Quest of Titanic was US Navy covert op

(MENAFN) The famed 1985 discovery of the RMS Titanic was actually part of a covert U.S. Navy operation, according to expedition leader Bob Ballard, who revealed the details in an interview with CNN.

Ballard explained that while the search for the Titanic was presented to the public as a scientific mission, it was actually a cover for a classified military task. After failing to locate the wreck in the 1970s, Ballard approached the Navy for funding to develop an advanced deep-sea imaging system called "Argo," which could transmit live footage from the ocean floor to a support ship.

The Navy agreed to support the project—but with a hidden agenda. Ballard, who was working as a naval intelligence officer at the time, said the Titanic search served as a cover for examining two sunken American nuclear submarines: the USS Thresher and USS Scorpion. The Navy wanted to assess the wrecks using the new technology, while keeping the mission hidden from the Soviet Union.

According to CNN, the imaging system was intended for future Cold War intelligence operations. After assisting the Navy in inspecting the submarines, Ballard was then permitted to use the remaining time and resources to locate the Titanic—making it seem as though that was the mission's primary goal all along.

The Titanic tragically sank on April 15, 1912, after hitting an iceberg during its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. More than 1,500 of the 2,224 people aboard died, making it one of the worst maritime disasters in modern history.

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