Deep-sea explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, died doing what he loved. (Image: OceanGate)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nNargeolet, a retired French navy commander, was the director of underwater research for the Experiential Media Group, producer of the Luxor exhibit. And the big piece was his baby to deliver.<\/p>\n
The First Try<\/h2>\n During a 1996 expedition, the big piece was secured with cables tied to flotation bags designed to buoy it gently to the surface. Several thousand eyewitnesses stood at the rails of the vessel MV Jim Kilabuk as Nargeolet gave the signal to release the bags from their ballast weights and the piece slowly began to rise.<\/p>\n
Screams and applause erupted when, for the first time since April 14, 1912, this part of the Titanic saw daylight again.<\/strong><\/p>\nTwo hours later, however, it became apparent that the ship\u2019s winch was insufficient to hoist the 15-ton relic aboard. Nargeolet, whose request for a crane had gone unwisely unheeded, elected to let the big piece \u201cfree hang\u201d from the Kilabuk\u2019s stern as it steamed back to Halifax in search of a different recovery method.<\/p>\n
Storm surges from Hurricane Edward forced the team to release the big piece and watch as it dropped back down to the ocean floor a second time.<\/p>\nThe big piece is salvaged successfully in August 1998. (Image: AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIn August 1998, Nargeolet completed the job using a more capable vessel, the Abeille Support.<\/p>\n
Nargeolet led several other expeditions to Titanic, supervising the recovery of at least 5,000 additional artifacts. In addition, he completed 37 dives using submersibles not unlike the one in which he died.<\/p>\n
The Second Titanic Tragedy<\/h2>\n After a frantic, four-day search that gripped the world, US Navy Rear Admiral John Mauger announced at a press conference on Thursday that a remote-operated vehicle discovered the tail cone of the Titan lying in a debris field 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic on the sea floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe degree is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber,\u201d Mauger said.<\/p>\n
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Titan, operated by the Everett, Wash.-based company OceanGate, disappeared Sunday during a mission to survey Titanic\u2019s wreckage, which is 900 nautical miles east of Cape Cod, Mass.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Nargeolet\u2019s family released a statement memorializing him as \u201can extraordinary father and husband\u201d who \u201cwill be remembered as one of the greatest deep-sea explorers in modern history.\u201d The statement added: “When you think of the Titanic and all that is known about the ship today, you will think of Paul-Henri Nargeolet and his legendary work.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to Nergeolet, those on board included OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
French deep-sea explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, one of the five people aboard the Titan submersible who perished in a tragic implosion on Sunday, was responsible for salvaging what is now the main attraction of the Titanic exhibit at the Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Seen by more than 25 million people, \u201cTitanic: The Artifact […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":278779,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81886],"tags":[86812,86816,23,86817,86814,86815,86813,86492],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Diver Who Perished in Submersible Rescued Crowning Las Vegas Titanic Artifact - Casino.org<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n