Titanic Wreck Survival Story

The Mission

Dik Barton has a remarkable job. His 9 to 5 is spent recovering artefacts from the world’s most famous shipwreck. In August 1994, the 34-year-old was about to visit the deep-sea resting place of the RMS Titanic for the seventh time.

“I've always had a passion for the sea and being at sea, and particularly in the sea, underwater,” 

Dik Barton 

Traveling into the grey-blue expanse of the North Atlantic, on board the French-built research vessel Nadir, Dik’s mission was (on the surface) very simple. He would travel to the depths inside an eight-metre-long submersible named Nautile – to once again chart and explore the elaborate wreckage of the stricken ship.

For most of us, the prospect of descending into the ocean’s crushing depths in a tiny, claustrophobic sub would be the stuff of nightmares. But not to Dik. This mission was planned to the nth degree. Teams of highly-skilled engineers spent days running checks on all the Nautile’s systems.

“We knew that whatever we got into, that particular submersible had been extremely well documented, maintained, and was fit for purpose."

Dik Barton

Furthermore, on this dive, Dik was to be accompanied by P.H. Nargeolet. One of the most experienced submersible pilots in the world, Nargeolet was known as “Mr. Titanic” having led the first manned exploration of the wreck in 1987. All in all, the mission appeared watertight. It would prove to be anything but...

Into the Deep

At around 8am, Dik and the crew of the Nautile began their descent. They headed down towards the relatively uncharted stern section of the Titanic wreck.

“Up until this stage, the stern section hadn't been particularly well researched or recorded because it's such a tangled mess, but also extremely dangerous...the decks were very, badly compressed, compacted, and there's a number of quite treacherous eddies and currents...which circulated around the wreck site of the  stern." 

Dik Barton

As the Nautile sank ever deeper, the light began to fade and soon they were consumed by complete darkness. Strange bioluminescent creatures flitted past the submersible’s porthole creating an otherworldly spectacle. After two hours, the submersible landed on the seabed not far from Titanic’s ruined stern. Dik and his team checked the readings: pressure, oxygen, battery supply, all optimal. But one reading gave them slight cause for concern:

“We noticed that there was a particularly strong eddy and some strong currents."

Dik Barton 

This, however, was not unexpected. So Nargeolet engaged the thrusters and glided Nautile towards the wreck, expertly manoeuvring through a debris field of sharp, twisted metal. The submersible got within a few metres of the stern. Then disaster struck.

Trapped

Suddenly, Nautile was hit by a rogue current which sent it flying into the side of the wreck.

“There was an incredible, unprecedented surge, a current, a hand of God, I don't know what you want to call it, but something just pushed us from the back left. And we then felt a shudder and clearly a crunch where we had hit some part of the stern section overhanging decks."

Dik Barton 

The submersible was trapped between the seabed and the wreckage. At this depth the pressure was so extreme that any minor crack would cause Nautile to instantly implode - crushing it like a coke can.

“You're in 2500 pounds per square inch of pressure...we're in the equivalent ambient pressure of two adult elephants balancing on your thumbnail."

Dik Barton 

With billions of tons of water bearing down on their little submersible – and just 16 hours of breathable oxygen left - the crew were now in a desperate race against time. Suddenly it seemed the Nautile faced a tragic fate...82 years after the Titanic met hers.

The Escape

But Dik and his crewmates did not panic. They began plotting their escape. First, they tried to use Nautile’s thrusters to reverse out. As soon as they switched them on, however, a massive cloud of silt swirled around the submersible, reducing visibility to zero. To make matters worse, it created a suction effect, further wedging Nautile between the wreck and the bottom of the sea.

With no other choice, Dik and his team had to turn to Plan B: use the submersible’s robotic arms to dislodge the craft. A risky strategy. The delicate arms, used for collecting artefacts from the wreck, could easily break or inadvertently dislodge something above them, sending several tons of rusted steel crashing atop the craft. It took hours of painstaking, precarious work...before they finally freed the submersible from the wreck. Though their troubles weren’t over yet.

“We felt that ... familiar floating sensation and that's the moment when you go thank you, yes, thank your Lord we're free. Hurray. And that's exactly when you don't want to do that because you have to focus."

Dik Barton

The Nautile now had to navigate through a blizzard of sand and silt which obscured a minefield of jagged debris. Slowly, the crew backed away from the wreckage and began their ascent.

“We're still not free. We're still not home. We still have to negotiate that water column, during which time anything can happen. We've been bumped by whales before!".

Dik Barton

Survival Against the Odds

As the submersible rose, the radio crackled to life. After hours of silence, the crew could at last communicate with Nadir. The pitch darkness they’d become accustomed to during their desperate hours on the seabed began to fade as the sub drew closer to the surface. Then, finally, they saw the rescue divers and were lifted out of the water by the Nadir. It was over.

“You can see through the portholes, the lights of the nadir. You can see she's lit up like a Christmas tree. You can see people on the deck and elation. And I think at that point, that's when we start to realise that we're home, we're safe. WE ARE NOW OKAY."

Dik Barton

Thanks to their cool heads and decisive actions, the crew of the Nautile escaped catastrophe. Despite the life-threatening ordeal, Dik did not retire from deep-sea exploration. In fact, in the 30 years since, he’s made 15 more dives down to the RMS Titanic.

“There was never a thought that, you know...well, take that as a warning son, you know you got off lightly here...and even to this day...we're all older and slower and less able than we used to be. But I certainly wish I could still do the same things I could do 20 years ago. Within reason, there's no reason why I can't. I still will. I always hope to." 

Dik Barton

Listen to the full story and interview with Dik Barton in the latest episode of Real Survival Stories.