The 1985 discovery of the sunken RMS Titanic by American researchers was in fact part of a broader, covert US Navy mission aimed at testing a newly-developed deep-sea imaging system, the expedition’s head, Bob Ballard, has told CNN.
In an article published on Monday, the media outlet quoted the researcher as saying how after an unsuccessful initial attempt to locate the resting place of the ocean liner in the 1970s, he turned to the military for funding to develop a remotely operated underwater vehicle that could transmit live footage to a ship above.
Eventually, the US Navy agreed to provide financial support for Ballard’s deep-sea imaging system, dubbed the Argo. He revealed that the “Titanic [search] was cover for a top-secret military operation I was doing as a naval intelligence officer.” He clarified that his defense sector backers “didn’t want the Soviets to know” about those activities.
According to CNN, military officials intended to deploy the system to examine two sunken US nuclear submarines, the USS Thresher and the USS Scorpion, with a view to using it later for “broader Cold War intelligence-gathering purposes.”
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https://www.rt.com/news/623951-cnn-titanic-search-us-navy-covert-op/