Why No One Talks About the Titanic’s Back Half (It’s Horrifying!)

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1:06When the first images of the Titanic shipwreck appeared in September 1985, the world stopped. People were glued to their TVs, watching the legendary ship reappear after more than 70 years. Where did the Titanic sink, you ask? It's located about 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. This so-called unsinkable ship rests in complete darkness, about 12,600 feet below the surface. Yep, that's how deep the Titanic is. But even after such a long fall down to the ocean floor, the front part, known as the bow, still looks surprisingly intact. I mean, the railings were still there. The anchor chains too. When the elegant curves of the hull you might recognize from old photos, but the news barely mentioned the stern back then, and there's a reason we still don't talk much about it. You see, these images were about more than just capturing mesmerizing and eerie footage.

2:08They were proof of what really happened when the Titanic sank. We were finally getting some answers about this 1912 disaster, when more than 1,600 people lost their lives. And before you Google how many people survived the Titanic, I'll tell you, 706. Among those survivors, Cypher claimed they saw the ship break apart as it went down. Others insisted it sank in one piece, and in the end, investigators agreed with them. Back then, official reports concluded that Titanic had gone down intact. So for 73 years, that was the official story, until we finally saw the Titanic at the bottom of the ocean. When the Titanic underwater photos were released, they confirmed it. Yes, the liner really did break apart as it sank. And if we've just seen those images of the bow, that means the stern must be around there too, right? Well, kind of. I mean, we did find it.

3:09It's located about 2,000 feet away from the bow, lying on the ocean floor. So yes, it exists. But why doesn't anyone ever talk about... This episode is brought to you by Redfin. You're listening to a podcast, which means you're probably multitasking. Maybe even scrolling home listings on Redfin, saving homes without expecting to get them. But Redfin isn't just built for endless browsing. It's built to help you find and own a home. It's agents who close twice as many deals. When you find the one, you've got a real shot at getting it. Get started at Redfin.com. Own the dream. Sear has all the best active and outdoor brands you need. From athletic stuff, like a full-court pickup game, swish to athletic-ish stuff. Like a half-mile stroll. Get those steps in. And for morning hikes up the mountain trail, good pace. It's a nighttime ghost stories from the camping chair. What a twist. Whatever level of active, Sear loves it all.

4:09Head to sear or seara.com for the brands you want at the prices that let you do it all. From athletic to athletic-ish, Sear has got it. What happened to the stern of the Titanic? Well, there's a big reason for that. See, the bow, even after all the damage from hitting the seafloor, still looks recognizable. Many of its interiors are surprisingly well-preserved, and it's lying as if the ship was continuing its voyage. But the stern is destroyed. Today, it's more like a twisted tangle of steel that barely looks like a ship at all. Only the parts that are more resilient, like the propellers reciprocating engines and rudder, have managed to hold their shape. But the rest of the stern section is melting into the seafloor. Yet, to understand why it's in such a terrible state, we need to go back to that freezing night of April 15th, 1912, the night of the Titanic wreck. Just hours before the tragedy, Titanic was still sailing smoothly across the cold-north

5:11Atlantic. The stern was alive with people, families talking, music playing, life going on as usual. This is where the room for passengers with the cheapest tickets were located. That's why third-class travelers were also known as stearage passengers. But the stern wasn't only for passengers, it also contained many of the ship's storage areas, including cargo holes, baggage rooms, kitchens, crew quarters, and even the engineering spaces. And, hold onto that info, it's going to be important in a second. So let's jump straight to when the liner struck the iceberg. As the bow began to sink, the stern slowly lifted out of the water, putting enormous strain on the middle of the ship. By around two in the morning, the lights on Titanic flickered and then went out. Moments later, the ship broke in two and the bow disappeared beneath the waves. The stern briefly settled back on the water before rising again, this time almost vertical.

6:14It stayed upright for a few seconds and then began its final plunge. At about 220 in the morning, the stern vanished beneath the Atlantic. What was happening beneath the water were two completely different scenarios. First the bow slowly filled with water and began to drift downward, almost sail it gently like a submarine. Because of that, it managed to keep its shape and stayed mostly intact. But Titanic's stern collapse was a whole different story. The stern was ripped wide open where the ship had split apart. Water rushed in through that open end at incredible speed. The sudden flooding made the stern plunge downward much faster than the bow. The rush of water created so much turbulence that pieces were ripped off and scattered all around the ocean floor. Now, remember what I said earlier about the spaces inside the stern? Those huge storage areas were wide open and many of them contained air pockets.

7:16So when the stern section broke away, it still had compartments filled with trapped air. As it spun down into the depths, this increasing water pressure crushed those pockets one by one. Their surrounding structure began to implode, scattering pieces of metal, furniture, statues, and passengers' belongings across the ocean floor. So many experts believe the immense water pressure made that section collapse as it sank. And that's why we can't see much of it today. And now you know the answer to the Titanic back section mystery. We don't talk about it much, simply because there's not much left to see. It's like the part of the Titanic story that's too broken or too painful to talk about openly. This episode is brought to you by Peloton. Break through the busiest time of year with the brand new Peloton cross-training tread plus, powered by Peloton IQ. With real-time guidance and endless ways to move, you can personalize your workouts and train with confidence, helping you reach your goals in less time.

8:19Yourself run, lift, sculpt, push, and go. Explore the new Peloton cross-training tread plus at 1Peloton.com. The side of the ship that truly feels lost. And sorry to say this, but that's the future of the bow, too. I mean, it won't be there forever. The iconic shape of the wreck is changing year after year and not in a good way. The front part of the Titanic is deteriorating, and one day it'll be entirely gone. Down on the seabed, the Titanic faces enormous pressure, nearly 390 times greater than at the surface. The good news is, there aren't any air pockets left inside the ship, so big implosions won't happen again. But the bad news is that the ship's own weight is now helping to tear it apart. As those 52,000 tons of steel slowly settle into the ocean floor, they twist and pull on the hull. Some merciful missions have already spotted large cracks running through the steel plates,

9:21and even the decks themselves are starting to cave in. And there's something else. The wreck might look cool and spooky today, but that actually comes from a thick layer of bacteria and microbes covering it. The problem is, they're slowly eating the Titanic. Yet most of the corrosion happening down there is caused by bacteria, and this is gradually weakening the entire structure. Steel plates, beams, and supports are getting thinner every year. Scientists estimate that the ship is losing between 0.13 and 0.2 tons of iron every single day. Still, even at that rate, the wreck won't vanish overnight. Experts believe it could take up to 420 years for the liner to disappear completely. Until then, we'll keep watching this sad but natural process unfold. Parts of the ship have been falling apart little by little since the night when Titanic sank, and a lot has already changed since we started taking underwater photos,

10:23like the railing sections that have dropped, and the ceiling in the captain's bathroom that's collapsed. That's why so many expeditions are now focused on capturing footage and detailed scans of the Titanic shipwreck to preserve its memory before the ocean takes it all. It's our way of keeping the story alive, even as time and nature continue their quiet work. Maybe those hungry bacteria can take a break from their buffet, so that Titanic can rest in peace with many more years to come. Too good and co-coffee creamers are made with farm fresh cream, real milk, and contain three grams of sugar per serving. That's 40% less than the five grams per serving in leading traditional coffee creamers, for a rich, delicious experience. Whether you enjoy your coffee hot, cold, bold, or frothy, two good coffee creamers make every sip a good one. Two good coffee creamers, real goodness in every sip. Find them at your local croaker in the creamer aisle.

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