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 but the plans were abandoned for financial reasons. The following year, the British billionaire financier and tycoon Sir James Goldsmith set up Seawise & Titanic Salvage Ltd. with the involvement of underwater diving and photographic experts. His aim was to use the publicity of finding "Titanic" to promote his newly established magazine, "NOW!". An expedition to the North Atlantic was scheduled for 1980 but was cancelled due to financial difficulties. A year later, "NOW!" folded after 84 issues with Goldsmith incurring huge financial losses. Fred Koehler, an electronics repairman from Coral Gables, Florida, sold his electronics shop to finance the