One of the many Titanic exhibitions in 2012 is to open just two days before the 100th anniversary of the disaster.

On April 12, an exhibition complete with interactive touch screens will go on display in the USA.

At the Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut, visitors will be given the chance to feel what it was like to sail on the Titanic and to see the wreck thousands of feet down in the Atlantic Ocean.

Knowledge gained by marine explorer Dr Robert Ballard and work by Tim Delaney, formerly a Walt Disney image man, are being combined to present the exhibition entitled Titanic - 12,450 Feet Below.

It was Dr Ballard's expedition that located the Titanic in 1985.

At the time Dr Ballard said: "There was this wall of steel ... We came in and I just looked out of my window - I had to look up - because the Titanic shot up a hundred and some feet above me and I just went, 'My God'."

Visitors to the Mystic exhibition will see how the luxury liner looked before the iceberg collision.

They will also be able to read the headlines the sinking created around the world, as well as examine the myths and legends associated with the disaster.

Mr Delaney said the exhibit "takes people 14,500 feet below to the ocean floor, a whole new world and mysterious, awesome place to be".

He continued: "There, visitors can better appreciate the fascinating human drama and incredible technical story of how Dr Robert Ballard found Titanic, as well as the powerful impact on the crew's and public's imaginations."