Return to Titanic

As the title states, "Return to Titanic" details the return of Dr. Robert D. Ballard's team to the Titanic wreck site in May 2004. As a collector of Ballard's books, I found this an excellent companion to his previous releases on Titanic. While some may tire of the timelines and details of the disaster, Ballard (and co-writer Michael S. Sweeney) keeps the information fresh and interesting... if one can say that of a tragedy that killed 1517 people. The best part of this book - from a ROV tech aficionado - is the Exploration Equipment "family portrait" on pages 100 and 101. This shows the equipment - camera sleds, ROVs, and ships - that have helped humans explore the wreck. While there are *always* newer takes on the Titanic, I like reading about Ballard's take about "that old rusty boat." (paraphrased description from Ballard's mother after the discovery)

I have been in love with Titanic since her dicovery in 1985. I was five years old at that time. the Return of Titanic, has brought her even closer to me. To see her still as beautiful today as she was befor her fall. A little rusty, still grand! The photos take are great and have inspired me to look for other shipwercks, of Robert D. Ballard's. This is a most own by any whom love the Titanic or any other ship of her time.

Since I find the whole Titanic story fascinating, I checked out Return To Titanic - A New Look At The World's Most Famous Lost Ship by Robert D. Ballard with Michael S. Sweeney. It's a beautiful book with a definite agenda. Ballard was the person who originally discovered the sunken remains of the Titanic in 1985. He returns for another look at the ship in May 2004 and undertakes a project to get as complete of an external photo record of the ship as possible. He has definite opinions about the large number of visitors and scavengers who have, in his view, greatly accelerated the deterioration of the ship over the last few years. By comparing photographs of certain key areas, you can see where damage has occurred. Certain popular spots on the ship have become defacto landing areas for submersibles, and they've broken down decking and walls. Pirate scavengers have literally torn open parts of the ship or cut off sections in order to get prized souvenirs, like the phone system from the crow's nest where the first iceberg sighting occurred. The photography is beautiful, and the story of the return trip is interesting. The only thing that keeps me from giving this book a full five stars is the fact that the author is *very* opinionated about the damage to the ship being caused entirely by human visitors. He's adamant that things should be a "look but don't touch" situation, and I'm inclined to agree. But writing off all deterioration to people instead of the ravages of being submerged for over 90 years is a bit extreme. Since there's no baseline from 1912 forward, you have to assume that pictures from 1985 chronicle the way the ship was during all that time. I don't know that you can prove that conclusively. Regardless, if the Titanic is of interest to you, you should enjoy this book quite a bit.