Timesuck with Dan Cummins - Short Suck #37 - The Very Avoidable Oceangate Disaster

Episode Date: July 11, 2025

On June 18th, 2023,  a deep-sea submersible called The Titan operated by the private company OceanGate mysteriously vanished while its CEO piloted four passengers who had paid $250,000 each to visit the wreckage of the RMS Titanic. When it was revealed that all aboard had died when the submersible imploded, the accident was reported as an unfortunate tragedy. And it was. But later, it would be revealed that it was tragedy a lot of people saw coming and had tried to stop. For Merch and everything else Bad Magic related, head to: https://www.badmagicproductions.com

Welcome to this edition of Time Sucks, Short Sucks. I'm Dan Cummins and today I will be talking about a shocking disaster that took place on June 18th, 2023, when a deep sea submersible operated by the private company Ocean Gate mysteriously vanished. Aboard the submersible were five people, four of whom paid $250,000 each to be there and the guy who designed the custom vessel himself. The submersible called the Titan

was supposed to take the group approximately 12,500 feet below the surface to observe the wreckage of the Titanic. However, they would never make it that far. And after a three-day multi-million dollar search effort, authorities finally found out why. The Titan imploded one hour and 45 minutes into its descent, instantly killing all on board. And this tragedy, as it turned out, was not that mysterious. This submersible was doomed. Today, let's go over the shady history of the Titan

and all the unethical decisions its designer, multi-millionaire Stockton Rush willingly made while developing this one-of-a-kind submersible. Little did Stockton know what he while developing this one-of-a-kind submersible. Little did Stockton know what he thought was his magnum opus was actually what was going to get him and four others killed. Your only chance is to leave with us. From the very beginning, Ocean Gate founder Stockton Rush prioritized fame and profit over safety. He prided himself on being not just an innovator, but a daredevil.

In fact, just one year before he died, Stockton said in an interview, I mean, if you just want to be safe, don't get out of bed. Don't get in your car. Don't do anything. At some point, you're going to take some risk, and it really is a risk reward question. I think I can do this just as safely by breaking the rules. And you know, I like a lot of what he just said. Life is risky. I mean, even if you stay in bed, you can still have a heart attack. You can develop some blood clot. Your house could catch on fire.

You could get food poisoning. There could be a gas leak. You die from carbon monoxide poisoning. Or eventually you just die of old age. Death is always coming for us, right? Life is always full of risk. It's just a matter of how much. And there's always some really stupid shit

you can do to unnecessarily hasten your demise too. Like not taking a very risky deep undersea voyage extremely seriously. Maybe break some rules when you're building something like a hammock, you know, or paint the fence. Maybe take the rules extremely seriously when working on something like a space rocket or a submersible. Stockton, whose full name is Richard Stockton Rush III, came from a long line of dicks. Founded Ocean Gate in 2009 with Argentine-American businessman Guillermo Salin. At the time, the founder saw deep sea exploration as an untapped market.

They wanted to make it more accessible, not just to scientists, but to private citizens as well. Not for me, because I'm a huge baby when it comes to the ocean. I'm scared of drowning in the ocean. But I do get how this would be, you know know this would strongly appeal to a lot of people. Their goal was to build a small fleet of submersibles that could be leased out to research institutions or used to take tourists on underwater excursions. The former company's motto, they only now exist as a legal entity after suspending

all commercial business operations in the wake of the submersible disaster, reflected that mentality. Open the oceans for all of humanity. Sounds cool. Not necessarily an accurate motto, given that the overwhelming bulk of humanity could have never in a million fucking years have afforded to join an ocean gate excursion, but you know, I get the sentiment. Submersible, by the way, is not the same thing as a submarine. That's because where submarines are self-supporting and capable of independent travel and operations at sea, submersibles need to be transported and supported by a larger vessel, known as a support ship for launch and retrieval. Anyway back to Richard Stockton Rush III. He went by Stockton.

He came from an exceptionally wealthy family. He was born in San Francisco on March 31st, 1962 to Richard Stockton Rush Jr. and Ellen Davies. His father Stockton Jr. was a chairman of both the Perrigan Oil and Gas Company as well as the Natoma Company which oversaw property and investment management in and around the Sacramento area. The OG Richard Stockton Rush, aka the Ocean Gate founder's grandfather, was a business mogul who made a fortune in the oil and gas industries of Indonesia. Stockton's other grandfather, on his mother's side, Ralph K. Davies, also an oil tycoon. My god, oil money on both sides! What a crazy situation to be born into.

Dad, can you help me pay for college? Son, I can buy a college for you! At 15 years old, Ralph began working as an office assistant for Standard Oil of California, continued climbing the ranks until he became the youngest director in the company's history in his mid-20s. Later in life, he became chairman of the international shipping company, American President Lines. But when he stepped into the role, the company was almost bankrupt. However, by the time he died in 1971, Ralph had successfully transformed American President lines into a shipping empire, and he became a multi-multi-millionaire while doing so. Also amongst Stockton's affluent ancestors are two signers of the Declaration of

Independence, Benjamin Rush and Richard Stockton. You get the picture. Stockton Rush didn't just come from a wealthy family, he came from a wealthy family that married into a wealthy family. And during his life, Stockton, you get the picture. Stockton Rush didn't just come from a wealthy family, he came from a wealthy family that married into a wealthy family. And during his life, Stockton worked hard to honor the legacy of his forefathers by increasing his wealth by any fucking means necessary. Maybe he wasn't that ruthless. But he was ambitious. Which, you know, not a bad thing.

Before he set his eyes on the ocean, Stockton believed his ticket to fortune and fame, more fortune, I guess, lay in the skies above. He was determined to become the first first a pilot than an astronaut. His biggest dream of all was to be the first human being to ever step foot on planet Mars. So you know very ambitious dude. At 19 years old he became the world's youngest jet transport rated pilot. That's admirable. And then just a few years later, he received his bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering at Princeton University.

So he's not a dummy. While going to school there during the summers, he worked as a flight test engineer at the McDonald Douglas Corporation and as a DC aid officer for overseas national airways. Not just resting on his family fortune, right? He was a go-getter. In 1986, the now 24-year-old married fellow licensed pilot,

Wendy Hollings-Wheel, who like himself, came from a prominent American family. Interestingly enough, her lineage actually has an eerie connection to her husband's future cause of death. Wendy's great-great-grandfather was a man named Isador Strauss. Isador was a very successful businessman who alongside his brother Nathan jointly owned Macy's department store in Manhattan.

He was also a one-time New York congressman. He was president of Grover Cleveland, once offered him the position of postmaster general and he declined. When the mutual trust insurance company opened in New York City in 1902, he was one of its 13 directors along with William Rockefeller and Cornelius Vanderbilt. So this is a mover and shaker. During the early 20th century, early Isidore and his wife Ida were one of the most well-respected, well-to-do couples in all of New York City, very much a part of the upper crust, you know, of high society. And in 1912, at the end of a beautiful vacation I'm sure in the French Riviera I've heard it's nice this couple Wendy's great-great-grandparents made the last

minute decision to book passage back to New York on the RMS Titanic. They purchased a first-class cabin for 221 British pounds which is equivalent to a little over 40,000 US dollars in today's money and they set sail for home. And as we all know, the Titanic would never make it home. On April 13th at 1140 PM, crew member Frederick Fleet realized the Titanic was on a direct collision course with a gigantic iceberg, but by the time he notified his superiors, it was too late. Starboard side of the ocean liner struck the iceberg and the steel plates of the hull crumpled and separated allowing cold ocean waters were rushing

During the evacuation onto the lifeboats women and children were given first priority So while her husband was forced to stay behind Ida Strauss was ushered onto lifeboat number eight But she refused to get on it. She was overheard telling her husband is Isadore we have been together for all these years. Where you go, I go. Ida removed her fur coat, wrapped it around the shoulders of her handmaid Ellen Byrd, and told the young girl to board on the lifeboat in her place. Isidore and Ida Strauss were last seen sitting together on a pair of deck chairs, holding hands while the ship was going down. And you know what? I'm not crying. You're crying. 111 years later, Wendy Wheel's husband would die looking for the same ship that her great-great

grandparents perished on. That's crazy. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Like I said, Stockton Rush's first love was this guy. However, at some point in his early 20s, those dreams were crushed when he was deemed ineligible for Air Force pilot training due to less than perfect eyesight. Now knowing he would never be able to explore the great unknown of the infinite galaxy, Stockton decided to turn his focus to the great unknown of the big blue sea. And this will lead to him founding Ocean Gate years later, co-founding it in Seattle in 2009. The first vessel his company acquired was a five-person crude submersible called Antipodes. It was designed to reach depths of 305 meters or a thousand feet and had a 72-hour life support capacity for five

people. The submersible had been built in 1973 and was used by commercial divers working in the North Sea oil fields until Ocean Gate purchased it in 2009 for what sounds like a bargain to me for something this specialized $295,000. Between 2010 and 2013 the company performed an estimated 130 dives with antipodes. The company's business model involved renting out its submersible to researchers and taking tourists whom the company referred to as citizen scientists on underwater excursions. Co-founder Guillermo Salin estimated in 2012 that passengers typically paid between $7,540,000 per person per trip depending on the excursion. Four years later in 2013 Ocean Gate teamed up with the University of Washington's Applied Physics Lab

to build their own custom vessel, another five-person submersible, capable of reaching 3,000 meters or 9,842 feet deep called Cyclops-1. Diving down much further with this one. Huge leap forward if it worked, but it didn't. This project was a complete disaster. Ocean Gate only completed $650,000 worth of work on a $5 million collaborative agreement before the university left the project. And in the end, Cyclops 1 could only withstand a maximum depth of 500 meters or 1640 feet,

not nearly the leap forward, or I guess leap down, they were hoping for. But stock to rush, not not gonna be deterred. That same year Ocean Gate began developing another submersible one that would be capable of bringing passengers 3,800 meters or 12,467 feet below sea level my god to catch a glimpse of what remains of the RMS Titanic sitting on the ocean floor. When going really, you know big did not pan out for them, well they went even bigger. This submersible was originally referred to as Cyclops II, but it was later renamed Titan, often called the Titan. However, two years later in 2015, the Ocean Gate team still had made very little progress on Cyclops II slash Titan. Despite this, Ocean Gate started quietly allowing. No press

release was made. Private citizens signed up for a future trip to the Titanic. One couple named Mark and Sharon Hagel signed a contract, paid a $10,000 deposit to reserve their spots on the vessel. Then two years later, in March of 2017, the company officially announced that it would be conducting the first manned submersible dive to the Titanic since 2005 and that tourists could come join the crew as quote scientific citizens or mission specialists for the low low price of 105,129 each. That's a weirdly specific number. I don't know why they didn't just go with 105 even but now they gotta throw that extra 129 dollars in there. This expedition was actually now scheduled for June 2nd through June 9th of 2018.

But then five months after this announcement construction on the core pressure vessel aka the whole of Cyclops 2 slash Titan was finished and soon after that the entire submersible was completed and renamed Titan. Then in February of 2018 the Hegels who already paid their $10,000 deposit while they wired Oceangate an additional $190,258 for their two Titanic or Titan tickets. Well, I guess kind of Titanic tickets because they're going to see the Titanic. Seen that after years of anticipation the long awaited expedition was about to happen. However, behind the scenes there was a whole bunch of people that were praying it would not happen. Two months after the company announced Titan would be taking voyagers to see the Titanic, Ocean Gate received a letter from the Marine Technology Society, a trade group of deep sea exploration and tech experts.

And I'll share what they wrote after this week's first of two mid-show sponsor breaks. If you don't want to hear these ads, please sign up to be a space listener on Patreon, get the catalog ad free and get these episodes early and more. Thank you for listening to those ads. I heard some hope. I heard I heard I hope some deals appeal to you. And now let's jump back in. See what was written in that letter from the Marine Technology Society trade group of deep

sea exploration and tech experts. A letter sent to Ocean Gate two months after the company announced Titan would be taking voyagers to see the Titanic. The opening of this letter read, Dear Stockton, this letter is sent on behalf of our industry members who have collectively expressed unanimous concern regarding the development of Titan and the planned Titanic expedition. Our apprehension is that the current experimental approach adopted by OceanGate could result in negative outcomes from minor to catastrophic that would have serious consequences for everyone in the industry. The letter pointed out that OceanGate was falsely advertising to the

public that Titan would both meet and exceed the safety standards set by the DNV-GL, an accredited classification society that verifies and licenses maritime vessels around the world. But it was clear to the writers of the letter that OceanGate had no intention of following DNV-GL guidelines, nor seeking out their approval and or validation. So a very dangerous deception. And this letter ended with, While this may demand additional time and expense, it is our unanimous view that this validation process by a third party is a critical component in the safeguards that protect all submersible occupants. Together we are all beneficiaries of the excellent safety record of manned underwater vehicle or MUV operations over the years, but each one of us is also a steward with responsibilities to sustain this achievement. We would be grateful if you could confirm that OceanGate can see the future benefits

of its investment in adhering to our industry accepted safety guidelines and protocols for ultimate success and that of the MUV community." Stockton Rush sent back a drawing of a dick with the word SUCK written underneath it and that's super mature not helpful. I don't think he sent anything back to my knowledge but the Marine Technology Society was right to be concerned about Titan although Stockton Rush often boasted about how unique the submersible was the things that made Titan different than other vessels like it were also what made it very likely defective. There were six main differences between Titan and most other submersibles. The composite materials, the shape, size, the

steering, the mode of transport, and certifications. So like basically fucking everything was different. Let me break each of these differences down starting with the materials. The hull sometimes called the cabin of submersibles are most often made out of titanium, aluminum or steel due to the metal's ability to withstand substantial pressure. However, per the request of Stockton Rush, Titan's hole was made out of carbon fiber. And I just have to get this out of my head before I move forward. Carbon fiber. For a second there I paused on my notes on aluminum. Because I was thinking of aluminum foil.

And I was just for a second in my head, I was like, there's no fucking way you make a submersible thinking of aluminum foil. I was just for a second in my head I was like, there's no fucking way you make a submersible out of aluminum foil. Like just the shit that you wrap up leftovers in the kitchen with. I'm like, that's fucking crazy. That would definitely get smushed in. That would implode immediately. No, actual aluminum, not aluminum foil. But yeah, anyway. Per the request of Stockton Rush, Titan's Hole was made of carbon fiber. And carbon fiber, you know, very strong, lightweight polymer. Used to make all types of shit.

All types of vehicles. From spaceships to Lamborghinis. But space is one thing. The ocean is another beast. Just because carbon fiber works for the astronauts does not mean it's going to work for deep sea explorers. For one thing, there's essentially no fucking outer pressure pushing in on a spaceship while in space. But there is an insane amount of outer pressure pushing in on a submersible deep in the water. At sea level the

atmospheric pressure is about 14.7 psi pounds per square inch. For every 10 meters or 33 feet of depth the pressure increases by an additional 14.7 PCI due to the weight of the water. The water pressure at the side of the Titanic roughly 6,000 psi. Under that amount of pressure even the slightest structural flaw can easily and immediately result in fatal catastrophic consequences. Carbon fiber may be very strong but it's also unpredictable when dealing specifically with compression. And Stockton knew this. I was told this by a lot of people. However, this did not dissuade Stockton Rush. He was determined to create an experimental hole for

Titan and he did. He did whether or not, you know, experts thought it was safe or not. And that's not just risky, that is reckless. To complete the vessel, Ocean Gate attached titanium domed end caps to the carbon fiber hull. However, titanium and carbon fiber have completely different compression and expansion rates, which as many experts pointed out before the Titans' fatal voyage, increased the likelihood that their supposedly watertight bond could be broken. As one US Navy captain told the New York Times, at that depth, you could have a leak that's not much bigger than a diameter of one of your hairs and you would be dead within a fraction of a second.

There's just virtually no room for error in this type of deep sea exploration, which is why it doesn't happen very much. Another unique characteristic of the Titan was its shape. In order to ensure an even distribution of pressure at extreme depths with extreme pressure, most if not all other submersibles are spherical. But the Titan was oblong, which could have contributed to its inevitable implosion. By could I mean did. The Titan was also larger than your typical submersible. The average maximum capacity is three people, but the Titan could accommodate up to five people. Why was it bigger and therefore more susceptible to implosion due to a large interior space that would need more structural protection at great depths? Money. Right? The more room you have on

board, the more tickets you can sell, and the more money you can make. The Titan's steering apparatus was also bizarre. They used a video game controller to steer, and although similar concepts have been used on other submersibles, they're usually built specifically. Completely custom built for the vessel, not kind of Frankensteined onto it. But the Titan used a modified Logitech gamepad. Like I said earlier, submersibles require a support ship to take them to and from the dive site.

Normally, the submersible is carried aboard a support ship ship then lifted carefully off of the ship's platform, carefully lowered into the water. Conversely the Titan was towed behind its support ship on a platform. Kind of like it was going water skiing. You know, like it was doing some fucking wakeboarding. That seems, you know, I'm a layman here, but that seems a bit idiotic. Many have speculated that this reckless method of transport could have definitely led to some exterior damage to the vessel, which would cause a fatal accident. And finally, the last thing that separated the Titan from every other submersible in the world was that it was again not certified by any sort of third party. The company defended this decision in a blog post that read, bringing an outside entity up to speed on every innovation before it is put into real-world testing is anathema to rapid innovation. And again, I

get what he's saying, but in this specific area, this is so reckless and so arrogant, right? Like if Stockton had been willing just to only go on dives alone in this thing, okay fine. Then just build whatever fucking coffin you want. But when you're gonna bring along paying strangers who are trusting that your craft is seaworthy, then you're an asshole to do this. In addition to experts around the world, some Ocean Gate employees themselves raised concerns about the Titan. In January of 2018, Ocean Gate's director of marine operations, David Lockridge, a guy literally hired for his expertise in this

specific area, submitted a quality control inspection report to company execs. And in the report, Lockridge explained that because his safety concerns had been repeatedly dismissed and ignored by upper management, he felt the only way to get anyone to listen to him was by making an official record of exactly what was wrong with the Titan. He listed a full 25 separate safety issues he found in the submersible, including that instead of clamps, zip ties were being used to secure machinery inside the vessel, and that the glue on the zip ties already was clearly like obvious to the eye falling apart. Also pointing out that the flooring was layered with flammable materials that released toxic fumes, and that there have been multiple deviations from the standard design process in the cabin of the vessel. Multiple pages of the report were also dedicated to potential construction and compression problems

involving the use of carbon fiber in the hull. Lockridge had opposed the use of carbon fiber from the very beginning for the same reason as everybody else. He was extremely worried that the material simply would not consistently hold up under immense pressure of the deep sea. And to prove his point, Lockridge took some of the extra carbon fiber they had not used and he shined a flashlight through it to demonstrate how porous the material is. He attached a photo of how light seeps through small voids in the carbon fiber and explained that the deeper underwater the vessel would go the more pressure would be placed on the hole and the more likely

it would be that these voids would weaken and if they weaken enough which wouldn't be very much and it would need to be very much it would be fatal to all on board and the report Lockridge also expressed his profound disapproval that's a strong you know opinion profound disapproval of the safety test system Stockton had insisted on using. Inside the interior of the vessel, Stockton had placed acoustic sensors to listen for any cracking or breaking in the five-inch thick carbon fiber walls. However, Lockridge asserted that these sensors were completely useless. That it was madness. If they did happen to detect a breakage in the hull, it would already be too late and

everyone on board would be dead. It would be kind of like having a fire detector in your house that would only go off and start making noise once the detector was completely engulfed in raging flames. In a lawsuit he would later file against Ocean Gate, Lockridge's lawyer wrote, This type of acoustic analysis would only show when a component is about to fail, often milliseconds before an implosion. The day after Lockridge submitted his report, he was asked to attend a meeting with Stockton Rush and other Ocean Gate higher-ups. During a two-hour long meeting, Lockridge begged these executives to find another way to test the carbon fiber hole besides acoustic monitoring,

but the execs told him there was no other possible method. There was but they still want to explore it. In OceanGate's lawsuit against Lockridge they will sue one another they claimed that the director of marine operations refused to accept that quote the acoustic monitoring and incremental testing protocols were in fact better suited to detect vessel safety issues if any and again like there's this arrogance this is not how any other submersibles are doing this they're just going rogue and just pat

themselves on the back and thinking like, we're just so far ahead of our time. Other people, you know, regulatory boards wouldn't understand because they're just stuck in the old ways. As it became evident, his words were falling on deaf ears, Lockridge decided to argue for something else. He requested that absolutely no one should be on board the vessel during tests using the acoustic monitoring system. Once again, Ocean Gate execs denied his request. Saying that CEO Stockton Rush would be the only one on board during tests and therefore the only one at risk. But that wasn't good enough for David Lockridge and Lockridge refused to sign off on any manned marine tests giving the faulty acoustic monitoring system placed that was that was placing you know anyone on board in fatal danger. Well in response to that

three days later Lockridge gets fired. In a communication to Lockridge Ocean Gate's then chief operating officer Neil McCurdy wrote that during the meeting quote it became clear to Stockton that he and you were at an impasse regarding the Cyclops 2, aka the Titan Hole, and the only option was the termination of your employment. After he was fired, Lockeridge filed a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, claiming his former employer violated the Siemens Protection Act, a policy which quote, prohibits persons from retaliating against seamen for engaging in certain protected activities pertaining to compliance with maritime safety laws and regulations. In February of 2018 OSHA sent a letter to Ocean Gate informing

them a preliminary investigation into their conduct was underway. Lockridge was not named in the letter but I have a feeling Stockton knew exactly who the whistleblower was. In March that same year Ocean Ocean Gate announced that the Titanic expedition, which was supposed to take place in three months, was being pushed a little over a year out, now being rescheduled for July of 2019. Around that same time, and as they were still being investigated by OSHA, Ocean Gate sued David Lockridge. The lawsuit asserted that Lockridge committed two primary wrongdoings for which they were seeking compensation, breach of contract and fraud. Oceangate claimed that their former director of marine operations violated the employee

intellectual property agreement by discussing confidential information about Titan with at least two other people. This breach of agreement, Oceangate alleged, caused the company irreparable harm and therefore they were entitled to some form of monetary relief. They also claimed that Ocean Gate was to Lockridge what those fucking gross American guys are to their foreign sweethearts on 90 day fiance. A green card. Lockridge is a citizen of the UK.

And was still living there when he was first hired by Ocean Gate in 2015. That year as part of his benefits package, the company gave him almost $10,000 to cover the cost of relocating himself and his family from Great Britain to Washington State. Ocean Gate also agreed to help Lockridge and his family obtain quote, permanent resident status and pay for all costs relating to the application enrollment and all associated legal fees. According to the lawsuit, as soon as he acquired his permanent resident status, Lockridge got fired on purpose. Uh-huh.

These assholes. How dare David try and keep people from dying? How dare he try and get them to do the obviously right thing and scrap this project? Oceangate claimed David had no intention of working for the company indefinitely, as he said he would, and were simply just using them as a means to get his family and himself across the pond. In response, Lockridge filed a counterclaim lawsuit denying all of Ocean Gate's accusations and contended that he was unjustly terminated from the company for raising extremely valid safety concerns.

By November of 2018, Lockridge and his former employer settled their dispute out of court. Don't know what he got, but I'm guessing David came out ahead. I'm hoping he did. And now let's check in on how well Titan does with its big test dive. Right after today's second of two, Mitchell sponsor breaks. Thanks for listening to those sponsors. And now we return to the end of 2018 to find out what happens on Titan's first big, really deep test dive.

A month later, in December of 2018, piloted by Stockton Rush, the Titan submersible went on a milestone text expedition in the Bahamas, where it did, it did to be fair, safely reach a depth of 13,000 feet. However, the Titan still wasn't ready for the Titanic. They did have some minor problems. So the groundbreaking expedition slated for July of 2019 was once again delayed by roughly another

year until June of 2020. Unsurprisingly to a lot of people that did not work out either some more little problems and it would not be until July of 2021 that the Ocean Gate completes its first submersible dive to the remains of the RMS Titanic and it did work They did complete a successful dive. But more people behind the scenes were raising more concerns that a tragedy was just about to happen. They were just, you know, they were playing with fire. The hole had to be rebuilt prior to that first Titanic trip because of some problems. And then there were concerns with this new hole because it's made out of the same material. So following the initial success, which made international headlines,

tickets for the 2022 expedition still go on sale. The price of a single ticket for the eight hour dive now 250 grand. Well, who would pay that? Well, in an interview with CBS's David Pogue, Stockton said, we have clients that are Titanic enthusiasts, which we refer to as Titanic's. It's pretty clever. We have people who have mortgaged their home to come and do the trip and we have people who don't think twice about a trip at this cost. That's fucking crazy to mortgage your home for this, but I guess whatever whatever makes you happy. David Pug was actually invited by Ocean Gate to join the 2022 expedition to see the Titanic and knowing what we know now the footage from his time on board the submersible, a

little unsettling. In the video which you can watch on YouTube, David reads out a portion of the Ocean Gate liability waiver which explained that Titan is a quote, experimental submersible vessel experimental submersible vessel that has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body and could result in physical injury, disability, emotional trauma or death." That part about the not approved or certified is obviously alarming. At one point in the video, while giving the journalist a tour of the Titan, Stockton Rush proudly points out some of the off-the-shelf components used in the vessel's construction,

including home surveillance cameras, light fixtures from Camperworld, and that Logitech wireless gamepad controller used for steering CEO also shows off the single button that controls the submersibles ascent and descent Explaining we only have one button. That's it. It should be like an elevator, you know, shouldn't take a lot of skill. I Mean, I see what he's saying there. That doesn't seem a little weird to have it's so rudimentary But okay after the tour David Pogue tells Stockton that he couldn't help but notice that some aspects of the submersible seemed to be sort of improvised. That they had an element of jerry-riggedness or MacGyver-y. Stockton defended the use of his unspecialized and off-the-shelf materials and tech by saying,

I don't know if I'd use that description of it. There's certain things that you want to be buttoned down. So the pressure vessel is not MacGyver at all because that's where we work with Boeing and NASA and the University of Washington. Everything else, besides the carbon fiber pressure vessel, can fail. Your thrusters can go. Your lights can go. You're still going to be safe. Despite being clearly apprehensive about the Titan, throughout the video the journalist

still seems excited to be one of the few people to see the Titanic with their own eyes. When the luxury cruise liner collided into that iceberg in 1912, it didn't just sink, it vanished. It took 73 years to be located and even after it was found, it still remained elusive. And that's because, as we went over back in episode 208 when we talked about the sinking of the Titanic, the logistics of getting to the Titanic are fucking insane. For one thing, it's very, very dark down there. Just about like the most dark you can get. I think it is the most dark you can get.

Sunlight is easily absorbed by water and it's only able to penetrate up to about 3,300 feet below the surface to any degree. Anything deeper than that is known as the Midnight Zone because it is all complete and utter darkness. The Titanic is located far out of the reach of the sun and well into the Midnight Zone at 12,500 feet below sea level, which is equal to about nine Empire State buildings stacked on top of one another. Additionally at that level the Titanic and everything else around it is subjected to severe pressure about 400 times greater than what we experience here on the surface. And that's not all. The climate of the North Sea makes for difficult sailing and diving, given the currents that can reach up to four knots.

David Pogler in first hand how tumultuous accessing the infamous shipwreck can be when his expedition was canceled the day of due to severe weather. They decided to postpone for a couple days. And to fill the time Stockton Rush offered to take David and his team on a consolation dive to the continental shelf about 80 miles away. However with Stockton, David and the CBS crew on board the Titan submersible only reached 37 feet below the water surface before some malfunctioning equipment caused them to scrap that trip as well. The buoys that the platform the Titan

was launched from and brought back up to had become detached. A few days later, the weather finally cleared up and the Titan's dive of the Titanic was finally cleared for takeoff. But then that attempt, also a failure. I said earlier Stockton Rush wanted the Titan to be easy as possible to use so that any dipshit moron off the street could pilot it. Didn't actually use the phrase dipshit moron but that's the gist I got from all his interviews. Anyway, because GPS wasn't working under or doesn't work underwater, submersibles have to rely on their support above the water to help them navigate. Most, if not all, other submersibles are equipped with specialized tech to facilitate this communication. The Titan, on the other hand, simply had a screen that received text messages from a support ship telling them where to go. And this system failed during David's expedition and the Titan was never able

to find the shipwreck. However, a few days later they tried again and this time again to be fair everything went smoothly. David and the other passengers on board who were all tourists were able to witness the Titanic firsthand to the submersibles one little window. However, the next tourist expedition the Titan embarked on not quite as lucky. On June 16th, 2023, the Titan support ship, the Polar Prince, departed from Newfoundland, Canada, towing the submersible behind it. Right, it's doing some wakeboarding. Two days later, at 8 a.m. Eastern Time, on Sunday, June 18th, the Titan is launched. It was expected to arrive at the Titanic

shipwreck in two hours and 30 minutes. On board the submersibles were five, or on board the submersible were five people. Chief Executive Officer of Ocean Gate Stockton Rush, French deep sea explorer and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Narenlay, known by many as Mr. Titanic, excuse me, his last name is Nardule. Yeah, Paul-Henry Nardule, Mr. Titanic. British businessman Hamish Harding and Pakistani businessman and philanthropist Shahzada the Wood along with his 19 year old son of Sulaimun. The night before the expedition Hamish Harding posted on Facebook, I am proud to finally announce that I joined Ocean Gate Expeditions for their RMS Titanic mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic. Due to the worst

winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt to dive tomorrow. We started steaming from St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada yesterday, and are planning to start dive operations around 4 a.m. tomorrow morning. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do. The team on the sub has a couple of legendary explorers, some of which have done over 30 dives to the RMS Titanic since the 1980s, including Ph. Nardulei. More expedition updates to follow if the weather holds. But Hardy would never get the chance to post any more updates because one hour and 45

minutes into the dive with this contact with the submersible was lost. Around the same time 9 45 a.m. Eastern Time the US Navy detected quote an anomaly consistent with an implosion or explosion. So obviously that's not good. Despite losing communication with the submersible the surface team doesn't do anything and they continued to not do anything for almost 8 hours. Even when Titan didn't show up at 3pm, the time it was scheduled to resurface, they still did not send out a mayday or distress signal. According to multiple sources, the team likely delayed raising any alarms because communication

failure was a common occurrence with Titan due to its rudimentary communication system, which if you remember was just texting. One expert also noted that in addition to the failure-prone system, what made identifying an emergency on the Titan even more difficult was that it was not equipped with the standard emergency radio beacon. On other vessels, if there was an emergency, a buoyant radio beacon that emits a constant beep is deployed from the submersible. Additionally it's an international best practice for deep sea exploration teams like Ocean Gates to establish some sort of procedure to

maintain regular communication such as making contact every hour on the hour. Ocean Gate had no such procedure in place. These guys they didn't like following the rules. Not that it would have made any difference in the end in this case, but what if they hadn't imploded? What if they just gotten stuck on something or the controls malfunctioned and they were unable to power their way back up to the surface? Well in that case every minute is so important. So yeah just another example of reckless behavior here. Aaron Davenport, a maritime expert and retired US Coast Guard officer,

commented on this shortcoming saying, you would think the Titan would check in with the surface on a regular basis and then if you don't hear from them, then that would be an indication that you may need to start thinking about a potential rescue or getting things staged or invoke a plan if you are unable to determine if they are safe or not. Yeah, it seems like common sense. At 5 40 p.m. Eastern time, June 18, the surface team aboard the Polar Prince finally informed the U.S. Coast Guard of an overdue submersible about 900 nautical miles east of the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Both the U.S. and Canada now deployed both ships and planes to join the search effort for the missing submersible. In addition to searching for floating debris or the

submersible itself from the skies, some of the planes were also dropping sonar buoys, able to monitor to a depth of 13,000 feet below the water. By the next day the missing submersible had made international news. Private citizens with commercial vehicles were sailing out to the search area to volunteer their services and at 1050 a.m. on June 19th, France also joined the rescue effort by deploying a deep sea diving vessel called Atalante. People around the world watched with bated breath to see what would happen next. Of course, millions are following the search for the Titan because they're hoping for the

passenger's survival. But I would wager even more people are hooked because as it unfolded the story just got stranger and more high stakes. Less than 24 hours after the Titan went missing during its search for the Titanic, the internet had put together as we went over earlier that the wife of one of the missing passengers had relatives that died on the Titanic. Additionally, many speculated the submersible was still out there, that they had maybe lost power, you know, just floating along the seafloor, and time is running out to save them.

Titan was equipped with enough oxygen to support five people for 96 hours, I believe. I think I mentioned that earlier, but if I didn't, yeah, 96 hours, five people. And by the evening of June 19th, almost 50% of that breathable air was already gone. During the second day of the search, or you know, would be if they're still alive. During the second day of the search, dwindling hope for the crew's survival is slightly revived by some mysterious undersea sounds that are identified near the side of the Titanic. I remember hearing about that when it happened, I'd be like, oh my god they're still alive. Remember talking about that actually here in the office. The US Coast Guard announced on Tuesday June 20th

that a Canadian Lockheed P-3 Orion aircraft, enabled with tech to trace submarines, detected banging sounds emitting at precise 30-minute intervals over the course of a few hours. Some speculated that the sounds might be the trapped and suffocating passengers of the lost submersible calling for help, but the Coast Guard and other officials seemed less optimistic. The next day, the news of the peculiar banging sounds was arguably overshadowed by the very weird online behavior of one of the missing crew members' horny, strange step-sons. Brian Sass is the step-son of Hamish Harding, the billionaire that posted on Facebook prior

to embarking on his trip to the Titanic. And on Wednesday, June 21st, while his stepdad is either dead somewhere in the North of the Atlantic or slowly suffocating in a minivan-sized death sub, Brian pretty active on social media, flirting with OnlyFans model Baby Brea. Brea had posted on Twitter a picture of herself in a thong with the caption, Can I sit on you? Upon seeing that, as the high-stakes search for his beloved step-papa was reaching his peak, Brian thought he might as well shoot a shot. He retweeted Brea's picture and added an enthusiastic

yes please. The 37-year-old man, who was once detained by police in 2021 for online stalking, also came under fire for attending a Blink-182 concert the day after the Titan submersible first went missing. The internet came after Brian for his seemingly disrespectful and apathetic behavior. Weirdly enough, one of the most prominent people to comment on Brian's actions was Cardi B, who criticized the billionaire's stepson in a video on her Instagram story. And then Brian responded to the rapper in a string of tweets writing, What a piece of shit, trashy celeb! Cardi B trying to get clout off me, and my family's suffering.

I went to a Blink-182 concert for coping. Rather than sitting at home and watch the news, shame on you, Cardi. Get some class. He also, hours before his stepdad's death will be confirmed, will post a screenshot of a DM he got from Travis Barker, the drummer from Blink-182, who wrote, praying for you and your family. And then he replied that he would be attending Blink's San Diego show that night and he added, thanks for the love fam. Hello, Afluenza. My god. Now there

were also some people that came to Brian's defense saying that, you know, everybody has a right to grieve and cope, you know, with stress in their own way. And I do agree with that. And maybe his stepdad, I don't know, treated him terribly. I mean, you could argue again that this was just his way of dealing with things. But also this guy, if you look into him further, it seems like a heartless tool. November 30th, 2023, this very white-looking entitled dude tweeted, I say N-word. I fuck hot chicks, including trans. I drive a lifted F-150 Raptor through climate protesters. I don't give a fuck about Israel or Palestine. I support the genocide of 46 million turkeys on Thanksgiving to defeat vegans. Fuck your feelings. I'm rich."

I think he's trying to be funny there. Little much, little much dude. On September 3rd, 2023, he tweeted a selfie in front of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque with the caption, in Abu Dhabi with my Muslim N-word. He then tweeted a couple days later that he got fired from his job, if he even had a job, for constantly dropping N-bombs online. And when people commented that, yeah, that's probably a good thing, he let him know that he doesn't ever need to work because he's got millions in inheritance related to his stepdad's death. He told one commenter that he inherited more than they will ever make in their

lifetime. So maybe don't feel bad for Brian. Related to his stepdad's death. He told one commoner that he inherited more than they will ever make in their lifetime So maybe don't maybe don't feel bad for Brian Anyway back to the main story The deadline for when the breathable air and the submersible would run out was calculated to be 6 a.m. Eastern time Thursday, June 22nd After that time came and went the search effort sadly changes from being a rescue mission to a recovery mission, as officials are certain that at that point it is absolutely impossible that anyone could have survived whatever happened. And they were right. Later that day, just 488 meters away, or just over 1600 feet, from the bow of the sunken Titanic, a debris field containing pieces of the Titan is found on the ocean floor.

Some of the pieces of the submersible found in the debris field include the front and rear sections of the sub's pressurized chamber and its nose cone. Amongst the mechanical scraps, authorities also recovered human remains. The discovery was made by an ROV, a remote operated vehicle, controlled by a Canadian vessel called the Horizon Arctic. Weird side note about the Horizon Arctic, the giant ship was originally built for multiple types of offshore operation including anchor handling, towing oil rigs and oil spill cleanups. However in 2021 and 2022 the Horizon Arctic was hired by

Ocean Gate to serve as a support ship for the Titan submersibles expeditions to the Titanic. Who knew a year after you know after, after and in almost the exact same spot that the Horizon Arctic first helped launch the Titan into the North Sea, it would be aiding the search for the submersibles decimated remains. After analyzing the pieces recovered from the debris field, the US Coast Guard confirmed that at 9 45 a.m. Eastern time on June 18th, the Titan submersible had imploded instantly killing all five passengers. 945 as we went over earlier, the same time the US Navy sonar had

detected an anomaly consistent with an implosion or explosion under the water. And the same time that the Polar Prince lost contact with the sub. An implosion is a violent inward collapse that occurs when the pressure outside of a vessel is greater than the pressure inside of the vessel, so it essentially squeezes in on itself, the Titan was only approximately 3,500 feet below the surface when it imploded. The weight of the water pressing down on the vessel at that depth would have been equal to the full weight of the Eiffel Tower, which is tens of thousands of tons. According to the BBC, if a sub implodes that deep in the water, the hull collapses inward at about 1500 miles per hour, about 2200 feet per second.

Therefore, the entire implosion would occur in slightly less than one millisecond. Damn! Well, that sounds awful, you know, and it is. Minor consolation to the victims' families might be that it takes the human brain about 150 milliseconds to respond to any sort of stimulus, including pain. So they were literally killed before they had a chance to even know what was happening which they did not know. So they likely you know never realized they were in danger. Just one moment they're on their way to see the Titanic and the next moment they're already gone. So in a way you know we should all be so lucky. In addition to the initial implosion because of the high concentration of

hydrocarbon vapor inside the submersible, the air would automatically ignite, causing a minor explosion. For a long time it wasn't exactly clear what caused the disastrous loss of pressure, though lots of people speculated it was likely due to all of the one-of-a-kind features, all of the shortcuts that the experts had taken, you know, when making this submersible, or I guess that not experts, but the OceanGate people were doing when they made this submersible, you know, shortcuts that were protested by experts. And these experts were right. On April 11th of 2024, a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science presented strong evidence that the carbon fiber used to make the pressure chamber combined with the shape of the chamber itself was the cause of the explosion. Because OceanGate insisted on making a cylinder combined with the shape of the chamber itself, was the cause of the explosion. Because Ocean Gate insisted on making a cylinder-shaped hull instead of the standard sphere, all that pressure boring down in the sub was distributed unevenly.

And just like David Lockridge predicted in his safety report that they ignored, that same safety report that got him fired, because carbon fiber is subject to wear and tear over time and because it is unreliable under pressure, the material was likely weakened with each expedition until it simply could not take it anymore. So their previous trips down to the ocean floor really weren't victories as much as they had just gotten lucky. And then their luck eventually ran out.

Right? Such a shame. They never had to rely on luck. They could have relied on sound naval engineering principles. They could have followed guidelines. They could have listened to experts. Stockton Rush decided that, you know, following the rules would just be too tedious. So maybe don't do that. Maybe don't live like that.

No need to never leave the house because you're afraid of everything. But also no need to throw caution to the wind and just live life with reckless abandon. Maybe it's best to live somewhere in the middle, in between those two extremes. You don't have fun, but don't be an idiot. And also, if someone close to you tragically dies, maybe don't act anything like Brian Sass did, like what the fuck? And that's it for this edition of Time Suck Short Sucks. If you enjoyed this story, check out the rest of the Bad Magic catalog. Beefier episodes of Time Suck every Monday at noon Pacific time.

New episodes of the now long-running paranormal podcast, Scared to Death every Tuesday at midnight. Thank you to Molly Jean Box for her initial research on this one. Thanks to Logan Keats for recording and uploading today's episode. Please go to badmagicproductions.com for all your bad magic needs. Have yourself a great weekend in a great summer and still have fun in the water. Add Magic Productions