Britannic lies in just 120 metres of water, so shallow that her bow hit the sea floor while her stern was still in the air. She lies on her starboard side, concealing the area of impact. Her forecastle cas almost completly wrenched free from the impact and is sitting slightly more upturned to the rest of the wreck. From the bridge aft, most of the ship is intact, save for the wood being rotted away in most places. The davits are still outboard and remains of beds lie in the promenade deck. The propellers and rudder are still in place, and suprisingly, the glass domes over the grand staircase are still there under their weather cases. In the bridge, or rather, where the bridge was, telegraphs hang from chains and in the wheel house, the telemotor still stands. The foremast has broken and is lying half on the forecastle/half on the ocean floor with the crowsnest still attached, though the bell has gone. Funnel number 1 lies only feet away from where it once stood. It has been flattened, but still retains its shape, ladders, steam pipes and whistles, and the other three were found by Dr. Robert Ballard in 1995.
In 1975, Jaques Cousteau foundn the wreck, but didn't dive to it, however, he returned to in the following year, taking with him some of the survivors to show them their little home away from home. In 1995, Dr. Robert Ballard, discoverer of the Titanic ventured down with maratime artist Ken Marschall into the depths to visit and videotape the wreck. Since then, the wreck has been visited in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2001. Now, there are talks of preserving the wreck to form an underwater museum. According to Dr. Ballard, the wreck, save for the coral formations and the huge tear under the forward well deck where the forecastle nearly wrenched free, that Britannic looked nearly good enough to rise out of the water and continue it's voyage. Now, 85 years after the sinking, she is still that majestic old lady that once sailed the seas, the greatest Hospital Ship human minds could make her. |
