The first Titanic expedition in 15 years reveals the wreck continues to deteriorate fast.

[Tyzuris]

Titanic sub dive reveals parts are being lost to sea

The first people to dive down to the Titanic in nearly 15 years say some parts of the wreck have been lost to the sea.

www.bbc.com

While parts of the wreck were in surprisingly good condition, other features had been lost to the sea.

The worst decay was seen on the starboard side of the officers' quarters.

Titanic historian Parks Stephenson said some of what he saw during the dive was "shocking".
...

"That whole deck house on that side is collapsing, taking with it the state rooms. And that deterioration is going to continue advancing."

Such a sad moment to realize this big historical and cultural icon is soon disappearing into dust and then the world will only have the stories about it, not the actual physical wreck at the bottom of the Atlantic. It'll be likely that my generation will see it collapse maybe before we reach our fifties. Then we'll only have the stories of the legendary Titanic to pass on to our descendants.

 

[LMB The Mun]

That's pretty much how it goes, though... You can't stop entropy.

 

[Sea Skimmer]

I was surprised to hear it had been that long since anyone dived on it, but I guess enough stuff was already salvaged to flood the market for Titanic souvenirs.

Human activity had also already greatly sped up structural collapse in several areas now reported as collapsed the last time anyone dived on her.... but yeah it's an old wreck made of poor material in a fairly active region of the ocean. It was never fated to last all that long.

Higher quality welded steel ships from say WW2 will probably last much longer. Rivits have advantages in making ships durable during service, they resist cracking rather well if the structure started out well designed, but they are an excellent way to accelerate corrosion decay long term.

 

[Deleted member 1]

@Sea Skimmer, there was an extended legal debate over salvage rights which led to a judge imposing a stop order to expeditions. As for the survival of ships in the water, it's highly dependent on local conditions -- look at HMS Victoria, which is almost pristine despite sinking in the 1890s and being literally rammed into the bottom prow-first as the world's only vertical shipwreck. She could frankly be salvaged and turned into a museum ship by the British if they had enough money; and she has been underwater longer than Titanic, but at her depth and in the Mediterranean, the rust-eating bacteria don't exist in the same way.