How Bob Ballard achieved ‘impossible’ feat of finding the lost Titanic
NY Post
Ever since he was a boy exploring tidal pools on the California coast in the 1940s, Bob Ballard felt “called to the sea.” But the youngster who would grow into a famous oceanographer also had another dream: finding the Titanic.
Almost no one believed it possible. Ballard’s scuba-diving club thought locating the lost ship was “a pipe dream.” The academic facilities where he studied, like Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, considered Ballard’s idea a publicity stunt and not “good science.” And the US Navy, which provides logistical and financial support for many deep-water explorations, considered the search unworthy of its resources. “We’re doing serious, top-secret missions here!” one admiral sneered in 1980 when Ballard asked him for Navy support to hunt for the long-lost luxury liner. “Titanic? We don’t have money for that.”More Related News