Editing Robert Ballard (section)

===Other wrecks===
====''Bismarck''====
Ballard undertook an even more daunting task when he and his team searched off the coast of France for the German Battleship ''[[German battleship Bismarck|Bismarck]]'' in 1989, using an ocean-crawling robot. The 15,000 foot deep water in which it sank<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/13/science/undersea-robots-open-a-new-age-of-exploration.html |title=Undersea Robots Open a New Age of Exploration |last=Broad |first=William J |date=1990 |website=New York Times |access-date=September 2, 2018 |archive-date=September 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180902220613/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/13/science/undersea-robots-open-a-new-age-of-exploration.html |url-status=live }}</ref> is 4,000 feet deeper than that where the ''Titanic'' sank. He attempted to determine whether it had been sunk by the British or was scuttled by its crew. Three weeks after the expedition however, personal tragedy struck him when his 21-year-old son, Todd, who had aided him in the search, was killed in a car accident.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/07/25/Son-of-explorer-another-man-killed-in-car-crash/3764319040352 |title=Son of explorer, another man killed in car crash |date=1989 |access-date=April 21, 2021 |archive-date=October 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020205300/http://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/07/25/Son-of-explorer-another-man-killed-in-car-crash/3764319040352/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Ballard later published a book about the quest, ''The Discovery of the Bismarck'' (1990)<ref>Ballard Robert D and Rick Archbold. 1990. ''The Discovery of the Bismarck.'' New York N.Y: Warner Books.''</ref> The discovery was also documented for [[National Geographic]] in a 1989 [[James Cameron]] video ''Search for the Battleship Bismarck'' which indicated that the ship had been damaged by torpedoes and shells from British ships.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.alibris.com/National-Geographic-Search-for-the-Battleship-Bismarck/movie/100034563 |title=National Geographic: Search for the Battleship Bismarck (1989) |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=1990 |website=Alibris |access-date=September 2, 2018 |archive-date=September 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180902183903/https://www.alibris.com/National-Geographic-Search-for-the-Battleship-Bismarck/movie/100034563 |url-status=live }}</ref> The actual cause of the sinking, however, was sabotage of the underwater valves by the onboard crew, according to Ballard, who said, "we found a hull that appears whole and relatively undamaged by the descent and impact". Filmmaker Cameron, however, said that his crew's examination of the wreckage indicated that the Bismarck would have sunk eventually even if it had not been scuttled.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HFQxDwAAQBAJ&q=Ballard+Bismarck+we+found+a+hull+that+appears+whole+and+relatively+undamaged+by+the+descent+and+impact&pg=PT16 |title=World War 2 In Review No. 9: Warships |date=August 1, 2017 |publisher=Merriam Press |isbn=978-1-387-10543-4 |access-date=October 28, 2020 |archive-date=February 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206135216/https://books.google.com/books?id=HFQxDwAAQBAJ&q=Ballard+Bismarck+we+found+a+hull+that+appears+whole+and+relatively+undamaged+by+the+descent+and+impact&pg=PT16 |url-status=live }}</ref>

====''Lusitania''====
In 1993, Ballard investigated the wreck of [[RMS Lusitania|RMS ''Lusitania'']] off the Irish coast. It had been struck by a torpedo, whose explosion was followed by a second, much larger one. The wreck had been [[depth charge]]d by the [[Royal Navy]] several years after the sinking and had also been damaged by other explorers, making a forensic analysis difficult. He found no evidence of boiler explosion and he speculated the ignition of coal dust inside the ship caused a "massive, uncontrollable [second] explosion".<ref name="pbs_lusitania">{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/lostliners/lusitania.html |title=Text excerpted from Lost Liners, courtesy of Madison Press Books |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=PBS |access-date=September 2, 2018 |quote=previous visitors had already tampered with the evidence...we found nothing to suggest the ship was sabotaged. |archive-date=August 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830023648/http://www.pbs.org/lostliners/lusitania.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Others have questioned this hypothesis, some suggesting that the ship had been sabotaged by the British. Ballard found no evidence to support this claim.<ref name="pbs_lusitania"/> Some experts have indicated that it was, in fact, boiler explosions that caused the ship to sink so quickly, in a mere 18 minutes.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schmidt |first=Donald E |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EXbQoSUOP4AC&q=Lusitania+cause+of+sinking+ballard&pg=PA73 |title=The Folly of War: American Foreign Policy, 1898-2005 |date=May 31, 2005 |publisher=Algora |isbn=978-0-87586-382-5 |page=74 |access-date=October 28, 2020 |archive-date=February 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206135152/https://books.google.com/books?id=EXbQoSUOP4AC&q=Lusitania+cause+of+sinking+ballard&pg=PA73 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Ballard published a book about the discovery, ''Exploring the Lusitania: Probing the Mysteries of the Sinking that Changed History'', also titled ''Robert Ballard's Lusitania'' in some markets, with co-author Spencer Dunmore.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ballard |first=Robert D. |date=1995 |title=Exploring the Lusitania: probing the mysteries of the sinking that changed history |url=https://archive.org/details/exploringlusitan0000ball |url-access=registration |publication-place=New York |publisher=Warner Books |isbn=0-446-51851-4 |lccn=95002771}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Ballard |first=Robert D. |date=2007 |title=Robert Ballard's Lusitania: probing the mysteries of the sinking that changed history |url=https://archive.org/details/robertballardslu0000ball |url-access=registration |publication-place=Edison, N.J. |publisher=Chartwell Books |isbn=978-0-7858-2207-3}}</ref>

====Battle of Guadalcanal====
In 1992, Ballard and his team visited the sites of many wrecks of [[World War II]] in the [[Pacific War|Pacific]]. Doing so, he discovered the wreck of the [[Japanese battleship Kirishima|IJN ''Kirishima'']].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.navweaps.com/index_lundgren/Kirishima_Damage_Analysis.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151105140615/http://www.navweaps.com/index_lundgren/Kirishima_Damage_Analysis.pdf |archive-date=2015-11-05 | title=Kirishima Damage Analysis}}</ref> His book ''Lost Ships of [[Guadalcanal campaign|Guadalcanal]]'' locates and photographs many of the vessels sunk at [[Ironbottom Sound]], the strait between [[Guadalcanal Island]] and the [[Florida Islands|Floridas]] in the [[Solomon Islands]].{{citation_needed|date=August 2019}}

====USS ''Yorktown''====
On May 19, 1998, Ballard found the wreck of ''[[USS Yorktown (CV-5)|Yorktown]]'', sunk at the [[Battle of Midway]]. Found three miles (5&nbsp;km) beneath the surface, it was photographed.{{citation_needed|date=August 2019}}

====''PT-109''====
In 2002, the [[National Geographic Society]] and Ballard fielded a ship with remote vehicles to the [[Solomon Islands]]. They succeeded in finding a torpedo tube and the forward section from the shipwreck of [[John F. Kennedy]]'s ''[[Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109|PT-109]]'' which was rammed in 1943 by the Japanese destroyer ''Amagiri'' off [[Ghizo Island]].<ref name="National Geographic">[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/07/0709_020710_kennedyPT109.html "JFK's PT-109 Found, U.S. Navy Confirms"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120819023530/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/07/0709_020710_kennedyPT109.html |date=August 19, 2012 }}.</ref> The visit also brought to light the identity of islanders [[Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana]] who had received little recognition for finding the shipwrecked crew after searching for days in their [[dugout canoe]]. A TV special and a book were produced, and Ballard spoke at the [[John F. Kennedy Library]] in 2005.{{citation_needed|date=August 2019}}