Paul-Henri Nargeolet is widely considered the leading expert on the Titanic shipwreck.
But what is the story behind Nargeolet?
Who is Paul-Henri Nargeolet?
Paul-Henri Nargeolet was born in Chamonix, France in 1954 but spent his early years in Africa before returning to Paris, France aged 16 to complete his studies.
Nargeolet joined the French Navy in his late teens where he spent 22 years and rose through the ranks to Commander.
In 1986, Nargeolet retired from the Navy and joined the French Institute for Research and Exploitation of Sea (IFREMER), where he was in charge of the deep submersibles Nautile and Cyana.
After retiring Nargeolet joined the Five Deeps expedition, where he explored the deepest parts of all five of Earth’s oceans.
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He broke the world record for the deepest submersible dive at 10,928 meters, or 35,853 feet, below sea level.
Paul-Henri Nargeolet has been studying the Titanic since the 1980s and has been involved in over 35 dives to the wreckage.
In 1987, while at IFREMER, Nargeolet led the first expedition to the Titanic, just two years after its discovery.
Nargeolet even helped to map the site and chart the course of its deterioration.
The French explorer went on to recover a total of 5,000 artefacts from the ship and has lifted a 20-tonne section of the ship’s hull for analysis.
The artefacts included personal possessions such as glasses and jewellery, as well as the ship’s fittings which were auctioned by RMS Titanic in New York, with a value of over $189 million.
He said: “At the beginning, we were scared to recover artefacts owned by passengers, but then we realized we could learn a lot about the passengers.
“We are resurfacing the history of these families, and for me, that’s a good thing.”
He said when he came across the wreckage for the first time, he and his two crew members were stunned into silence for 10 minutes.
He said: “We were at the foredeck, the most beautiful part where you saw the anchor chains, bronze winches still polished by the water and sedimentation, you could read perfectly they were made in Glasgow.”
When asked about how he copes with the dangers of being at the bottom of the ocean, he said: “If you are 11m or 11km down, if something bad happens, the result is the same.
“When you’re in very deep water, you’re dead before you realize that something is happening, so it’s just not a problem.”
Nargeolet has been Director of the Underwater Research Program for Premier Exhibitions, RMS Titanic since 2007.
In 2023, Nargeolet was one of five crew members who went missing in a submersible while exploring the Titanic wreck.