The man who discovered the wreck of the RMS Titanic in 1985, Robert Ballard, continues to unravel deep sea mysteries in America’s oceans. Of his 150 explorations, he said his greatest discoveries were the ones he didn’t know were there. He invited CBS 60 Minutes correspondent Lara Logan to a trip to the Gulf of Mexico. Using a remote-controlled deep sea vehicle called Hercules, they saw the Robert E. Lee, the American passenger ship that was torpedoed by a Nazi sub in 1942 and the U-166, the sub that discharged the torpedo.
Ballard points out there are only two exploration vessels left that are employed by the US government for non-commercial exploration – the Nautilus and the Okeanos Explorer. Ballard said, “It’s better than zero, which was just a few years ago.” Logan’s interview and deep sea exploration with Ballard will air on 60 Minutes, Sunday, May 10 at 8pm on CBS.
Exploring the Gulf of Mexico with Robert Ballard, photo: CBS 60 Minutes
