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Paul-Henri Nargeolet Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated October 1, 2026 • 6 min read

Quick Info

Date of birth2 March 1946

Age77 (at time of death)

BirthplaceChamonix, Haute‑Savoie, France

ProfessionDeep‑sea explorer

NationalityAmerican

Marital statusDivorced (at time of death)

SpouseMichele Marsh

FamilyDaughter Sidonie Nargeolet; step‑son John Paschall

Paul-Henri Nargeolet Biography

Paul-Henri Nargeolet was a French-born deep‑sea explorer best known for his long career studying the wreck of the RMS Titanic. A former French Navy officer

Early life and background
Paul-Henri Nargeolet was born on 2 March 1946 in Chamonix, in the Haute‑Savoie department of France. He spent part of his childhood in Casablanca, North Africa, and moved to Paris at 16 to continue his education. From an early age he was drawn to the sea; his first recorded diving experiences came as a child exploring a shallow wreck with experienced divers.

Career
Nargeolet began service in the French Navy in September 1964. Over a naval career that included roles as commander, sub pilot, explosive ordnance disposal specialist, ship captain, clearance diver and deep diver, he rose to the rank of capitaine de frégate (frigate captain). In the 1970s he led the Groupement de Plongeurs Démineurs de Cherbourg, charged with locating and neutralizing submerged mines, and later worked with the Undersea Intervention Group piloting intervention submarines.

His naval work included worldwide recovery efforts for sunken French aircraft and associated personnel and equipment. Among the notable finds credited to him during this period were the discovery of a Roman shipwreck at 70 meters and the location of a DHC‑5 Buffalo aircraft that had crashed in 1979. He left the Navy with an established reputation in deep diving and underwater recovery.

In April 1986 Nargeolet moved into deep‑sea research and exploration when he joined IFREMER (the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea) and accepted an invitation to participate in a dive on the wreck of the Titanic. He was part of the first human expedition to the site in 1987 and took part in multiple subsequent IFREMER expeditions in 1993, 1994 and 1996, recovering artifacts and documenting the site.

Nargeolet later served as director of deep diving equipment (DESM) at IFREMER until January 1996. From 1996 to 2003 he worked with Aqua+, a Canal+ subsidiary, supervising underwater operations involving two submarines for film projects. Beginning in January 2004 he worked as a consultant based in Greenwich, Connecticut, and in August 2007 he began collaborating with RMS Titanic, Inc., to locate other wrecks and to manage underwater recovery operations related to the Titanic. As Director of the Underwater Research Program for RMS Titanic, Inc., he oversaw remotely operated vehicles and piloted dives that contributed to the recovery of nearly 6,000 artifacts from 35 dives.

In 2010 he was involved in a project to produce a detailed 3D map of the Titanic wreck site and to assess deterioration using remotely operated vehicles and autonomous underwater robots. He also took part in recovery efforts for the flight recorder of Air France Flight 447.

Between 2015 and 2016 Nargeolet served as director of the Center for Maritime & Underwater Resource Management at Michigan State University. He documented his long experience with the Titanic in a book published on 6 April 2022, titled Dans les profondeurs du Titanic (In The Depths Of The Titanic). He was also credited as a creator on two documentaries about the Titanic: Titanic: The Legend Lives On (1994) and Deep Inside the Titanic (1999).

Public profile
Nargeolet became widely known as an expert on the Titanic and was sometimes referred to by nicknames linking him to the ship. He lived in Charleston, West Virginia, prior to his death. Physical descriptors recorded in public material list his height at approximately 175 cm, hazel brown eyes and grey hair.

Death and final expedition
On 18 June 2023 Nargeolet boarded the submersible Titan, operated by OceanGate, Inc., for a dive to the Titanic wreck site. Communication with the surface vessel MV Polar Prince was lost that day. A multinational search and rescue operation began, and a debris field was discovered on 22 June about 490 meters from the bow section of the Titanic. OceanGate indicated it believed the occupants had died, and the United States Coast Guard later stated the debris was consistent with a catastrophic failure of the submersible’s pressure hull, describing an implosion. Nargeolet was 77 at the time of his death.

Latest updates
Public statements from family highlighted Nargeolet’s lifelong love of submarines and deep‑sea exploration. His daughter spoke about his passion for being near the Titanic and the central role those expeditions played in his life.
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Recent Work

Dans les profondeurs du Titanic

Book documenting his expeditions to the Titanic wreck

2022
Director, Underwater Research Program — RMS Titanic, Inc.

Oversaw ROV operations and artifact recoveries; involved in nearly 6,000 artifacts recovered from 35 dives

2007–ongoing as per excerpt
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Career Highlights

  1. Served in the French Navy from 1964 and retired as capitaine de frégate
  2. Participated in the first human expedition to the Titanic wreck in 1987 and led multiple subsequent dives
  3. Directed deep diving equipment at IFREMER and later led underwater operations for film and research projects
  4. Oversaw artifact recovery programs for RMS Titanic, Inc., and contributed to a 3D mapping project of the Titanic site
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Frequently Asked Questions

When was Paul-Henri Nargeolet born?

2 March 1946

What is Paul-Henri Nargeolet known for?

Deep‑sea explorer

What is Paul-Henri Nargeolet’s marital status?

Divorced (at time of death)

Who is Paul-Henri Nargeolet married to?

Michele Marsh