Unseen photos of Titanic wreck released, Never-before-seen photos of the Titanic, Never-before-seen photos of the Titanic are to be released in National Geographic's April 2012 edition. The following spectacular high-resolution photos were taken using sonar imaging and show the 100-year-old vessel as it looks today - resting 12,500ft on the sea floor. Photo credit: RMS TITANIC, INC; Produced by AIVL, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

As this starboard profile shows, the Titanic buckled as it ploughed nose-first into the seabed, leaving the forward hull buried deep in mud - obscuring, possibly forever, the mortal wounds inflicted by the iceberg.

Ethereal views of the Titanic's bow offer a degree of detail never seen before.

The battered stern of the legendary wreck Titanic is captured from above. Making sense of this tangle of metal presents endless challenges to experts, with one saying: "If you’re going to interpret this stuff, you gotta love Picasso."

With her rudder cleaving the sand and two propeller blades peeking from the murky waters, Titanic’s mangled stern rests on the abyssal plain, 1,970 feet south of the more photographed bow. This optical mosaic combines 300 high-resolution images taken on a 2010 expedition.

Two of Titanic’s engines lie exposed in a gaping cross section of the stern. Draped in “rusticles” - orange stalactites created by iron-eating bacteria -these massive structures, four storeys-tall, once powered the largest moving man-made object on Earth.

The amazing photos of the ship are to be released in National Geographic's April 2012 edition to coincide with the 100th anniversary of its sinking. Check out more Titanic images at National Geographic