Speaker A [00:00:00]:
A new digital scan of the Titanic has offered an unprecedented insight into the ship's final moments. A detailed three dimensional reconstruction of the wreck reveals engineers worked to keep the lights on even as the vessel sank. Here's Rebecca Morel.
Speaker B [00:00:17]:
In the depths of the Atlantic lies the wreck of the Titanic. But more than a century after the ship sank, new technology is shedding light on what happened on that fateful night. A digital scan created from more than 700,000 underwater images now shows us the complete wreck. The immense bow lying upright on the sea floor, almost as if it was continuing its voyage. But 600 meters away is the stern, a heap of mangled metal, revealing the violence as the ship was ripped in two.
Speaker C [00:00:49]:
I've actually been here in a submersible. It's just so immense.
Speaker B [00:00:54]:
A new analysis of the scan is the focus of a documentary produced by National Geographic and Atlantic Productions.
Speaker C [00:01:00]:
It's like a crime scene. You need to see what the evidence is in the context of where it is and you can see all the major pieces and then you zoom in and you can zoom all the way down to the smallest detail. Having a comprehensive view of the entirety of the wreck site is key to understanding what happened here.
Speaker B [00:01:21]:
We can now see if eyewitness accounts of the bravery of the engineers who died in the disaster tally with the scan. As the passengers were heading to the upper decks where the lifeboats were being launched, the lights of the ship were still on. And this was all thanks to the engineers working down here in the depths of the Titanic, who kept the power going right to the end. This is boiler room number two. And you can see how the metal holding the hot coals is concave. It's bent inwards, which shows that the boilers were working when the ship went under. But another key piece of evidence lies elsewhere. Discovered on the stern is a valve clearly in the open position. It suggests steam was still flowing, generating electricity. A new simulation also reveals more about the ship's demise.
Speaker D [00:02:12]:
The iceberg scrapes along the side of the hull and rips this very thin but very catastrophic gash in the side of the hull. Although we can't see it.
Speaker B [00:02:21]:
Supposedly unsinkable, Titanic was designed to stay afloat even if four of its watertight compartments fl. But the simulation suggests the damage was spread across six compartments.
Speaker D [00:02:32]:
The difference between Titanic sinking and not sinking are down to the fine margins of holes about the size of a piece of paper. But the problem is that those small holes are across a long length of the ship. So the flood water comes in slowly but surely. Into all of those holes and then eventually the compartments are flooded over the top and the Titanic sinks.
Speaker B [00:02:53]:
It will take years to fully scrutinise every detail of the scan. It won't be the last word on the Titanic, but it does bring us a step closer to the truth. Rebecca Morrell, BBC News.
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