What happened with the Titanic submarine?
A Timelines of events....
On a fateful Saturday night, billionaire explorer Hamish Harding took to Instagram to announce his participation as a mission specialist aboard the Titanic submarine. The crew embarked on a daring expedition to explore the legendary wreckage of the Titanic.
However, the mission faced formidable challenges due to the harsh winter conditions in Newfoundland, making it likely to be the only manned attempt to reach the Titanic in 2023. As a weather window finally opened, the crew, including French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and his son Suleman Dawood, set sail from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada, on Friday.
Their plan was to initiate the descent to the world's most famous shipwreck at 4 am on Sunday morning, reaching a depth of 4,000 meters. As preparations and briefings were underway, tragedy struck when the Titanic submarine, named Titan, suddenly lost communication with its mothership approximately 105 minutes into the journey.
Just five days later, the devastating news confirmed the occurrence of a "catastrophic implosion" within the submarine, resulting in the loss of all five crew members. The Titan, a 22-foot long submersible vessel, had been dropped into the ocean at 8 am EST, according to the US Coast Guard. However, one hour and 45 minutes later, contact with the Polar Prince, the mothership, was lost.
During a press conference in Boston, Captain Jamie Frederick of the US Coast Guard provided details: "On Sunday, the coordination command center in Boston received a report from the Canadian expedition vessel Polar Prince of an overdue 21-foot submarine, Titan, with five people on board. The Titan was attempting to dive on the wreck of the Titanic, approximately 900 miles east of Cape Cod and 400 miles south of St John’s, Newfoundland."
The US Coast Guard assumed the role of the search-and-rescue mission coordinator, deploying search assets and coordinating efforts with the US and Canadian Coast Guard, Air National Guard aircraft, and the Polar Prince. Together, they scoured an expansive area of 7,600 square miles, larger than the state of Connecticut, in hopes of locating the missing submarine.
As time was of the essence, the rescue mission became a race against the clock. The vessel carried sufficient oxygen to sustain the crew for 96 hours, intensifying the urgency to reach the submarine.
On Monday morning, the Titan's disappearance prompted the launch of a large-scale search operation. The US Coast Guard initiated a sweeping search of a 5,000-square-mile area off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, joined by the Canadian Coast Guard with their fixed-wing aircraft and ship.
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Further reinforcement arrived in the form of a C-130 Hercules reconnaissance aircraft and P8 Poseidon aircraft with underwater sonar capabilities. Additionally, submersible craft, including the unmanned US Navy Curv-21 capable of reaching a depth of 4,000 meters, joined the search efforts. Surface searches were conducted by the Polar Prince and the 106 Rescue Wing throughout Monday evening.
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