Divers make breathtaking new discovery in Titanic wreck

Countless secrets lie buried in the wreck of the Titanic, with divers continuing to unearth treasures more than 112 years since the iconic ship sank.

The latest discovery is a reminder of the one-time grandeur of the luxury liner whose destruction on 14 April, 1912, claimed the lives of some 1,500 people on board.

Researchers have now uncovered the centrepiece of the doomed ship’s first class lounge: a bronze statuette of the Roman goddess Diana.

The artwork, named ‘Diana of Versailles’, which is now cloaked in oceanic grime, hasn’t been seen in the murky depths of the north Atlantic since it was first spotted in the 1980s.

The statue has become a symbol not only of the former splendour of the Titanic, but of its ongoing decay.

Earlier this year, experts from RMS Titanic, Inc., led a 20-day-long expedition to the site of the wreck – their first since 2010 – during which they fully mapped the ship’s remains and debris field, taking more than two million photos of the area, Popular Mechanics reports.

Among the principal aims of the mission was to uncover the two-foot-tall Diana statue, which “embodied [the] Titanic’s palatial design,” the researchers wrote in a statement.

From left: the long-lost statue lying in the Titanic's debris field; a virtual recreation of the ship's first class lounge, featuring the artwork(RMS Titanic, Inc.)

They explained: “She was photographed once in 1986 but a tradition of secrecy around the Titanic wreck ensured her location would remain unknown.”

That was, they said, until eagle-eyed experts thought they spied the “unique artefact” in footage from a previous dive and put together a rough search area.

With only a few hours left on the final day of their 2024 expedition, the team was losing hope of finding the statue.

However, she was located just in the nick of time, and photographed for the world to see.

Nevertheless, this moment of excitement was dampened by other discoveries during the mission.

The researchers said they’d been particularly looking forward to seeing the Titanic’s “haunting” bow – the site of Kate Winslet’s famous “I’m flying, Jack,” moment from James Cameron’s 1997 film.

“The expedition team was excited to get their first glance at the Bow on July 29,” they wrote.

“However, the moment of anticipation was immediately shaken by a significant change to the familiar silhouette."

The Titanic's iconic bow is beginning to disintegrate (RMS Titanic, Inc.)

They went on: “The once miraculously intact railing surrounding the Bow’s forecastle deck was missing a 15-foot-long section on the port side.”

They were then able to confirm that the section of railing had fallen and was now lying on the seafloor directly below.

They continued: “We are saddened by this loss and the inevitable decay of the Ship and the debris.

“Over the course of the next few weeks and months, we will conduct a more thorough review of Titanic’s condition and her changes over time.

"Although Titanic’s collapse is inevitable, this evidence strengthens our mission to preserve and document what we can before it is too late.”

Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings