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This post includes a detailed account of the most searched query: What Happened to the Submarine? along with some facts on this burning issue.
In this blog post, you will get to know all the information about the Oceangate Submarine Incident and Titanic Tourist submersible.
Let’s have a dive into the answer to question: “What Happened to the Submarine?”
I have divided the whole article into different parts for your understanding:
Foundation of OceanGate Expedition
In 2009, an American aerospace engineer Stockton Rush (in the first picture) founded a company called OceanGate Expedition with the aim of building 4 to 6 km deep-sea submarines for military, research, and entertainment (adventure tourism). One of the company’s goals was to take the world’s richest people on deep-sea submarine tours. Since 2009, three submarines of this company have gone to the deep sea more than 200 times for various purposes and returned safely.
What is Titan?
In this regard, an important submarine that is being talked about around the world today was the Titan, which according to the company was designed to go to a depth of 4 km under the sea. Note here that the Burj Khalifa, currently the tallest building in the world, is less than a kilometer high, while the base camp at Nanga Parbat is about 4 kilometers (3850 m) above sea level.
Titanic Movie Scenes and the Titan Incident
But who will go for tourism in such a deep sea and what will happen there? The answer is Titanic. Yes, the same Titanic on which the famous film was made, the reason for its fame is a scene in it in which Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are looking at the sea with open arms on the tenth anniversary of the Titanic.
James Cameron
The director of this film, James Cameron, has gone down to the sea 33 times and seen its wreckage in connection with the production of the film.
The Wreckage of the Titanic Ship
The Titanic was the largest ship of its time and sank on its maiden voyage in 1912 when it was struck by debris at sea. The wreckage of this ship is still submerged in international waters 700 km off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The wreck was discovered in 1985. The wreck lies about 4 km below the sea.
First Tour of Titan
Oceangate continued to use a submarine named Titan to show the same wreck to wealthy tourists. This submarine reached the wreck of Titanic for the first time in 2021. A ticket for a man on this trip was 250,000 dollars. Today, one dollar is 288 rupees. It costs around 7 crores in Pakistani rupees.
The Current Submersible Incident
For the second time, it took tourists safely to the wreck of the Titanic in 2022. And now for the third time, on Sunday, June 18, it was taking five tourists to see the wreck of the Titanic when it lost contact with its support boats on the surface, 1 hour and 45 minutes into the journey. After this the news of him spread all over the world and efforts were made to find him. Remember that there was oxygen on this submarine to survive for 96 hours, so it was hoped that no accident happened to this submarine and its mere death. If the connection is lost, it can be saved.
Views of German first-time visitor to Titan, Arthur Luebel
German first-time visitor to Titan, Arthur Luebel, says that the submarine was not completely safe.
Recalling his journey, he says that after 1,000 meters of the journey, the submarine’s battery system (the submarine was powered by electricity) developed some problems, but eventually the submarine managed to reach the wreck of the Titanic. And they spent three hours watching the wreckage through its only window and the cameras on it and then returned safely. However, he remembers that the temperature in the submarine was about 4 degrees Celsius, it was a small submarine in which four to five people could sit together.
Difference between Submarine and Submersible
The Titan was not actually a full submarine, but rather a submarine-like one, which is what the term submersible is used for. Because it can stay under the sea for only a few hours while a full submarine is capable of staying in the sea for several months.
June 18, 2023, Unfortunate Day
Last week, on June 18, 2023, five people boarded the Titan, including Stockton Rush, the owner of the submarine Me Company Oceangate, British businessman Hamish Harding, French professional diver Paul Henry, and Prince Dawood, vice president of the Pakistani company Engro and his family. Younger years included sons.
The Titan Tour Expected Duration
The Titan went about 4 km below the sea where the Titanic wreckage was located. It took 2 hours and 45 minutes to reach it. After which he had to see the wreckage of the Titanic for three to four hours. And then there was the return journey. The total duration of this entire journey was more or less ten to eleven hours.
Atmospheric Pressure on the Earth and Sea
On the surface of the earth, humans are under the pressure of the atmosphere, the gases in the earth’s atmosphere, which are always on us. This is called 1atm i.e., one atmospheric pressure.
But since humans live on Earth and evolved on Earth, we are used to this pressure and it is normal for us. But if you fly in the air above the surface of the earth, this pressure decreases because the upper atmosphere is thinner, so there is less pressure on you due to less air. And if you go out into space, this pressure will disappear completely.
However, on the contrary, if you go into the sea, the pressure increases further. Sea water is heavier than the gases in the atmosphere. Therefore, for every 10 meters of depth in the sea, the pressure on your body increases by 1 atm. So, if you only go 10 meters down in the sea, come
The pressure will be 2 atm. This is more or less the pressure inside the cooker used for cooking.
If you’ve ever seen a pressure cooker explode,
you’ll know how high pressure it is. So, if you go 4 km down into the ocean, the pressure on you will be about 400 times greater than the pressure on Earth or 200 times the pressure of the pressure cooker. The Titan submarine was of titanium metal and carbon fiber that could withstand such pressure provided we completely sealed it and had no fractures or weak hulls. If this is the case, in such a case, due to the increase in water pressure going down, it will fall on a weak part of it and it will completely cook.
Burst of the Titan Submersible
And unfortunately, that’s what happened. For five days, they searched this submarine in the deep sea with the help of boats and robots and marine drones. And yesterday, they got part of its wreckage a few hundred meters away from the wreckage of the Titanic. According to reports so far, the submarine probably had a leak or fracture, causing pressure by the water and burst within a few milliseconds of the intense external pressure. It is such a short time that the brain of the people in the submarine would not have been able to feel the death and their whole body would have been burnt and disintegrated.
Rescue Teams from around the World
Navy and rescue teams from three countries, the United States, Canada, and France, were in the search for the submarine. And there was an expense of more than 65 million dollars on his search for five days. Following the accident, international organizations and maritime safety organizations are calling for comprehensive regulations, rules, and certification to ensure the safety of commercial submarines to prevent future accidents.
The Concluding Remarks
Death finds you wherever you are. Some find death while earning money while others meet it by spending thousands of dollars. God knows what is the actual mindset behind that. Let’s hope for betterment in the world. The post discussed the question: “What Happened to the Submarine?”.
Who was inside the Titan Submersible?
Last week, on June 18, 2023, five people boarded the Titan, including Stockton Rush, the owner of the submarine Me Company Oceangate, British businessman Hamish Harding, French professional diver Paul Henry, and Prince Dawood, vice president of the Pakistani company Engro and his family. Younger years included sons.
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