Titanic engineers kept power on until the end to aid evacuation
(NewsNation) — The fatal collision between the Titanic and an iceberg that sealed the luxury liner's fate took just 6.3 seconds, according to new research revealed in a National Geographic documentary.
'Titanic: The Digital Resurrection' follows scientists analyzing the first-ever complete 3D replica of the ship, constructed from 715,000 still images and 4K footage captured by deep-sea mapping submersibles.
The documentary shows how researchers discovered an open steam valve in the wreckage, evidence that engineers heroically maintained power until the final moments, allowing the ship to transmit SOS signals while passengers sought escape.
Listen to eerie audio of 2023 Titan submersible implosion
'There were people stoking those fires all the way up into the end to try to put the chaos at bay for those passengers and people jumping into those lifeboats and those in the water,' metallurgist Jennifer Hooper, who appears in the documentary, told NewsNation.
The research also reveals the ship didn't simply break in two as commonly depicted. Instead, it was violently torn apart by powerful forces that fractured and imploded sections of the vessel as it sank.
'By looking at the scan and recreating, bringing those pieces back together that were on the debris field, we could actually piece together how the ship fell apart. And it was in many pieces,' Hooper said.
Titan submersible disaster: One year later
The mapping submersibles, nicknamed Romeo and Juliet, documented personal effects scattered across the debris field, including watches, a top hat and unopened champagne bottles.
'It's incredibly humbling when you see how vast that debris field is,' Hooper said.
Scientists and experts spent two years analyzing the digital replica, with documentary crews following their investigation.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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