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Dr Robert Ballard is a world renowned oceanographer and underwater archeologist. You may have heard his name if you are interested in the wrecks of the Bismarck, PT-109, the USS Yorktown, and others. Most famously he is the guy who found the RMS Titanic in 1985. Basically, between Clive Cussler and Bob Ballard, if it’s been lost at sea they can find it.

Something you may not know about Bob is that he got his start and financing for finding the Titanic from the US Navy. Contrary to Clive Cussler’s famous book Raise the Titanic, the US government had no interest in the Titanic but it did have an interest in two other ships: the USS Thresher and the USS Scorpion. They were US Navy nuclear attack submarines that went missing in the 1960s. The subs location was known as both were found by a team led by Naval Research Laboratory scientist named Chester “Buck” Buchanan shortly after they were sunk, however the Navy wanted more information. With the help of the US Navy-owned but Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute-crewed research ship Knorr and her crew the Navy contracted Ballard to take more intensive pictures in a second look on the lost submarines. It was with the ‘change’ left over on the contract that Ballard took the Knorr to the last location if the Titanic and fished around successfully for her.