Seek, and Ye Shall Find!

The loss of U.S.S. Scorpion inadvertently played a role in the discovery of the wreckage of the Titanic. In 1985, the Navy asked oceanographer Robert Ballard to see if he could find the wreckage of the Scorpion and another lost submarine, the U.S.S. Thresher. The Navy needed a cover story, so Ballard asked if he could say he was looking for the Titanic — and to maintain the cover, he would search in the area the Titanic was suspected of sinking. Fine, the Navy said, just remember your job is to find those submarines.

Ballard found the two U.S. submarines, studied the ocean currents, debris, and drift patterns . . . and then found the Titanic.

-Jim Geraghty