Titanic Expedition Hid Submarine Hunt

In 1985, American oceanographer and professor Robert Ballard announced an expedition to find the Titanic, but the search served as cover for a classified U.S. Navy mission. The Navy first tasked his team with locating and inspecting the wrecks of the nuclear submarines USS Thresher and USS Scorpion. After finishing early, Ballard used the remaining 12 days to search for the Titanic, applying the debris-field method he had learned from the submarine wrecks. On September 1, 1985, his team followed a trail of debris to the Titanic on the North Atlantic seabed.

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