Raise the Titanic

An American spy penetrates a snow-covered mine in Northern Siberia during the Cold War and discovers the frozen body of a U.S. Army sergeant beside a wooden marker dated 10 February 1912. He realises that byzanium, a fictional highly-radioactive mineral, was mined there. This discovery sets the rest of the mission in motion.

The spy is spotted and chased out of the mine by a Soviet soldier who shoots at him. Dirk Pitt intervenes, killing the Soviet soldier and rescuing the spy, then carries him back to Washington, D.C.

The CIA learns the mine was operated by Americans and that the raw byzanium ore is destined to be sent back to the United States. An American named Brewster is described as packaging the byzanium into wooden boxes.

The byzanium is loaded aboard the Titanic, packaged into wooden shipping boxes. The Titanic sinks on its maiden voyage on 15 April 1912.

Pitt travels to speak with John Bigalow, a deckhand who was the last person to see Brewster alive. Bigalow claims he locked Brewster in the vault minutes before the ship sank, and Brewster's last words were "Thank God for Southby!"

Upon returning to the United States, Pitt proposes a salvage mission to locate and raise the Titanic so they can recover the byzanium before the Soviets. He and Admiral James Sandecker present the plan to the president, who approves and names Pitt the mission lead.

Soviet diplomat Andre Prevlov leaks the salvage plan to the press, forcing Sandecker to hold a press conference about the rescue project. Reporters press him about byzanium, but he refuses to answer.

The Navy searches the North Atlantic for the Titanic. Submersible Starfish experiences a cabin flood and implodes, while Deep Quest's battery shortage leaves its manipulator arm stuck on the wreck.

The rusting Titanic is brought to the surface using multiple compressed air tanks and buoyancy aids, then towed to a dry dock in New York. The operation is driven by the goal of recovering the byzanium to power a new weapons system.

Entering the watertight vault, the salvage team discovers the mummified remains of the American but no mineral; the boxes are full of gravel. A clue from the dead man's final words points to a fake burial in a graveyard in Southby, England.

It is decided to leave the mineral buried in the grave because knowledge of its existence would destabilise the peace between the West and the Soviet Union. The team resolves to protect global stability by concealing the mineral.