Almost already For a week, the whole world has been watching with bated breath the fate of the bathyscaphe «Titan», which went to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to the sunken «Titanic». There were 5 passengers on board and today, June 23, it became known that all of them died. Read more in USA.ONE:
The tragic story of the bathyscaphe "Titan"
And also all about the search and rescue operation and the people inside.
How did it all start? 
In the world media there is news about the bathyscaphe "Titan", which went with tourists to the sunken "Titanic" from the port of Newfoundland, appeared on the evening of Sunday, June 18, when it became known that contact with him had been lost. The severity of the situation was added by the fact that there were 2 billionaires on board, whose total wealth is estimated at $10 billion.
These are British businessman Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleiman. In addition to them, the CEO and founder of OceanGateInc, who personally developed and managed the Stockton Rush bathyscaphe, took part in the mission. And also a leading specialist in the study of the wreckage of the Titanic, the French scientist Paul-Henri Narjolet. All members of the expedition paid 250 thousand dollars for being on board.
The bathyscaphe arrived by water, accompanied by the Polar Prince, to the site of the sinking of the Titanic. early on June 18, starting the dive at 4 a.m. local time. After 1 hour 45 minutes, contact with him was lost. There was no panic then, since during previous dives of "Titan" This has already happened to a sunken liner and there was no communication for several hours. To go down to the "Titanic" to a depth of 3800 meters, the submersible took 3 hours, and the entire mission, including descent, exploration and ascent, took 8 hours. But not this time.
What happened next? 
By Sunday evening it became clear that "Titan" and the people in it need help. Communication with the ship was not restored and it did not rise to the surface. Experts speculated that the bathyscaphe could have gotten stuck in the wreckage of the Titanic. or parts of the terrain and lose the ability to float. According to all calculations, there should have been enough oxygen on board for 96 hours, i.e. until noon on Thursday, June 22. Everyone around remained optimistic.
On June 19, the US Coast Guard, based in Boston, launched a large-scale search and rescue operation on the ship, accompanied by a Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft. Several governments and companies immediately announced their desire to help find the crew of the bathyscaphe. The task was complicated by the remoteness and inaccessibility of the place, weather conditions, lack of light at night, and the condition and temperature of the water. The surface search was supplemented by an underwater search using echo sounders, sonars and sonars. The mission involved 4 aircraft from Canada and 2 from the USA.
By the morning of June 20, rescuers had combed 10 thousand square miles. The pipe-laying vessel "Deep Energy" arrived to help. with the equipment necessary to dive to the ocean floor. By Tuesday evening, experts and systems for lifting large, heavy objects, an Air National Guard aircraft and two other aircraft were on site. In addition, 6 ships with remotely controlled underwater vehicles were involved. There were medical personnel on duty on the ships and a decompression chamber was waiting in the wings.
Glimpses of hope 
Then, on June 20, one of the passengers of the bathyscaphe unexpectedly got in touch on Facebook, writing that he was fine and wanted to thank all the caring people who tried to contact him:
"Your offers of help are amazing and show real human kindness. Remember that our Internet capabilities are now limited in order to preserve bandwidth for the efforts aimed at our salvation. Information and updates will be published as they become available" — he wrote.
But the forwarder never got in touch again. In addition, it turned out that he was Rory Golden, the first Irish diver to visit the Titanic wreck. back in 2000. He was not among the declared crew members of the missing bathyscaphe.
By this time, it also became known that the sonar of the Canadian ship recorded the sounds of knocking, repeated from the depths once every half hour. All efforts of the search and rescue mission were thrown into searching for its source. Researcher and friend of Hamish Harding Chris Brown wrote that the noises in the news were the work of the British billionaire:
"This is exactly what I expected from him. If the noise is continuous, no one will hear it. But if it comes from the depths every half hour, it will be detected, because there is a possibility that it comes from people who find themselves in a death trap. I'm sure they all save energy and oxygen because it's very dark and cold there."
“There is every reason to believe that signs of life were found at the site of the disappearance of the submersible,” echoed Brown representatives of the organization “Researchers Club,” whose members were two of the five passengers of the Titan. ;.
However, rescuers were unable to detect the source of the noise, which was repeated for at least 4 hours. According to experts, even space has been studied better than the seabed.
"We have the most detailed maps of Mars, but the ocean floor is only 20% explored."
And yet, time and hope of finding the submersible remained, as did the supply of oxygen on board. To save it, according to experts, passengers needed to minimize talking and breathing, not panic, move less, be silent and go hungry. This could increase their chances of survival.
Gloomy forecasts and the denouement of history 
However, by Wednesday, June 21, less and less optimistic forecasts began to be voiced. Experts began to assume that the unfortunate tourists would face a painful death if the oxygen on board ran out before they were found and raised to the surface.
CBS correspondent David Pogue, who took part in the "Titan" last year, said that without outside help people would not be able to get out of the submersible. Passengers inside the capsule are secured from the outside with bolts and then removed, he said. In addition, the vessel has 7 different functions that allow it to dump ballast and rise to the surface within 24 hours after diving. Why this did not happen is still unclear. If the bathyscaphe is holed or stuck at the bottom, people have no chance of salvation.
"There is no backup, no escape capsule," — Pogue noted.
Television comedy screenwriter Mike Reis, who also dived on the submersible to the "Titanic" last year, said:
"I know what the logistics are like there. How huge the ocean is and how small the bathyscaphe is. If it's at the bottom, it will be very difficult to access, let alone bring it to the surface."
David Pogue remembers being hesitant to board the boat&# 34;Titanium", because he had the impression that some of its components were being prepared for use as an improvisation. Then the developers and owners of the submersible assured him that the capsule was created jointly with NASA and the University of Washington and it was “rock solid.”
Mike Reis added that "Titan" — a beautifully designed bathyscaphe, but due to the nature of the expedition, problems may arise.
"This does not mean that the ship is bad. It's just that these are new technologies that are studied during operation."
According to Alistair Greig, a professor at University College London, if the bathyscaphe is at the very bottom and cannot rise on its own, then there are few options left:
"The underwater vehicle may be intact, but if it lies at a depth of more than 2000 meters, there are only a few ships in the world capable of going down there. But they won’t have enough power to tow the bathyscaphe to the surface."
Alas, yesterday, June 22, one of the Odysseus research submersibles discovered the wreckage of the bathyscaphe "Titan" 488 meters from the bow of the Titanic. A support frame and rear hatch were allegedly found. The building itself has not yet been discovered. The debris field and its condition indicate catastrophic destruction. All crew members were declared dead due to implosion — an explosion directed inward due to enormous water pressure. The bathyscaphe instantly squeezed like a tin can. The death of the people was instantaneous.
OceanGateInc issued an official statement:
"We believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Hamish Harding, Paul-Henri Narjolet, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleiman have sadly died. They were true explorers, united by a spirit of adventure and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world's oceans. Our hearts are with the souls of these 5 people and their families at this tragic time. We mourn the loss of life and the joy they brought to everyone they knew."
At this time, the bodies of the victims have not been found and given the harsh conditions prevailing on the ocean floor, it is unknown whether they will be found ever at all.
Problems with the bathyscaphe 
Five-seater "Titan" about 7 meters long and weighing 10,432 kg, according to the company, it is capable of descending to a depth of 4 km and supporting the vital functions of passengers for 96 hours. Despite the strength of the structure, there were many questions about the bathyscaphe long before the ill-fated dive.
For example, he operated in international waters and was not subject to safety regulations. The bathyscaphe was not certified as a seaworthy vessel, and passengers, upon boarding, signed a paper stating that they knew that the vessel was experimental, not certified and could lead to physical injury, disability and even death. Only on the first page of this document is the word "death" mentioned three times.
In 2018, OceanGate Inc's director of marine operations, David Lockridge, wrote a report raising concerns about Titan's safety. According to the document, the submersible's porthole was certified only to a depth of 1,300 meters, which is 3 times less than the location of the Titanic. In addition, the company refused to inspect the vessel's hull before diving, which was allegedly impossible due to the thickness of the hull.
At a symposium of submarine experts in the same 2018, OceanGateInc was accused of operating the bathyscaphe beyond its technical capabilities. The problem was not only in one defect of the Titan, but also in the fact that the company refused to certify the design, manufacture and testing of the submarine.
Who made a documentary last year about "Titan" Simon Platts said that OceanGateInc CEO and founder Stockton Rush did not give any guarantees that passengers would see the remains of the Titanic during the dive, but warned that it was a dangerous adventure. According to him, the bathyscaphe was controlled using innovative technologies that could sometimes fail.
A committee of the Society of Marine Technology, including ocean engineers and technologists, wrote a letter to Stockton Rush in which they criticized him for his reluctance to consult with experts from relevant agencies and assess possible risks. To which Rush replied that industry regulation slows down innovation and prevents it from developing.
According to NBC, the bathyscaphe showed signs of “cyclical fatigue” in 2020, with which the CEO of OceanGate Inc. himself agreed. The ship could safely dive only to a depth of 3000 meters, while the wreckage of the Titanic are located at 3800 meters.
What is known about the expedition participants? 
The bathyscaphe was created and piloted by the CEO and founder of OceanGateInc, Stockton Rush. The 61-year-old designer and entrepreneur hoped to explore the wreckage of the Titanic, passing on the knowledge gained to his descendants. DNA samples were to be collected during the expedition. That is why he was the initiator of the submersion of the bathyscaphe to the bottom.
"The ocean takes the ship. We must document this before it all disappears or becomes unrecognizable," — said Rush.
As a child, Stockton dreamed of conquering Mars. He trained as a pilot and built an experimental aircraft, the Glasair III, which he flew himself. He took up underwater tourism in 2009, carrying out expeditions to the "Titanic" for money from 2021.
Interestingly, Stockton's wife Wendy is the great-great-granddaughter of tycoon Isidor Strauss and his wife Ida. They were first class passengers on the Titanic. After the crash, they were offered places on a lifeboat, but Isidore flatly refused, deciding to share the fate of the other men on the ship. But Ida did not want to part with her husband. As a result, women with children took the place of the spouses. Two weeks later, Isidore's body was found, while Ida disappeared without a trace. There is an episode with the Strauss in the James Cameron film.
Hamish Harding, 58, is a British businessman, aviator and space tourist. He was included in the Guinness Book of Records three times. As part of an international crew, he set a record for the fastest flight around the Earth. The billionaire, whose net worth is estimated at $2 billion, was considered a key figure in the international aircraft industry. He was the founder and head of the Action Group, which was engaged in the sale and operation of aircraft.
Harding was known as an avid adventure traveler. In 2021, he dived into the Mariana Trench in a two-seater submersible, and a year later flew into space on Jeff Bezos' New Shepard. He flew around the Earth through the South and North Poles. Hamish became one of two people who visited both space and the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, was the head of the Dawood Hercules Corporation, a trustee of the SETI Institute and a member of the advisory board of the Prince's Trust, a charitable foundation founded by Charles III. Shahzada was the country's richest man with a net worth of $8 billion. Even as a child, he became interested in the history of the sunken ship after watching the film "The Sinking of the "Titanic". And since then he dreamed of seeing its wreckage with his own eyes.
His 19-year-old son Suleiman was a student at the University of Strathclyde. Shahzad Dawood's sister said that the guy was scared by the upcoming adventure and admitted that he was not ready for such an experience. He finally agreed to board the submersible to please his father on the eve of Father's Day.
77-year-old Paul-Henri Narjolet was once a French navy commander, submersible pilot, diver, member of the French Institute for Research and Exploitation of the Sea, and director of underwater exploration, which holds the rights to salvage the wreck of the Titanic. At one time, he operated underwater vehicles, searching for sunken French planes and helicopters. One day, Narjolet, during one of his missions, accidentally found an ancient Roman ship at the bottom.
Narjolet is one of the most legendary oceanographers who made several expeditions to the sunken ship. Under his leadership, thousands of artifacts were recovered. Paul-Henri was recognized as a leading expert in the study of the wreck of the Titanic. He participated in the creation of two documentaries about him.
What do you think about this incident? Tell us in the comments!
