bottles to some of the passengers’ shoes to the manufacturer's serial number on one of the propellers.
A closeup of where deep-sea explorers have left memorial plaques on what used to be the bridge of the RMS Titanic.
Constructed in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner hailed as “unsinkable” when it departed Southampton, England on April 10, 1912, bound for New York City. On April 15, after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic—over 350 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada—the ship sank in under three hours, killing more than 1,500 people. Among the passengers were some of the wealthiest figures of the time, including John Jacob Astor IV, Isidor Straus, and Benjamin Guggenheim. The disaster led to major changes in maritime safety regulations, including mandatory lifeboat requirements.
Scientists hope the scan will help answer lingering questions about how the vessel broke apart and sank during its 1912 voyage. Despite decades of research, especially since the shipwreck was first rediscovered in 1985, key questions about the Titanic’s final moments remain unresolved, including the exact sequence in which the ship broke apart, how structural weaknesses may have contributed to its sinking, and what happened to specific sections of the hull. The new scan could provide critical detail to help experts better understand the mechanics of the disaster.
Magellan’s deep-sea exploration technology was designed to digitally explore shipwrecks and ocean-floor structures at “centimeter-level accuracy.”
“We really don’t understand the character of the collision with the iceberg. We don't even know if she hit it along the starboard side, as is shown in all the movies—she might have grounded on the iceberg,” Parks Stephenson, a Titanic analyst, told BBC News, adding the images could explain how the ship struck the ground. (Per the report, part of the ship is “corkscrewed into the sea floor.”)
A detailed scan could have broader implications beyond historical interest. By offering new insight into how the Titanic broke apart and sank, the data may inform naval engineering, safety standards, and disaster analysis for future ship design. Understanding structural failure at this level could help prevent similar tragedies or improve responses to maritime disasters.
Rachel King
News Writer
Rachel King (she/her) is a news writer atTown & Country. Before joiningT&C, she spent nearly a decade as an editor atFortune. Her work covering travel and lifestyle has appeared inForbes,Observer,Robb Report, Cruise Critic, andCool Hunting, among others. Originally from San Francisco, she lives in New York with her wife, their daughter, and a precocious labradoodle. Follow her on Instagram at.
