French Navy veteran Paul-Henri Nargeolet among five on missing sub

Who is ‘Mr Titanic’ Paul-Henri Nargeolet? French ‘super hero’ Navy veteran, 77, among five on missing sub whose ‘unparalleled’ knowledge of shipwreck helped inspire friend James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster

• Explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, has 37 dives to Titanic wreck under his belt
• But his latest expedition to the Titanic wreck has seen the famous mariner become trapped alongside four others in the missing Titan submarine 

With 37 dives to the Titanic shipwreck under his belt, renowned oceanographer Paul-Henri Nargeolet has earned the title of a ‘super-hero’ in his native France.

The 77-year-old – dubbed ‘Mr Titanic’- spent more than two decades in the French Navy before leading several expeditions to the famous wreck in the Atlantic Ocean. 

His ‘unparalleled’ knowledge of the Titanic and the images he captured during his world renowned dives there helped inspire his friend James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster film.

But his latest expedition to the Titanic has seen the famous mariner become trapped alongside four others in the missing Titan submarine, with time running out for rescue crews to save them before the air runs out in less than two hours.

Nargeolet’s friends have said he is an ‘extraordinary leader’ in crisis situations, and if anyone can keep those onboard calm in the claustrophobic conditions onboard the Titan, it’s him.

Here, MailOnline takes a look at Nargeolet’s career and why friends believe he will be key to keeping those onboard the submersible calm. 

With 37 dives to the Titanic wreck under his belt, renowned oceanographer Paul-Henri Nargeolet (pictured) has earned the title of a ‘super-hero’ in his native France

The 77-year-old – dubbed ‘Mr Titanic’- spent more than two decades in the French Navy before leading several expeditions to the famous wreck in the Atlantic Ocean (pictured)

His ‘unparalleled’ knowledge of the Titanic and the images he captured during his world renowned dives to the wreck (pictured) helped inspire his friend James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster film

Nargeolet’s love of diving and the oceans began at the age of nine when he discovered his ‘first wreck’ by following divers in Morocco.

And that passion led him to join the French Navy where he served for 22 years in mine disposal before becoming a ‘leading authority’ on the Titanic. 

READ MORE: Footage of ‘Mr Titanic’ days before he vanished on stricken sub

The mariner, born in Chamonix, France, was the first person to have brought up an object – a silver plate – from the Titanic in 1987 and in 2022 he told Le Parisien that he had read ‘200 to 300 books’ on the wreckage.

Since that first dive in 1987, the esteemed mariner has led several expeditions to the sunken cruiser off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, and even supervised the recovery of thousands of artifacts — including the 20-ton section of the Titanic’s hull.

‘He is the world specialist on the Titanic, its conception, the shipwreck, he has dived in four corners of the world – he is a super-hero for us in France,’ said Mathieu Johann, his editor at Harper Collins. 

Nargeolet had been serving in the French navy for 22 years when, in 1986, he was chosen by the French ocean research institute Ifremer to supervise the underwater research on the Titanic. At the time, the French navy commander had been clearing the Suez canal. 

‘I wasn’t interested in the Titanic any more than that,’ Nargeolet told Le Parisien. ‘Admittedly I had seen or read reports on the subject, but I did not imagine that it was going to take such a big place in my life.’

In his position at the Ifremer, Nargeolet participated in the Five Deeps expedition, exploring the deepest parts of all five of Earth’s oceans and even breaking the record for the deepest submersible dive — at 10,928 meters, or 35,853 feet, below sea level. 

By 1987 he led the first expedition to the Titanic, two years after its discovery.

He later said that when he came across the wreckage site for the first time, he and his two crew members were stunned into silence for 10 minutes as ‘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.’ 

‘That’s it, we’ve done it,’ Nargeolet exclaimed when they found the wreck. 

He has since become the director of underwater research for RMS Titanic, which owns the rights to the ship’s remains, and done more than 35 drives to the shipwreck.

During an interview in 2019, Nargeolet, then 73, was asked whether he got scared diving 12,500ft below the water’s surface to reach the Titanic.

‘If you are 11 metres or 11 kilometres down, if something bad happens, the results are the same,’ the mariner told the Irish Examiner at the time. 

‘When you’re in deep water, you’re dead before you realise that something is happening, so it’s not a problem.’  

Nargeolet (pictured before one of his expeditions to Titanic) is widely considered to be a ‘leading authority’ on the sunken cruiser, leading several expeditions to the Titanic wreckage site off the coast of Newfoundland

Paul-Henri Nargeolet is pictured on the right with some friends after they caught fish on a boat

Commander Paul-Henry Nargeolet, left, laughs with Millvina Dean, 84, of England at the Black Falcon Pier in Boston on Sept.1, 1996

Nargeolet is on board the missing OceanGate submersible, the Titan (file image) 

During his explorations of the wreck of the Titanic he brought about 5,500 objects to the surface, including personal items belonging to passengers, like binoculars and letters, said Johann.

One of those personal items included a watch, which Nargeolet gave to the victim’s daughter after tracking her down. 

Nargeolet’s findings – including the ship’s fittings including a cherub that was placed by the famed staircase – were auctioned by RMS Titanic in New York with a value of over $189 million (£148 million).  

Johann said the only part of the ship that the diver had not explored to date was the safe room, where gold and jewellery would have been kept.

‘At the beginning we were scared to recover artefacts owned by passengers but then we realised we could learn a lot about the passengers,’ Nargeolet said.

‘We are resurfacing the history of these families, and for me that’s a good thing.’

The 1997 film ‘Titanic’ directed by James Cameron, a friend of Nargeolet, was inspired by images taken by the French explorer, who was amazed by the quality of the reconstructions in the film, shot in a pool, Johann said.

In 2010, before his sixth expedition to the Titanic, Nargeolet was tasked with finding the missing Air France A300, which disappeared off the coast of Brazil in June 2009 but he was unsuccessful. 

His colleagues and fellow divers have commended Nargeolet for being a ‘great professional’.

‘Paul-Henri is a great professional, both in the field of diving and in that of underwater robots,’ Bertrand Sciboz, one of his friends, told Le Parisien. ‘During each dive, he is perfectly aware of the risks he incurs. 

‘He’s a pure scientist, a fan of machinery and technology, he didn’t care about the money,’ another friend said. 

Johann convinced Nargeolet to write his book ‘In the depths of the Titanic’ because he said his kids were super-fans. He said the underwater explorer needed convincing to write the book because he wanted to spend all his time diving.

‘He wakes up in the morning and he wants to go to the sea,’ said Johann. 

He is the director of underwater research for RMS Titanic, Inc, and has appeared on numerous films and documentaries on the ship

He led the first recovery expedition of the Titanic in 1987 after specialising in deep submersibles

Nargeolet’s French wife, Anne, lives in Connecticut and his adult children live in Cork, Ireland. 

Nargeolet was previously married to American journalist Michele Marsh, who died in 2017. They met after Marsh contacted the explorer to ask for the contact of a Frenchman who had survived the Titanic.

The president of RMS Titanic, Jessica Sanders, said in a statement on Wednesday that Nargeolet’s experience was unparalleled and ‘no-one has a better chance of navigating equipment failures than he does’.

Those who know Nargeolet have said his expertise and experience will mean he will be keeping everyone onboard the Titan ‘in a stable mindset’ now that they are ‘at the mercy’ of the sea.

Joe MacInnis, a renowned diver and physician, told CNN of Nargeolet: ‘He’s been in all kinds of problematic situations and he’s resolved them. He’s the guy you want next to your side in this kind of situation.’

Dik Barton, who has made 22 dives of the wreck down at 12,500ft, said Nargeolet is ‘reliable’ and is ‘100 percent’ the man he would want to be with if trapped on a sub. 

Speaking to MailOnline on Wednesday, Guest Lecturer at the University of Sunderland Mr Barton said Mr Nargeolet would be a huge asset to the explorers: ‘There’s no comparison. 

‘HP [as he is known] is a consultant in underwater sciences, an expedition leader, very reliable, he’s going to be the man who is keeping everyone in a stable mindset.

‘That’s crucial to retain normality. Everyone gets claustrophobia, panic attacks, but you have to limit it as you can’t go anywhere.’

He continued: ‘You’re in the danger zone from the second the craft is released by the mothercraft. From then on you are reliant on the technology, integrity and strength of the vessel.’

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