<Tr> <Th> Operator </Th> <Td> White Star Line (now merged with Cunard Line) </Td> </Tr> <P> The wreck of the RMS Titanic lies at a depth of about 12,500 feet (3,800 m) (2.37 miles (3.81 km)), about 370 miles (600 km) south - southeast off the coast of Newfoundland . It lies in two main pieces about a third of a mile (600 m) apart . The bow is still largely recognizable with many preserved interiors, despite its deterioration and the damage it sustained hitting the sea floor . In contrast, the stern is completely ruined . A debris field around the wreck contains hundreds of thousands of items spilled from the ship as she sank . The bodies of the passengers and crew would have also been distributed across the sea bed, but have been consumed by other organisms . </P> <P> Titanic sank in 1912, when she collided with an iceberg during her maiden voyage . The wreck could not be located at the time and was not discovered until 1985 . Numerous expeditions tried using sonar to map the sea bed in the hope of spotting it, but were unsuccessful . The wreck was finally located by a joint French - American expedition led by Jean - Louis Michel of IFREMER and Robert Ballard of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution . The wreck has been the focus of intense interest since its discovery and has been visited by numerous expeditions, including salvage operations which have controversially recovered thousands of items which have been conserved and put on public display . </P> <P> Over the years after her sinking, many impractical, expensive and often physically impossible schemes have been put forward to raise Titanic from her resting place . They have included ideas such as filling the wreck with ping - pong balls, injecting it with 180,000 tons of Vaseline, or using half a million tons of liquid nitrogen to encase it inside a giant iceberg that would float back to the surface . However, the wreck is far too fragile to be raised and is now protected by a UNESCO convention . </P>

When was the wreck of the titanic found