People are curious about the Titan submersible and the explorers involved in the mission. Paul Henri Nargeolet is one of the five experts who went missing during the Titan Submersible mission on 18 June 2023. Their death got confirmed on 22 June 2023.
People often called Paul ‘Mr. Titanic’ for his long-term contribution to studying the ships and their remains. Along with directing the research on RMS Titanic, he was a submersible pilot and French maritime expert. People also compared him to Jacques Cousteau, the well-known undersea explorer.
77-year-old Paul had unrivaled knowledge of the Titanic as he was present during the thirty-seven successful journeys to the Titanic wreckage. However, the thirty-eighth one turned fatal. The director of the Titanic movie, James Cameron, assisted Paul in thirty-three visits to the Titanic wreckage and considered him the ‘legendary submersible pilot.’
Paul’s wife Michele died in 2017 of breast cancer at 63. He was the father of four; a son, two daughters, and a stepson. Instead of marrying again, Paul, the French deep-sea explorer, dedicated his time to underwater exploration.
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Paul Henri Nargeolet’s Journey
Born in Chamonix, France, Paul was an adventure and beach lover. After completing his studies in Paris, Paul started working for the French Navy. He first located and neutralized underground mines as a Commander of a group. Then, he started working as a pilot in the intervention submarines as a part of GISMER, the Underwater Intervention Group.
The Titanic wreckage was only a part of Paul’s story. He explored many wreckages, sunken French planes, and several other expeditions across the world. He discovered the crashed DHC-5 Buffalo aircraft and the Roman Wreck deep down the water body.
Paul and his team collected Titanic artifacts for the first time in 1987. According to Paul’s statement in an interview, there was no sound for ten minutes in the submersible when Paul and his teammates saw the Titanic wreckage.
Paul again went to the Titanic wreckage missions in 1993, 1994, and 1996. He explored a historical sunken aircraft named La Lune while getting assisted by IFREMER in 1993. His explorations were not only limited to Titanic. He also located RMS Carpathia in 2007. The ship got used to rescue some people trapped in the Titanic.
Paul discovered more than six thousand artifacts related to the Titanic wreckage in his life, which later got displayed on the RMS Titanic Company’s website and viewed by around thirty-five million people. Some people appreciated their efforts, while some considered it grave robbing.
However, Paul knew that the expeditions were worth $50 million. So, the company had to earn from something. He wanted the parts of the sunken Titanic to get preserved as they were getting rusted and turned into habitats for various species.
Due to Paul’s frequent visits to the Titanic wreckage, people used to approach him to bring the remains of their deceased ones back from the ship. For instance, a lady thanked him for bringing her mother’s pearl necklace left there.
Paul Henri Nargeolet Net Worth
Paul Henri Nargeolet Net Worth was $1.5 billion as of 2023. He used to earn through the underwater research programs on the sunken Titanic. Paul worked for the French Navy for around two decades, where he handled the positions of a submarine pilot, Commander, EOD, deep sea diver, Ship captain, and mine-clearing diver from 1964 to 1986.
Paul explored the famous sunken ship for the first time in the 1980s when he joined the French Research Institute called IFREMER. There, he worked as the Director of DESM from 1986 to 1996.
After that, Paul joined Aqua+ and worked as an Executive Director till 2003. He was a self-employed consultant for three years, from 2004 to 2007.
Titanic got discovered in 1985, and Paul dived for the first time for the ship after two years. In 2022, he wrote a book, ‘Dans les profound Titanic,’ to express his feelings about exploring Titanic in French. Later, the book was translated into English, ‘Depths of the Titanic.’
People watched Paul in two documentaries, ‘Deep Inside the Titanic’ published in 1999, and ‘Titanic: The Legend Lives On’ published in 1994. He also worked as the Director of CMURM from 2015 o 2016.
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