Explorers Memorialize the Titanic's Dead

WOODS HOLE, Mass.--Explorers visiting the Titanic 12,500 feet underwater in a tiny submarine named Alvin, fixed a 20-pound bronze plaque to the luxury liner's stern in memory of the 1,513 people who died after the ship struck an iceberg in 1912.

"We thought the stern was an appropriate place since that's where most died and it was the last part of the ship to go under," expedition leader Robert Ballard said in a ship-to-shore call from the Atlantis II research ship about 400 miles off Newfoundland.

The submarine's mechanical arm apparently was used to transfer the plaque to the stern, said officials of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

It was the first time a manned vessel landed on the stern, about one-third of the 882-foot luxury liner that went down on its maiden voyage.

But researchers cancelled plans to send Jason Jr., a camera-equipped robot inside, fearing that the stern's mangled opening would have snared the remote unit's electrical tether. "Too spooky," Ballard replied when asked how difficult conditions were.

"The stern is sitting upright on the bottom...one huge piece with a lot of wreckage around," he said. Viewing through video cameras, the crew spotted a crane and the rudder but the propeller was buried and the homeport markings of Southampton had rusted off the stern.

Alvin descended to a point about 450 feet from the stern and then rose to maneuver atop it before settling on the poop deck. Between two mooring line rollers, the plaque was placed to commemorate the victims and William H. Tantum IV, who encouraged efforts to locate the ship but died five years before the 1985 discovery by Ballard.

The plaque, donated by the Titanic Historical Society which Tantum helped establish in Springfield, reads:

"In memory of those souls who perished with the Titanic April 14-15, 1912. Dedicated to William H. Tantum IV, whose dream to find the Titanic has been realized by Dr. Robert D. Ballard. The officers and members of the Titanic Historical Society Incorporated, 1986."

Ballard, in his call to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, said Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday would be devoted to deep penetration of the liner with Jason Jr. Afterward, the explorers plan to head for home.

The massive rear section, about one-third of the 882-foot ship, had been photographed by a remote-controlled camera towed by a surface vessel during last year's expedition. But questions remained about how it had been wrenched off when the Titanic struck an iceberg.

Ballard said the stern section was lying 600 yards from the forward portion of the liner in a large field of scattered debris.

The team from the Oceanographic Institution had spent a week touring the forward section of the ship in the three-man submarine, directing a remote-controlled robot into areas of the ship where intact crystal chandeliers were spotted, swaying gently in a light underwater current.

The ship sunk early on the morning of April 15, 1912, hours after hitting an iceberg while on its maiden voyage from England. Of those aboard, 1,513 passengers and crew were killed. The 704 survivors were mainly women and children who had been put aboard lifeboats.

Researchers made their first of 12 dives at the Titanic site July 13.

The Navy is paying $220,000 to test Jason Jr. The expedition is scheduled to return here July 28.