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RMS Carpathia's Wreckage Confirmed Off Irish Coast

Maritime Activity Reports, Inc.

September 25, 2000

A U.S. expedition confirmed that it has located the wreck of RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued 705 survivors from the Titanic and that was later torpedoed by a German U boat.

Author Clive Cussler and founder of the National Underwater & Marine Agency said the wreck that was found last spring was confirmed as the Carpathia last week.

The ship, sunk near the end of WWI in 1918, was found in 514 ft. (171 m) of water off the east coast of Ireland.

Cussler said he and his team were able to pinpoint the wreck using scan sonar and have surveyed the wreck with remote operating vehicles.

The Titanic, whose wreckage was found in 1985, left approximately 1,500 people dead; 705 others were rescued by the Carpathia.

Video released on Friday clearly shows the ship's stern a propeller and winches used to load cargo. Cussler said his team and Nova Scotia television firm Eco-Nova were shooting a documentary on the story as part of a documentary to be shown on Canada's History Channel.

The Carpathia was steaming in convoy from Liverpool to Boston on July 17, 1918, when it was hit by two torpedoes from the German U-boat. A third torpedo slammed into the vessel's hull as its lifeboats were being lowered, killing five crewmembers.

The ship slipped beneath the surface the following day and the surviving crew and 157 passengers were picked up by a British warship, HMS Snowdrop, and safely returned to Liverpool.

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