Before and after the wreck was found in 1985, various people proposed interesting and sometimes bizarre ways to bring it to the surface. Before its discovery, it was assumed to be in one piece; although 1912 testimony claimed it had split in two, this was not believed at the time. Here are some notable ideas, most from Slashgear:

1) Vaseline
After discovery but before realizing the bow was embedded in the seabed, one plan was to place 180,000 tons of Vaseline in polyester bags around the wreck. The cold-hardened Vaseline would lift it to about 200 feet below the surface.

2) Liquid Nitrogen
Wire mesh would enclose the wreck, then liquid nitrogen pumped in to freeze the water inside, turning the ship into a giant iceberg that would float up—ironically fitting, given the original iceberg collision.

3) Ping-Pong Balls
One idea was to inject millions of ping-pong balls for buoyancy. Cool in theory, but hard science shows they would crush under the immense pressure at Titanic’s depth.

4) Glass Spheres
A variation used hollow glass spheres instead. The concept looked impressive in art, but the estimated cost was around $240 million.

5) Balloons (1960s, not from Slashgear)
Douglas Woolley proposed attaching gas-filled balloons to float the ship. He founded the Titanic Salvage Company, raised funding, and planned to tow it to Liverpool as a museum. The main problem was filling the balloons with gas at depth—impossible with 1960s diving technology. The idea likely inspired Clive Cussler’s novel Raise the Titanic!, an excellent book (though the movie is forgettable except for the raising scene), where compressed air and other buoyancy aids are used.

Sources

Shayotovich, Eli. “Is It Possible to Raise the Titanic?” SlashGear. Last modified November 28, 2025. https://www.slashgear.com/2035479/is-it-possible-raise-titanic/.

“The Most Outrageous Schemes to Raise the Titanic.” Sky HISTORY TV Channel. Accessed December 10, 2025. https://www.history.co.uk/articles/outrageous-schemes-to-raise-the-titanic.

Video
Goji98. “Raise the Titanic.” Video. YouTube, April 3, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAl8dO9tdlE.