PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - F-117 secrecy.
Thread: F-117 secrecy.
View Single Post
Old 3rd Nov 2014, 17:18
  #98 (permalink)  
KenV
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: New Braunfels, TX
Age: 70
Posts: 1,954
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
On the subject of Titanic, I believe Bob Ballards team used the dive as a fairly open excuse to do some actual work on some other more recent wrecks in the region - cant remember if they were US or Soviet though. The entire expedition was a convenient front!
Ballard was originally contracted by the US Navy to develop technology and techniques to dive on, take pictures of, and recover parts from the USS Scorpion and USS Thresher, both nuclear submarines which sank with all hands. (Neither submarine has been decommissioned and are officially considered to be on "eternal patrol".) Titanic was located roughly between the two. After that contract was completed, and IF there was time remaining, Ballard was permitted to use the Navy funded technology and equipment to find and dive on the Titanic. The Navy did not expect him to find the Titanic. When he did the Navy was worried about the publicity, but because of the world wide fascination with the Titanic, no one connected the dots. So no, the Titanic operation was not a front. It was a side-trip that Ballard was permitted to go on after executing a contract for the US Navy.

And incidentally, the US Navy constantly acoustically monitors and regularly visits and inspects both submarine sites. They are considered sovereign US territory and the Navy does not condone anyone but them visiting those sites.
KenV is offline