Major search underway for missing Titanic wreck submarine

harrylee

Man of Memes
Mar 22, 2019
2,561
3,471
113
Ontario
A remote controlled submersible found the remains of the submarine on the ocean floor about 500 meters from the Titanic.
The craft is in pieces and the bodies are unrecoverable.
They died instantly when the enormous pressure crushed the craft.

 

TheShadow

Electoral Member
Apr 24, 2020
871
402
63
Grand Bend
 

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
48,475
1,671
113
The US Coastguard has announced that the Titanic submarine has imploded, killing its five occupants instantly: Three Brits, a Frenchman and an American.

Wreckage of the submersible was found 1,600ft from the bow of the Titanic...

 

Jinentonix

Hall of Fame Member
Sep 6, 2015
10,663
5,300
113
Olympus Mons
Wow, as the details of this submersible come out, I'm smelling a few lawsuits here. While this wasn't it's first trip, it was never properly tested. Most deep-sea submersibles are spherical so that the incredible pressure pushes equally on it. There have been exceptions but they were properly engineered and properly tested before use.
In Titan's case, not only was it not spherical but it was built differently and oddly shaped. Even the one that went to the bottom of the Marianas Trench was cylindrical. And unlike its predecessors elsewhere with titanium hulls, this one had a carbon-fibre hull encased in titanium. Despite the known strength of carbon-fibre, it has never been thoroughly tested at those kinds of crushing depths. Not stating absolutely that was the problem, just that it's an unknown variable right now.

The controls were also a bit of an issue. It's just a $30 dollar game pad. However that particular model of game pad got all kinds of negative reviews from gamers because it would suddenly disconnect itself. And really, at 2.5 miles below the ocean's surface, would YOU want to rely on a $30 wireless game pad to manoeuver your vessel? Especially one that's known to be glitchy.

But ultimately it comes down to refusing to have the submersible independently certified by the organization that's been certifying subs and submersibles for decades now. That makes the design and/or build highly questionable in the first place.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Taxslave2

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
23,443
8,204
113
Regina, Saskatchewan
….And unlike its predecessors elsewhere with titanium hulls, this one had a carbon-fibre hull encased in titanium. Despite the known strength of carbon-fibre, it has never been thoroughly tested at those kinds of crushing depths.
It has now.
Not stating absolutely that was the problem, just that it's an unknown variable right now.

The controls were also a bit of an issue. It's just a $30 dollar game pad. However that particular model of game pad got all kinds of negative reviews from gamers because it would suddenly disconnect itself. And really, at 2.5 miles below the ocean's surface, would YOU want to rely on a $30 wireless game pad to manoeuver your vessel? Especially one that's known to be glitchy.

But ultimately it comes down to refusing to have the submersible independently certified by the organization that's been certifying subs and submersibles for decades now. That makes the design and/or build highly questionable in the first place.
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
109,666
11,555
113
Low Earth Orbit
Wow, as the details of this submersible come out, I'm smelling a few lawsuits here. While this wasn't it's first trip, it was never properly tested. Most deep-sea submersibles are spherical so that the incredible pressure pushes equally on it. There have been exceptions but they were properly engineered and properly tested before use.
In Titan's case, not only was it not spherical but it was built differently and oddly shaped. Even the one that went to the bottom of the Marianas Trench was cylindrical. And unlike its predecessors elsewhere with titanium hulls, this one had a carbon-fibre hull encased in titanium. Despite the known strength of carbon-fibre, it has never been thoroughly tested at those kinds of crushing depths. Not stating absolutely that was the problem, just that it's an unknown variable right now.
It has now.
Carbon overwrapped pressure vessels (COPV) are nOt new and are more than capable of handling the pressure of depth and the vacuum of space at absolute zero.


Saying the vessel was untested or a radical design isnt accurate, it made several dives to the Titanic previously. Cyclinders are very robust.

Dollars to doughnuts says the operator cheaped out and was not doing NDT (non-destructive testing) such as sonic, EM or x-ray between dives. It would not be cheap to have done.

Anyhoo, I doubt this will be the last time we see a similar design using the same composite recipe.

He did break ground. Tragedies like this usually lead to leaps in technologies.


PS Marianas Trench is 6X deeper.
 
Last edited:

Jinentonix

Hall of Fame Member
Sep 6, 2015
10,663
5,300
113
Olympus Mons
Carbon overwrapped pressure vessels (COPV) are nOt new and are more than capable of handling the pressure of depth and the vacuum of space at absolute zero.
For subs, COPV is new. This is the first submersible built that way.

Saying the vessel was untested or a radical design isnt accurate
Sure it is.
, it made several dives to the Titanic previously.
It made 3 previous trips. That's not exactly "several". James Cameron has made 30 trips to the Titanic and came back every time. How? Because he used tested, known tech in a vessel that was properly certified.
Cyclinders are very robust.
Except this isn't really a cylinder. There's no even distribution of pressure with that goofy tapered tail.
1687538493296.png
Dollars to doughnuts says the operator cheaped out and was not doing NDT (non-destructive testing) such as sonic, EM or x-ray between dives. It would not be cheap to have done.
It's probably cheaper than what's going to happen next. They also cheaped out by not having the submersible independently certified by the very organization that was created to certify subs and submersibles after the US navy lost 2 subs. That makes the build entirely suspect. In fact one former passenger stated the interior had a jerry-rigged look about it.
Anyhoo, I doubt this will be the last time we see a similar design using the same composite recipe.
I doubt it will be anytime soon.
He did break ground. Tragedies like this usually lead to leaps in technologies.
Yeah, because deep-sea submersible tech is such brand new technology.
PS Marianas Trench is 6X deeper.
Yep, and nobody got imploded while they were down there, even back in 1960.
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
23,443
8,204
113
Regina, Saskatchewan
Been sort’a following this story when time permits. Got a weird question.

Currently the story is this sub popped on it’s decent about two hours into its trip, but days later they where talking about banging noises every 1/2 hour on the 1/2 half hour…who or what was that?
 

Tecumsehsbones

Hall of Fame Member
Mar 18, 2013
55,776
7,168
113
Washington DC
Been sort’a following this story when time permits. Got a weird question.

Currently the story is this sub popped on it’s decent about two hours into its trip, but days later they where talking about banging noises every 1/2 hour on the 1/2 half hour…who or what was that?
Arr, matey, they was a-tryin' to get into Davy Jones locker!
 

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
48,475
1,671
113
Been sort’a following this story when time permits. Got a weird question.

Currently the story is this sub popped on it’s decent about two hours into its trip, but days later they where talking about banging noises every 1/2 hour on the 1/2 half hour…who or what was that?

I've heard that the US picked up the sounds of the submarine imploding on Sunday and that other noises that have been heard were natural noises of the sea.
 

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
48,475
1,671
113
Every 30 minutes on the 30 minutes being a natural phenomenon? That’s interesting all by itself.

We'll I haven't heard that. I'm just learning that now. I've been assuming that the submarine imploded without warning. Everything was fine and they were chatting away together and then suddenly it imploded. I haven't heard that they heard banging every 30 minutes. It seems to me that the thing imploded on its way down and they never had problems before that. One minute everything was good and the next their lives ended and they never knew what hit them.
 

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
48,475
1,671
113
1687561667426.png

The "ever tolerant" British Left shows its intolerance to the five rich people who were killed in the Titanic submarine disaster, three of whom were British...

 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
23,443
8,204
113
Regina, Saskatchewan
We'll I haven't heard that. I'm just learning that now. I've been assuming that the submarine imploded without warning. Everything was fine and they were chatting away together and then suddenly it imploded. I haven't heard that they heard banging every 30 minutes. It seems to me that the thing imploded on its way down and they never had problems before that. One minute everything was good and the next their lives ended and they never knew what hit them.
It remains unclear whether the noises were heard Tuesday night and Wednesday morning were from the missing submersible, US Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick said at a midday news conference. The banging on Tuesday first came every 30 minutes and was heard again four hours later, according to an internal government memo update on the search obtained by CNN.
Aw, hell. . . I was hoping they were ALL Brits.
That’s the Yellow Submarine.