Onlookers are nervously counting down the hours as rescuers continue to search for the Titanic-bound submersible that vanished earlier this week.
Onboard the ‘Titan’ are five passengers, including one of Pakistan‘s richest men, Shahzada Dawood, along with his son Suleman, billionaire Hamish Harding, Stockton Rush and Paul-Henry Nargeolet.
With their oxygen supplies due to run out at midday, experts fear the vessel may be stuck somewhere 12,500ft (3,810m) below the North Atlantic surface.
Here lies the Titanic, at depths more than twice as great as the Grand Canyon (6,000ft) and five times the height of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa (2,217ft).
But you may be surprised to know the Titanic is by no means the deepest wreck in the world – with the record held by a liner much further into the deep blue.
MailOnline has revealed a shocking graphic that shines a light on how vast the ocean really is.
The deepest shipwreck in the world, USS Samuel B. Roberts, is nearly twice as deep as the Titanic. USS Samuel B. Roberts is located at at 22,523 ft (6,865m) in the Philippine Sea. This wreck is nearly four times as deep as the colossal Grand Canyon, US
As it turns out, the deepest known shipwreck was found almost a year ago today, at 22,523 ft (6,865m) in the Philippine Sea.
USS Samuel B. Roberts – also known as ‘Sammy B’ – was identified by the American explorer, Victor Vescovo, after decades of mystery.
This vessel took part in the final phase of the Battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944, which saw the Japanese Navy and US forces fight over Leyte in the Philippines.
During this, it’s understood that USS Samuel B. Roberts was critically hit by a battleship, killing 89 people as it sank.
Now, its remains lie at depths nearly four times as great as the Grand Canyon – far deeper than the Titanic.
Last year’s discovery also beat USS Johnston which was crowned the deepest shipwreck in the world just a year before.
This liner was also discovered in the Philippine Sea at a depth of 21,222ft (6,468m) and served as a WII destroyer during one of the largest naval battles in history.
In 2019, experts from the Research Vessel owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, released video of the battered and twisted hull lying eerily on the ocean floor.
USS Samuel B. Roberts found off the Philippines in the Western Pacific Ocean. The U.S. Navy destroyer escort that engaged a superior Japanese fleet in the largest sea battle of World War II in the Philippines has become the deepest wreck to be discovered, according to explorers
Pictured: USS Samuel B. Roberts in action before sinking in the Philippine Sea
The remains of USS Samuel B. Roberts lie at depths nearly four times as great as the Grand Canyon – far deeper than the Titanic
Pictured: USS Johnston which is now one of the deepest shipwrecks in the world
‘There is no hull structure intact that we can find. This wreck is completely decimated, it is just debris,’ the crew said on finding its remains.
‘This wreck is either the Johnston or the Hoel … This wreck is in the southern part of where the battle took place and this is one of the reasons why we believe this is the Johnston, because she sank later, after Hoel did.’
Before Johnston, SS Rio Grande held the world record as the deepest known shipwreck for nearly 30 years.
This ship was found in 1996 almost 621miles (1,000km) off the coast of Brazil but, even to this day, items wash up from the wreckage, according to the New Scientist.
In 1944, Rio Grande served as a German World War II vessel but was destroyed by US fighters in 1944, before sinking to around 18,904ft (5,762m).
USS Johnston was crowned the deepest shipwreck in the world just a year before USS Samuel B. Roberts. This liner was also discovered in the Philippine Sea at a depth of 21,222ft (6,468m) and served as a WII destroyer during one of the largest naval battles in history
Experts from the Research Vessel Petrel released video of the battered and twisted metal lying on the ocean floor when the wreck was discovered in 2019
Pictured: SS Rio Grande on the seas before plummeting to depths of 18,904ft
Pictured: The Titanic lined up against some of the biggest buildings and landscapes in the world
Pictured: SS City of Cairo which eventually sank 480miles south of St Helena
Pictured: The Titanic which sank in the North Atlantic during 1912
This again beat the SS City of Cairo, with its shipwreck located at 16,896 ft (5,150m), in the mid Atlantic ocean.
The vessel was in operation just two years before Rio Grande before it was torpedoed twice by the Nazis, while transporting 136 passengers.
At the time, it was also carrying around 100 tons of silver coins that were salvaged in 2015.
These belonged to the UK Government who commissioned Deep Ocean Search (DOS) to find them during the last decade.
Right now, these historic coins are estimated to be worth around £34million.
A DOS spokesman previously said: ‘The team quickly found that operating at this depth caused serious technical difficulties which were new to us and which had to be resolved, quickly.
‘The combination of pressure, temperature, repeated dives at this depth and other issues resulted in multiple breakdowns of systems such as we had not experienced before when working in 3000m to 4000m depths.
This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk
