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
UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage Sea. Under the orders of King Gustavus II Adolphus, the immense vessel was built to support Swedish military campaigns during the Thirty Years' War, yet was toppled by swift winds at sea. The Vasa remained peacefully underwater until a team of archaeologists raised the wreck in 1961. Fortunately, the wreck and all of its belongings were salvaged, despite its lengthily time spent on the ocean floor. Today, the Swedish "Vasa" museum in Stockholm is an emblem of cultural heritage, dedicated to educating public citizens worldwide. In 1985, two scientists discovered the "RMS" Titanic in the northern waters of the Atlantic