After more than 70 years of searching, the wreck of the RMS Titanic was discovered on September 1, 1985, by a joint French-American expedition led by Jean-Louis Michel and Robert Ballard. The ship was found lying in two main pieces at a depth of about 12,500 feet (3,800 meters) in the North Atlantic. The discovery was made using 'Argo,' a deep-sea towed vehicle equipped with cameras. Contrary to the long-held belief that the ship sank intact, the debris field proved that the Titanic had broken apart on the surface before descending. This event revolutionized underwater archaeology and sparked global interest in deep-sea salvage and conservation. It also led to the discovery of unique deep-sea bacteria that are slowly consuming the ship's iron hull, providing valuable data on how metal degrades in high-pressure, low-temperature environments.