Is it possible to raise the Titanic?

More than 100 years ago, on the night of 14-15 April 1912, there was one of the largest sea tragedies in the history of mankind. After a collision with a huge iceberg, the bottom of the Atlantic ocean plunged passenger liner "Titanic", which was considered a miracle of global shipbuilding. The designers insisted that to drown this ship is almost impossible, therefore, during the tragedy was that lifeboats for all passengers and crew members is simply not enough.

And tried for 100 years to raise the Titanic from the bottom? The first attempts were made a few days after the tragedy. This is explained by the fact that the bodies of the dead to find and bury. By the way, the money for this project was found in a terrible accident killed many very wealthy people whose relatives have declared their willingness to Finance the project. But, the problem was that the exact coordinates of "Titanic" have long been unknown. Those data which were transferred by radio operators of the vessel, appeared wrong. However, it could be that the coordinates were correct, but during the dive to a greater depth, the ship was shifted from the specified area. As it became known later, the Titanic went to a depth of about 4,000 meters. The projects of lifting the liner to the surface were developed long before the "Titanic" itself was discovered. For example, using huge electromagnets, mounted on pontoons to push the ship to the surface. But, before the First world war could not even find the "Titanic", so all attempts to raise it had to be abandoned for many years. Returned to this issue only in the early fifties of the last century. The most fantastic plans were put forward. For example, using liquid nitrogen, to turn the body of "Titanic" in a huge ice block that will pop up. Or, no less curious plan: to fill the ship with millions of ping-pong balls. There were many ideas, but the exact location of the liner remained a mystery. September 1, 1985 the world flew sensational news - American researcher Robert Ballard using deep-sea bathyscaphs found "Titanic" at a depth of 3,800 meters. Wreckage of the sunken vessel were scattered on the bottom on the area of 5 to 8 kilometers. The bow and stern were discarded from each other of 600 meters. Ballard said that he had been searching since 1977, spent several unsuccessful expeditions, but always believed in success. The joy finds the "Titanic" gave way to disappointment: the hull was in such a state that will inevitably collapse if not during the ascent on the surface. The ship is doomed to remain forever in the depths of the sea.

Thus, during 30 years of observation, the ship was rapidly deteriorating. In a few decades it will be impossible to guess that here once there was a sunken "Titanic". Nevertheless, the researchers managed to raise from the ship more than 5,500 items: jewelry, watches, dishes and other things that are very popular at auctions. The total cost of the found is estimated at about 189 million dollars. For example, a life jacket was sold for $ 55,000, and Stuart Edmund stone's watch, which stopped at 2: 16 minutes when the ship went down, was bought by one of the collectors for $ 154,000.