Sadly, the Titanic has been in the news lately because of the recent submersible tragedy and loss of life.
And it seems that whenever the ship is brought to the public's attention, there are always some who suggest that it might be possible, through some astonishing engineering feat, to perhaps attach huge devices of some kind to it, such as enormous inflatable balloons. Then it would be possible, they say, to raise the ship to the surface, and then tow it to port.
Despite the fact that the ship is on the bottom in two pieces, about
2,000 feet apart, with a combined weight of perhaps some 52,000 tons.
But while the likelihood of actually raising the ship is probably impossible, just the idea of doing it has inspired some fascinating discussions of how it might, at least in theory, be done.
For example, a Youtube video examining some possible ways:
(Spoiler: though some are rather creative, NONE of the examined ways will work, according to the video) :
https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=raise+the+titanic+site%3awww.youtube.com&mid=9d55e9e6371c669427519d55e9e6371c66942751There was even a 1980 motion picture ("Raise the Titanic") about
this conundrum, with a plot about
some rare, super-valuable substance having been smuggled aboard the ship in wooden crates for secret delivery to the U.S. government, but it is now at the bottom of the ocean, and the U.S. must retrieve it before the Russians do.
So, the government must get to the ship, raise it, and then find and make off with the secret substance.
BTW, in the movie the ship is raised " ... using multiple compressed air tanks and buoyancy aids" (Wikipedia article), which the above video dismisses as impractical:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6txym31tydo(NOTE: the movie was made several years before the actual discovery of the wreck. Hence the film depicts the ship as still being in one piece).
And this doesn't even get into the thought of some (many?) that, even if it were possible, raising the Titanic now from its watery depths, would be a sacrilege, a kind of grave-robbing, and the ship should now just remain untouched, and allowed to rest in peace on the ocean's floor.
That will certainly be the case for now.
But in our world of ever-changing technology, what if it happens in the future that some extraordinary new invention comes along, say a nuclear-powered, high-tech, deep-water salvage machine, that
could, if employed, actually raise the ship?
At that point does the debate whether to raise the ship or not resume?
But then the most basic, and significant, question of all arises, and one not even mentioned so far:
Why even do it?What would be the point? To set the ship up in a harbor somewhere as a museum? Or, even worse, to moor it somewhere as a tourist attraction, with a gift shop and hot dog stands on board?
How degrading to the ship's memory would THAT be!?!??
Let us do remember that 1500 passengers and crew lost their lives that fateful night of the ship's tragedy more than a century ago.
So perhaps it really would be best to let the ship rest in peace now, and forever, even if the technology does arise someday for bringing it up.
Wouldn't that be the respectful thing to do?