4. Dr. Robert Ballard was an officer in the United States Naval Reserve
Robert Ballard was a reserve US Naval officer working at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute when he designed a remotely controlled submersible named Argo. The vessel could scan the ocean floor using sonar and carry a camera system. Ballard had long had an interest in finding the last resting place of RMS Titanic, and he approached the Navy to demonstrate the capabilities of Argo and request the Navy help support a search for the long-lost passenger liner in 1982. The Navy turned him down, having little interest in searching for a lost British liner, which at the time was all but forgotten by most of the general public.
What had happened to USS Scorpion, and a better view of the wreckage of USS Thresher, was of interest to the Navy, however. The Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Submarine Warfare, Robert Thunman, told Ballard that the Navy would be interested in using Argo, in a secret operation, to obtain data from the sites of both wrecked submarines. When Ballard agreed he was assigned to active duty, and tasked with surveying both sites. Secretary of the Navy John Lehman was apprised of the plan, which was so highly classified that several of the crew of the vessel which was to be used were unaware of its existence.