Newly released video shows the 'unsinkable' wreck of the Titanic

In the gloom of the deep sea, it suddenly appeared to oceanographers: a vast expanse of steel dotted with rivets and portholes, forming the wreckage of the infamous "unsinkable" ocean liner Titanic.

On Wednesday, February 15, a video of the first visit to the deep-sea wreckage of the Titanic was released to the public on YouTube, offering 80 minutes of uncut footage showing explorers seeing the ship in 1986.

On April 15, 1912, the RMS Titanic set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England. It was on its way to New York City when it hit an iceberg. And that collision would be fatal.

As the largest ocean liner of its time, the Titanic was considered a state-of-the-art ship with watertight compartments that could be sealed in the event of a disaster. This and other innovations led its parent company to insist that the ship was "unsinkable," even after its employees lost contact with the damaged ocean liner.

Of the more than 2,200 people who boarded the Titanic, an estimated 1,500 died when the ship sank into the Atlantic Ocean. Wednesday's video was released on the 25th anniversary of the release of the 1997 film Titanic. The film dramatizes the final moments of the crew on board.

The film won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and made stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo dicaprio famous.

For decades, the wreck of the Titanic had been lost beneath the icy waters. But on September 1, 1985, a team from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the French Institute for Marine Exploitation found the wreck of the ship off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The ship's bow and stern are separated and buried 3,780 meters (12,400 feet) below the surface.

The team returned in July 1986 and made 11 dives using submersibles that could carry human passengers and small long-range vessels that could be used to navigate in smaller Spaces. Both boats caught the discovery on camera.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Robert Ballard, one of the leaders behind the joint expedition that eventually found the Titanic, recalled seeing the giant ship firsthand while sitting in a three-person submersible called Alvin.

Facing a wall of portholes and belongings belonging to the passengers, including a pair of shoes that reminded him of his mother and son, Ballard felt the weight of the tragedy that unfolded here. At one point, he and his crew even held a "small memorial service" for the dead.

Ballard said, "It's like people are looking back at us. It's really unforgettable."