Timeline of United States discoveries four days into the ship's maiden voyage, "Titanic" struck an iceberg and sank two hours and forty minutes later, early on April 15, 1912. The sinking resulted in the deaths of 1,517 of the 2,223 people on board, making it one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. After nearly 74 years of being lost at sea on the bottom of the ocean floor, a joint Franco-American expedition led by American oceanographer Dr. Robert D. Ballard, discovered the wreckage of the RMS "Titanic" two miles (3 km) beneath the waves of the North Atlantic on September 1, 1985. Ballard
Wreck of the RMS Titanic raise a section of "Titanic" itself, a section of the outer hull that originally comprised part of the wall of two First Class cabins on C Deck, extending down to D Deck. It weighed 20 tons, measured and had four portholes in it, three of which still had glass in them. The section had come loose either during the sinking or as a result of the impact with the sea bed. Its recovery using diesel-filled floatation bags was turned into something of an entertainment event with two cruise ships accompanying the expedition to the wreck site. Passengers were offered the