In 1998, a Sydney greenkeeper named Andrew Rogers embarked on an adventure that few could imagine, travelling from the sun-soaked northern beaches of Australia to the lightless abyss of the North Atlantic to witness the most famous shipwreck in history.
A Life-Changing Phone Call
The extraordinary journey began with a mundane supermarket shop. Before a family trip to India, Rogers's wife, Winnie, stocked up at a Franklins store in Sydney. Unbeknownst to Andrew, each $10 spent entered them into a competition. From a staggering 270,000 entries, his name was drawn, winning a $65,000 prize: a seat on the first commercial expedition to the RMS Titanic.
The surreal news reached him via a crackly phone call in Mumbai. "I didn't believe it," Rogers recalls. "I thought I'd won tickets to the Titanic movie." But this was no cinema ticket. It was a passage to the real wreck, lying 4,000 metres below the ocean's surface.
Descending into the Abyss
After travelling solo to St. John's, Newfoundland, Rogers boarded the 125-metre Russian research vessel Akademik Mstislav Keldysh. The mission was a joint venture between entrepreneur Mike McDowell and Moscow's Shirshov Institute, utilising the famous twin submersibles, Mir-1 and Mir-2.
His moment came after days of waiting, delayed by heavy swells. Finally, he squeezed into the two-metre-diameter sphere of Mir-1 with pilot Genya Chernaiev and fellow passenger Roman Sugden, a Californian undertaker. A crane lowered them into the Atlantic for a two-and-a-half-hour descent into utter darkness.
"I was asking Genya questions and constantly looking out through the tiny porthole," Rogers says. "[I had] no apprehensions at all." He learned they were in the same submersible used by film director James Cameron for his research.
The Wreck Emerges from the Darkness
As they neared the seabed, chatter ceased. The sub's floodlights pierced the murk, and the colossal wreck materialised. "I can't put it into words," Rogers says. "There was nothing, and then you just see the Titanic, crystal clear."
The sight was overwhelming. The ship lay split in two, its stern driven deep into the silt. Rogers saw a massive propeller, mangled rails, and the White Star Line logo still visible on the walls. They glimpsed Captain Smith's enamel bathtub and, soberingly, a single boot amid scattered crockery and timber—a haunting reminder of the 1,522 lives lost in 1912.
During their five-hour exploration, they even paused for a surreal lunch of sandwiches and tea beside the wreckage. Before ascending, they used the sub's robotic arm to retrieve a seabed rock, which the pilot later split in two as a keepsake for Rogers.
A Lasting Legacy and a Personal Mission
Returning to Sydney after the 11-hour dive, Rogers was profoundly changed. The "almost otherworldly" experience sparked a deep fascination with the Titanic's history. He began researching, leading him to discover Evelyn James (née Marsden), an Australian survivor of the disaster.
His research revealed her unmarked grave in Sydney's Waverley cemetery. Rogers took it upon himself to rectify this, arranging for a headstone to be erected in her honour. "I was excited at the thought of having a job to do," he explains.
Now, 27 years later, Rogers reflects on the journey that reshaped his perspective. "I've experienced a whole other dimension in life," he says, "and a further appreciation of how amazing the world – and beyond – is." Though he rarely shares the story, fearing disbelief, the memory of his voyage to the abyss remains vividly alive.
