A groundbreaking digital scan of the Titanic has uncovered new details about how the famous ship sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg, costing over 1,500 lives.
The full-sized 3D model, created from more than 700,000 images captured by underwater robots, offers the most complete view of the wreck ever seen. Unlike traditional submersible dives, which only show limited areas, the scan reveals the entire wreck site in stunning detail.
For the first time, experts can clearly see how the ship split in two. The bow still sits upright on the seabed, while the stern lies 600 metres away, twisted and mangled from hitting the ocean floor.
One of the most moving discoveries is the detailed view of a boiler room. The scan supports survivor accounts that the ship’s engineers kept the lights running until the very end.
Some boilers appear to have collapsed inward, suggesting they were still working as water rushed in. An open steam valve found on the stern further suggests that power was flowing even as the ship went under.
These efforts were likely led by Chief Engineer Joseph Bell and his team, who stayed behind to keep systems running, giving passengers and crew precious time to escape. All of them died in the disaster, but their bravery is now being better understood through this new evidence.
A new computer simulation also helped scientists understand how the iceberg caused the sinking. It suggests that instead of one large gash, the impact left a series of small holes, each about the size of an A4 sheet of paper, along the hull. Though small, they were spread out across six compartments, which was more than the ship could handle.
The lower part of the bow, where this damage likely occurred, is buried in ocean sediment and not visible in the scan.
Personal items scattered on the sea floor serve as haunting reminders of the lives lost. The wreck, resting 3,800 metres below the Atlantic, continues to offer clues more than a century later.
Experts say the Titanic is still revealing her secrets slowly. The full scan is being featured in a new National Geographic and Atlantic Productions documentary titled Titanic: The Digital Resurrection.
As Titanic analyst Parks Stephenson puts it, “She’s still speaking to us, just one story at a time.”
