The Titan One Year Later

A year ago today, the Titan submersible imploded on its way to the site of the Titanic, killing the five passengers. Since then, many details about the development of the submersible have come to light. It's now clear that Titan was a disaster waiting to happen, driven by the hubris of OceanGate's CEO, Stockton Rush. 

Wired has published a long article published a long article that examines the history of Titan, OceanGate, and Stockton Rush. I found it compelling reading. Given what we know now, it's hard to believe that OceanGate was able to send Titan to the Titanic in the first place. It's a classic case of a leader's megalomania driving a company to destruction.  

One former employee remembers preparing Titan for multiple successful Titanic missions, prior to 2023. “I put my heart and soul into building that sub,” he says. “Many, many hours inside the sub, outside the sub, building and testing it. She was my baby.”

Each time Titan was about to dip beneath the waves, he would pat her hull lightly. “I’d say, ‘Come on back to me baby, you’ll make it, you can do it.’ And when she’d come back up to the surface, I’d say, ‘Good job. You got everyone back up safe.’”

Until one day, she didn’t.

Now the bottom of the North Atlantic is littered with more evidence of human hubris, tiny pieces of a plastic video-game controller nestling among the barnacle-encrusted gold fixtures of the Titanic. Both vessels were at the cutting edge of technology, both exemplars of safety in the eyes of their overconfident creators. And in both cases, their passengers paid the price.