18 Carat Gold Watch made by Tiffany & Company. It was presented to Captain Arthur Rostron of SS Carpathia in recognition of his rescuing Titanic survivors. It was presented to him by three widows-Madeline Astor, Marian Thayer and Eleanor Widener-whose husbands had perished when the ship sank. The case is inscribed with these words: ‘Presented to Captain Rostron with the heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of three survivors of the Titanic April 15th 1912. Mrs John B. Thayer, Mrs John Jacob Astor and Mrs George D. Widener.’ Image: Henry Aldridge & Son
The 18-carat gold watch presented to Captain Arthur Rostron, who commanded the Carpathia that rescued Titanic survivors, was sold for a record-breaking amount of £1.56m ($1,976,860) over the weekend. Auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, who specialize in handling Titanic memorabilia amongst other valuable items, reported it was the highest fee ever paid for a Titanic item. The previous record was £1.175m for the watch owned by John Jacob Astor. The watch was originally thought to fetch £120,000.
The watch was given by the widows of three prominent men who died on Titanic-Madeline Astor, Marian Thayer and Eleanor Widener-to Rostron in recognition of his service to rescue Titanic survivors. Rostron received the watch while attending at a luncheon given in his honor by Mrs. Astor at her home in June 1912.
The watch was purchased by a private collector (name not disclosed) in the U.S.
Lord, Walter, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, Holt Rinehart and Winston, New York, New York, 1955. Multiple revisions and reprints, notably Illustrated editions (1976,1977,1978 etc.)
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Lay’s Auctioneers of Penzanze posted this statement to their website just a week before the Charlestown Shipwreck Museum Sale was due to start on November 6. “We are pleased to announce that an institutional home has been found for many of the most important shipwreck artefacts from Charlestown’s incredible collection. Before this shock news, over 7,000 items from the Shipwreck Treasure Museum had been due to sell in 1,260 lots. Now 500 have been removed. A piece of coal from the legendary liner is still on sale with a £400 – £600 estimate. And those fascinated by the disaster-struck vessel can bid for models expected to realise, respectively, up to £800 and as much as £1,200 at sale. The lots listed still constitute a major maritime sale. They include guns, diving suits, uniforms and many ship parts.
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Harland & Wolff David and Goliath crane in Belfast, 2006 Plastic Jesus (Dave) via Wikimedia Commons
Titanic shipbuilder Harland & Wolff owed more than £160m when it collapsed into administration last month, it has been revealed. Teneo was appointed to oversee the process at the 162-year-old holding company in September while its subsidiary firms, including its prized Belfast shipyard, will continue to trade under the control of the directors. “Whilst the group delivered revenue growth, it was slower than required and a recent large contract win was not expected to become profitable in the near term. “As a result, during 2024 the group had an increasing short-term liquidity requirement alongside a significant level of creditor arrears.”
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“Certificate of Origin: This coal was recovered from the wreck of R.M.S. Titanic during the 1994 Titanic Research and Recovery Expedition. Object No. 94/0036. Authenticated by the signature of President, RMS Titanic, Inc.; Captain, IFREMER.” Exhibited at the National Shipwreck Museum in Charlestown, Cornwall, South West England. [This is the coal up for auction.] Image: Ben Sutherland via Wikimedia Commons. Posted originally on Flickr.
It’s unlikely that much else from the Titanic’s wreckage will ever return to the surface, although a number of artifacts have been salvaged since the famous ocean liner’s rediscovery in 1985. Now, one of those pieces of history is headed to auction—a hunk of coal originally intended as fuel for the 882-foot-long vessel’s boilers. The massive archeological trove previously resided at the UK’s Shipwreck Treasure Museum near St. Austell, Cornwall. Although its owners attempted to find a buyer for the institution earlier this year, no one appears ready to shell out the listing’s roughly $2.5 million price tag. Speaking with The Guardian on October 27th, David Lay of Lay’s Auctioneers helped contextualize the significance of his company’s impending event lots, including a length of rope recovered from King Henry VIII’s Tudor flagship, the Mary Rose.
The second watch was gifted to Giddings by a Rolex employee and prominent diver called T. Walker Lloyd. The pair had become friends after Giddings had begun documenting the research of the marine biologist Dr. Sylvia Earle. Giddings’s photography was used by Rolex to launch its working relationship with Dr. Earle. (Giddings provided it for free.) Now both of Giddings’ Submariners are up for auction at Sotheby’s. The December sale is being overseen by Geoff Hess. The steel ref. 1680 has an estimate of $20,000-$40,000. His yellow gold ref. 1680/8 has an estimate of $30,000-$60,000. The sale takes place on 6 December in New York.
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Colorised photo of Ned Parfett, best known as the “Titanic paperboy”, holding a large newspaper about the sinking, standing outside the White Star Line offices at Oceanic House on Cockspur Street near Trafalgar Square in London SW1, April 16, 1912. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
Among the passengers was Irene Colvin Corbett, a remarkable woman distinguished as the only known member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints aboard the ill-fated Titanic. At 30 years old, the Utah native was returning to Provo after spending six months in London, training at the General Lying-In Hospital to become a midwife. Despite traveling in second class — which should have nearly guaranteed her a spot in a lifeboat — Corbett was not among the more than 700 survivors. The exact circumstances of her final moments remain unknown, and her body was never recovered.
A new deep-sea submersible capable of taking three people deeper than the Titanic is undergoing its first “wet test” this month. Initially reported to be taking place in early 2024, the Matsya-6000’s testing will finally begin after its design was reviewed in the wake of the Titan submersible disaster last June. It is hoped that the submersible, which is part-funded by the Indian government, will herald a new era for ocean exploration and research. Dr M Ravichandran of India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) told India Today that the test is expected to take place in the late October.
An acclaimed Titanic exhibition is coming to Wales for the first time ever. Titanic Exhibition Wales will be staged at the ICC in Newport from 19th February to 2nd March 2025. The organisers of the exhibition White Star Heritage say they aim to bring the Titanic to life through a collection of artefacts, interactive experiences and informative displays.
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RMS Titanic beginning sea trials, April 2, 1912. Public Domain (National Archives and Records Administration,ARC Identifier#306 RG 306)
Why bother taking images of an identical ship for publicity purposes, when you can simply use older ones taken of RMS Olympic? Nobody would tell the difference. Someone within the White Star Line office clearly earned brownie points that day. Money saved; job done. Yet, that penny-pinching has robbed us of the genuine article. There’s a distinct lack of footage to satisfy the public’s hunger. As such, budding aficionados frequently confuse the two sister ships in photographs and historical accounts, leading to a slew of misinformation and confusion. In most books, documentaries and videos, images of RMS Olympic are often substituted for RMS Titanic, so – how can you tell the difference between the two sister ships? First, it’s time to consult Father Browne.
Collapsible lifeboat D photographed by passenger on Carpathia on the morning of 15 April 1912. Public Domain(Wikipedia)
It’s now more than a century since the ocean liner – which had been hailed as “practically unsinkable” by its builders – hit an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic. However, the ill-fated ship continues to fascinate the public today. However, the tragic story of one of its lifeboats – Collapsible A – has been all but forgotten. The raft saved the lives of more than a dozen passengers – but more than that died, during a desperate scramble for survival.
Multiple prominent world figures were set to sail on the ship, but didn’t quite make it on to the maiden voyage. After all, in the months leading up to the Titanic’s departing Southampton, UK for New York, the ship was extremely well publicized with the who’s who of the early 1900s desperate to nab tickets.
Lord, Walter, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, Holt Rinehart and Winston, New York, New York, 1955. Multiple revisions and reprints, notably Illustrated editions (1976,1977,1978 etc.)
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[This has been revised from 2020 with updated sources and corrections in grammar and punctuation.]
One of the most enduring supernatural stories of Titanic is that a cursed Egyptian mummy aboard the ship caused its demise. The tale has been around since Titanic sank often repeated in books about the supernatural. And with the advent of the Internet, this tale gained a new audience as it bounces around in emails, social media posts, and blogs. Back in the 19th and early 20th centuries, there was a lot of interest in Egypt. People were fascinated with the pyramids, its history, and mummies. Bram Stoker, who wrote Dracula, wrote his own mummy horror story called Jewel of the Seven Stars that has become the basis of many mummy movies. So, it is not hard to see how the tale of a cursed mummy would be appealing to many.
Tale of the Cursed Mummy
Pearson’s Magazine,1909, featuring the story of the Unlucky Mummy (British Museum ref AE 22542) Public Domain (via Wikipedia)
The Princess of Amen-Ra lived some 1,500 years before Christ. When she died, she was laid in an ornate wooden coffin and buried deep in a vault at Luxor, on the banks of the Nile. In the late 1890s, 4 rich young Englishmen visiting the excavations at Luxor were invited to buy an exquisitely fashioned mummy case containing the remains of Princess of Amen-Ra They drew lots. The man who won paid several thousand pounds and had the coffin taken to his hotel. A few hours later, he was seen walking out towards the desert. He never returned.
The next day, one of the remaining 3 men was shot by an Egyptian servant accidentally. His arm was so severely wounded it had to be amputated. The third man in the foursome found on his return home that the bank holding his entire savings had failed. The fourth guy suffered a severe illness, lost his job and was reduced to selling matches in the street. Nevertheless, the coffin reached England (causing other misfortunes along the way), where it was bought by a London businessman.
After 3 of his family members had been injured in a road accident and his house damaged by fire, the businessman donated it to the British Museum. As the coffin was being unloaded from a truck in the museum courtyard, the truck suddenly went into reverse and trapped a passerby. Then as the casket was being lifted up the stairs by 2 workmen, 1 fell and broke his leg. The other, apparently in perfect health, died unaccountably two days later.
Once the Princess was installed in the Egyptian Room, trouble really started. The Museum’s night watchmen frequently heard frantic hammering and sobbing from the coffin. Other exhibits in the room were also often hurled about at night. One watchman died on duty: making the other watchmen wanting to quit. Cleaners refused to go near the Princess too. When a visitor derisively flicked a dust cloth at the face painted on the coffin, his child died of measles soon afterwards.
Finally, the authorities had the mummy carried down to the basement figuring it could not do any harm down there. Within a week, one of the helpers was seriously ill, and the supervisor of the move was found dead on his desk. By now, the papers had heard of it. A journalist photographer took a picture of the mummy case and when he developed it, the painting on the coffin was of a horrifying, human face. The photographer was said to have gone home then, locked his bedroom door and shot himself. Soon afterwards, the museum sold the mummy to a private collector. After continual misfortune (and deaths), the owner banished it to the attic.
A well-known authority on the occult, Madame Helena Blavatsky, visited the premises. Upon entry, she was sized with a shivering fit and searched the house for the source of an evil influence of incredible intensity; She finally came to the attic and found the mummy case. Can you exorcise this evil spirit? Asked the owner. There is no such thing as exorcism. Evil remains evil forever. Nothing can be done about it. I implore you to get rid of this evil as soon as possible. But no British museum would take the mummy; the fact that almost 20 people had met with misfortune, disaster or death from handling the casket, in barely 10 years, was now well known.
Eventually, a hardheaded American archaeologist (who dismissed the happenings as quirks of circumstance), paid a handsome price for the mummy and arranged for its removal to New York. In Apr 1912, the new owner escorted its treasure aboard a sparkling, new White Star liner about to make its maiden voyage to New York. On the night of April 14, amid scenes of unprecedented horror, the Princess of Amen-Ra accompanied 1,500 passengers to their deaths at the bottom of the Atlantic. The name of the ship was of course, the H.M.S. TITANIC [sic].
The problem, and there are many, is that so far no one can confirm that a Princess Amen-Ra (or someone similar) ever existed. There are many princes and princesses in Egyptian history. What appears to be a mummy is actually the inner coffin lid described as a gessoed and painted mummy board of an unidentified woman. The lid was found in Thebes and has been dated (by style and shape) as from the late 21st or 22nd dynasty (about 950-900 bc). Unfortunately, her identity is unknown, and the only inscriptions are religious phrases. She likely participated in ceremonies in the temple of Amen-Ra. It is speculated though not proven she was a priestess of that temple. It was donated to the British Museum in 1889 and has been on display ever since (except during the two world wars) and even gone on traveling exhibitions.
The tale, according to David Mikkelson at Snopes.com, was concocted by two Englishmen William Stead and Douglas Murray. Stead was a well-known journalist and believer in mysticism. Murray is described as an Egyptologist. They both crafted a horror story about a mummy that went to the home of a friend. According to their tale, the next day everything in the drawing room where it was located was destroyed. It was moved to different rooms but that only resulted in more damage to objects in those rooms. The mummy would cause all sorts of things to its owner that included sickness and death. After visiting the British Museum and seeing the coffin lid, they concocted another story that the look of terror depicted on the coffin lid indicated a tortured soul with an evil spirit now loose upon the world. This fanciful tale was repeated to newspaper reporters who ate the story up. Two stories then became one and this mummy would cause havoc wherever it was. Stead would die when Titanic sank in 1912 but told the tale to dinner attendees about a cursed mummy.
Survivors who heard the tale from Stead relayed this to reporters. The story Stead and Murray concocted and Stead’s presence on Titanic telling the story of a cursed mummy became merged producing the current legend. It was modified that the British Museum, so anxious to be rid of it, sold it to an American who shipped it home on Titanic. So of course, the mummy caused Titanic to sink. Some more elaborate tales have the mummy making it off Titanic and would cause havoc and had to be shipped elsewhere causing more disasters. However, the cargo manifest shows no mummy or Egyptian relic being transported aboard Titanic.
We have a fascinating tale in the end but that is all that it is. It was two stories merged into one and then altered to include Titanic. And has been repeated in numerous times over the years and found a new home on the Internet. It is a great tale, and if you left off Titanic, would make a great horror story.
Lord, Walter, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, Holt Rinehart and Winston, New York, New York, 1955. Multiple revisions and reprints, notably Illustrated editions (1976,1977,1978 etc.)
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In a twist of fate, it has emerged that their great-granddaughter Wendy Rush was married to the CEO of OceanGate, Stockton Rush who died when the Titan submersible imploded in June 2023 killing all five on board, Business Insider reports. Her great-grandparents, Isidor and Ida were born in Germany before moving to America and were aged 67 and 63 when the Titanic sank.
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Harland & Wolff David and Goliath crane in Belfast, 2006 Plastic Jesus (Dave) via Wikimedia Commons
Spanish state-owned giant Navantia is nearing a deal to buy stricken shipbuilder Harland & Wolff out of administration, putting hundreds of jobs at risk. The sale being lined up in exclusive talks between the parties, which remains tentative, would see Navantia take control of Harland & Wolff in late November, The Telegraph understands. It would include all four of the company’s yards – in Belfast; Appledore, Devon; Arnish on the Isle of Lewis; and Methil, Fife – which collectively employ around 1,000 workers.
The lead engineer for an experimental submersible that imploded en route to the wreck of the Titanic testified Monday that he felt pressured to get the vessel ready to dive and refused to pilot it for a journey several years earlier. “‘I’m not getting in it,'” Tony Nissen said he told Stockton Rush, co-founder of the OceanGate company that owned the Titan submersible.
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Titanic lost: Belfast Telegraph front page on 16 April 1912 Source: Belfast Telegraph
The Scotsman first reported the disaster on April 16, but the story only appeared in a few lines of parliamentary business picked up from the day before. The report said: “The President of the Board of Trade said he received a short time ago the following telegram from The White Star Office: Liverpool. “Only information telegram from New York as follows – ‘Newspaper wireless reports advise Titanic collision with iceberg at 41.46 north, 50.14 west. Women being put into lifeboats. Steamer Virginian expects to reach Titanic 10am. Olympic and Baltic proceeding to Titanic. Have no direct information.” Page 7 of The Scotsman on April 17 1912 where the first full stories of the sinking of The Titanic appeared.
On April 11, the second evening of the ship’s journey, sirloin steak was served with horseradish cream, a combination still popular today. Pairing horseradish with steak offers an elevated flavor experience, and the cream is very easy to prepare-Horseradish is mixed with sour cream and seasoned with salt and pepper to taste. Another steak dish from the dinner menu is beef tournedos a la Victoria. Tournedos are the same steak cut as filet mignon; except they can be slightly larger. Prepared “a la Victoria,” tournedos were served with crumb-coated fried bananas, a very interesting combination that was then topped with white and espagnole sauces, two of French cuisine’s five mother sauces.
See deck chairs, jewelry, fine China, and other authentic artifacts from the wreck site of the Titanic during an upcoming exhibition at The Saunders Castle at Park Plaza, Oct. 17 to May 29, 2025. “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition” comes to Boston for the first time, with more than 250 artifacts and a chance for viewers to learn real stories about the passengers and crew of the “unsinkable” ocean liner, which sank in April 1912 during its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City.
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Christopher Columbus (done after his death in 1506) Sebastiano del Piombo (1485–1547) Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
Today is Columbus Day in the United States. Celebrating Columbus began in 1792 in New York City and became an annual tradition. As a result of 11 Italian immigrants being murdered by a mob in New Orleans in 1892, President Benjamin Harrison declared Columbus Day as a one-time national celebration. This was also part of a wider effort to ease tensions and to placate Italian Americans and Italy, which had expressed official dismay at the murders.
Italian Americans began using Columbus Day to not only celebrate Columbus but their heritage as well. Serious lobbying was undertaken to enshrine the holiday in states and ultimately the federal government. Colorado proclaimed it a holiday in 1905 and made it an official holiday in 1907. In 1934 after lobbying from the Knights of Columbus and New York City Italian leader Generoso Pope, Congress passed a statute requiring the president to proclaim October 12 as Columbus Day each year and asked Americans to observe it with “appropriated ceremonies” in schools, churches, and other places.
However, it was a not yet a federal holiday. The effort to make it a federal holiday began in 1966 when the National Columbus Day Committee lobbied to make it a federal holiday. This was achieved in 1968 and has been a federal holiday since then. Like most federal holidays, it is often celebrated on a Monday of the week the date it falls on. The exception being if falls on a Saturday, it would be celebrated on Friday.
Columbus is recognized for his discovery of the New World. He, like many, were eager to discover the riches of Cathay, India, and Japan. Since the Ottoman Empire closed off using Egypt and the Red Sea to Europeans (land routes were closed as well), European explorers were eager to find a sea route. Columbus (and he was not the only one) held the belief that by sailing west they would be able to get to the Indies. While many educated Europeans (like Columbus) believed the Earth was round, they had no concept of how it big it really was. Thus, they thought East Asia was closer than it was.
After securing financing from the Spanish monarchy, Columbus set sail on 3 August 1492 with three ships-Santa Maria, the Pinta and the Nina–from Palos, Spain.On 12 October 1492 land was sighted. They would find Cuba later and Columbus thought it was Japan. They landed on Hispaniola in December and left a small colony behind. Returning to Spain in 1493, he was received with high honors by the Spanish court.
Columbus would lead four expeditions to the New World exploring the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, and South and Central American mainland. His original goal of finding a western ocean route to Asia was never accomplished. And he likely never truly understood the full scope of what he had accomplished. The New World–North America, the Caribbean, Central and South America–would open new opportunities for exploration and wealth. Spain would become one of the wealthiest and powerful nations on Earth as a result.
Sea travel of great distances in the 15th century was quite a challenge, fraught with all kinds of uncertainty and dangers. They had to depend on the wind, current and favorable weather, and the stars. The sextant had not been invented yet, so they used a procedure called Dead Reckoning. This required the use of simple arithmetic and process to determine their location. A long rope was used, a piece of wood, an hourglass, and a compass. The navigator would record in a logbook the daily speed and direction. The rope was knotted every four to six feet along its length.
Arithmetic tells us that distance traveled in a single direction can be measured by multiplying the speed with the time. You might have done some of this in grade school. A car traveling at 30 miles per hour for two hours would travel 60 miles (speed x 2). A navigator would log the speed, direction, and time in the log. In this way they could measure the distance traveled to and from where they departed from. Changes in wind speed and other things would be recorded as well. Columbus used his own version, gained from experience sailing, of determining the speed and direction to enter in his log. He could feel the keel moving through the water and with his sense of the wind, knew what the speed of his ship was.
It was a remarkable and historic undertaking. Long sea voyages were often avoided because you were away for years at a time and dependent a great deal on nature to survive. And there was the terrible specter of scurvy. Many would die on long sea voyages from this scourge, which came from the lack of vitamin c in the diet. Fresh water in kegs often wet bad after a month, so beer and spirits (often rum), was where you got water from. Fruits and vegetables would only last so long, and meat had to be cured for long term use. So, food was rationed carefully. Later when it was realized that having citrus would alleviate this condition, sailors would get lime or lemon juice as part of their daily food ration. It became so common on British Royal Navy ships the sailors were called Limeys.
Italians and Spanish are rightly proud of his accomplishment. Others had touched upon America (the Vikings for one) prior to Columbus but none had opened the door as he did to a new part of the world that had been undiscovered. Like all our accomplished heroes of the past, he had his faults. In fact, not one hero you can point to doesn’t have faults. The ancient Greeks knew this and what defined a hero was someone who rose above them to do something extraordinary. The Greek hero Heracles (Hercules in Latin) had all kinds of faults but did things that rose above them. Columbus should be remembered for the courage, bravery, and fortitude to sail over the horizon to see what lay beyond. It would change the world and end the Venetian and Ottoman control of trade to the East forever.
Columbus died on 20 May 1506. Gout was considered the cause of his death, but doctors today believe it was reactive arthritis.
The Coast Guard hearing into the Titan submersible catastrophe has concluded. The hearing revealed interesting details about the company, Rush Stockton and the submersible. Testimony indicates that Rush downplayed warnings about Titan’s reliability and safety. He was confident that it was safe. However, some testimony indicated there were problems with the craft that came up when it was diving. There was refutation that the company was focused solely on tourism and Titanic and that it was focused on making the ocean accessible to everyone. We also learned that there was no formal inspection done of the craft done by the Coast Guard.
That issue concerned one former employee, Matthew McCoy, who was a Coast Guard veteran and worked as an operations technician for about six months. He was concerned that classifying people as mission specialists rather than passengers would violate Coast Guard regulations. And also, that the Coast Guard had not cleared the submersible. He would learn after he left the company, which he thought was well run, had severed ties with both Boeing and the University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory. He left the company over Stockton’s dismissal of Coast Guard investigating him and his comment he would buy off a congressman to make it go away.
Another issue the hearing looked into was the response to the emergency itself. Questions have been raised as to how slow it seemed to be to get all the necessary equipment to find Titan. Capt. Jamie Frederick, who helped lead the rescue effort, testified the biggest problem was getting the ROVs capable of diving down to Titanic. And also all the support equipment needed for it. They were able to get it together as quickly as they could but it took a “logistical tour de force.” The banging noises issue came up as well. Sounds were detected at regular intervals that some thought might be someone banging inside the submersible. However the data they studied indicates that was not the case and has been classified as an acoustic anomaly. Information about it was not revealed at the time as it was classified.
“It wasn’t for us to share with the family or with the public. It was one piece of data. It wasn’t definitive.” (Captain Jamie Frederick, U.S. Coast Guard)
One of the complications Frederick noted was conflicting information. At the time, they did not know about the slight shudder that the mast of the Polar Prince had detected just before losing contact with Titan. If they had known about that at the time, it would have changed the equation but could not answer how that would have changed the operation. Jason Neubauer, who chaired the investigation, noted that the Coast Guard is now changing how it handles whistleblower information. David Lochridge, an OceanGate employee who was fired after he raised concerns, submitted information to the Coast Guard that was not widely distributed but will be in the future.
Neubauer stated more investigative work needs to be done and more hearings may occur if warranted. He could not provide a timeline when it will wrap up its investigation and issue a report. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will issue a separate report on the implosion. If the reports indicate criminal charges be filed, then it will be turned over to the Justice Department for review and prosecution.
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The Coast Guard hearings on the Titan submersible tragedy began last week. We learned last week from a former employee of concerns about the structural integrity of the submersible. Here are more news and videos to watch about the hearings. So far, the picture of the company is not a good one.
The man who co-founded OceanGate with Stockton Rush has revealed the answers to what really went wrong on the Titanic excursion may never be known. Guillermo Sohnlein told a Coast Guard panel Monday that he can’t say what exactly led to the submersible implosion in June 2023 that killed five people. “I don’t know what happened. I don’t know who made what decision when and based on what information,’ he said. ‘And honestly, I don’t know if any of us will ever know this, despite all of your team’s investigative efforts.’ Sohnlein could only say that the incident, which claimed the lives of adventurer Hamish Harding, father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood and Frenchman Paul-Henri Nargeolet, ‘was not supposed to happen.’
Key points
Testified that OceanGate was planning on building 8 such submersibles and would not use a mothership to cut costs.
Contradicted testimony of former employee David Lochridge, who alleged OceanGate was all about profit. Said company was not driven by the idea of tourism or Titanic, which had already been explored.
Said Rush Stockton, who died in the implosion, was confident in the submersible.
Coast Guard released a 2018 redacted transcript between Stockton and Lochridge. Stockton insists he listened to his criticisms and that Lochridge was unhappy with the results. Stockton insisted the submersible was safe.
The Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) releases remotely operated vehicle footage of the Titan submersible’s salvage from June 26, 2023, for the Titan MBI hearing in North Charleston, South Carolina, Sept. 23, 2024. As part of the investigation, the wreckage was recovered and transported to a secure facility for detailed analysis. (Video courtesy of Pelagic Research Services)
Businessman Guillermo Sohnlein, who helped found OceanGate with Stockton Rush, said the original vision was to create a fleet of four or five deep-diving submersibles capable of carrying five people to 6,500 yards deep. The plan for the company was to have no dedicated mothership.
“We wanted to give humanity greater access to the ocean, specifically the deep ocean,” Sohnlein said. Sohnlein ultimately left the company before the Titan disaster in June 2023. Rush was among the five people who died when the submersible imploded. Though Sohnlein left the Washington company years ago, he defended its efforts in the aftermath of the submersible’s implosion.
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Coast Guard Standard (not the same as used for law enforcement) 1964. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
More than a year after the Titan submersible imploded, killing all five voyagers on board, the story of the ill-fated expedition to the Titanic has taken the form of a modern-day Greek tragedy overflowing with mortal pride and heedlessness. Testimony during the first week of a hearing by a US Coast Guard panel probing the disaster has painted a damning portrait of the Washington-based company that developed and operated the 23,000-pound submersible as well as its founder – who charged deep-pocketed passengers about $250,000 per dive. “What this really comes down to is hubris and greed,” Peter Girguis, a Harvard University professor and oceanographer who has been monitoring the hearing, told CNN. “It’s both tragic and ironic that this example of hubris occurred within a few 100 meters or yards of another example of hubris, which is the Titanic,” he added, referring to another infamous maritime disaster involving what was the largest passenger ship in service and considered “unsinkable” when it struck an iceberg in 1912.
The Titan appeared to be off course on its way to the Titanic, so the crew decided to use thrusters so the submersible could make its way to the wreck, Hagen said. The starboard thruster failed to activate, he said. “We realized that all it could do was spin around in circles, making right turns,” Hagen said. “At this juncture, we obviously weren’t going to be able to navigate to the Titanic.” Hagen said the Titan dropped weights, resurfaced and the mission was scrapped. He said he was aware of the potentially unsafe nature of getting in the experimental submersible. “Anyone that wanted to go was either delusional if they didn’t think that it was dangerous, or they were embracing the risk,” he said.
The U.S. Coast Guard released new footage of the doomed OceanGate Titan submersible’s hull filmed via a remotely operated vehicle at the bottom of the ocean.
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Disclaimer: The following videos are here for informational purposes only. The views and opinions expressed in the videos are solely from their creators and not from Titanic News Channel.
Harland & Wolff David and Goliath crane in Belfast, 2006 Plastic Jesus (Dave) via Wikimedia Commons
The 163-year-old shipbuilder known for building Titanic has declared itself insolvent and put into administration. This is the second time in two years it has done this. The company’s board of directors said in a statement that there is a credible path forward for the company. Teneo, which handles administration under such circumstances, will take over the day-to-day operations of the company during this period. All non-core operations were already in the process of being shut down and employees in those areas are expected to lose their jobs. One marine services business is being sold, so it’s employees may retain their jobs.
The shipyards will remain open during this time and contracts it has will continue to be fulfilled. Of concern is a UK Royal Navy contract. A government spokesman said the government was concerned but has been told no jobs at the shipyard or core operations are at stake. Navantia, the Spanish state-owned shipbuilder, has expressed interest. Navantia is a partner in the program to build the Royal Navy vessels in which Harland & Wolff is a subcontractor. The UK defense contractor Babcock International is also interested as well. Creditors will be the first to get any payments required under any contracts they have with the company. Shareholders in the publicly traded company (trading in the stock was stopped a while back) will lose their investment.
David Lochridge, the former director of marine operations who worked at the company from 2015 to 2018, told the panel about the “red flags” he witnessed, including co-founder Stockton Rush’s desire to qualify a pilot in one day — typically a lengthy process. He also painted a picture of Rush’s personality. He walked through a harrowing incident when Rush’s bungled dive to the Andrea Doria wreckage site ended in Rush throwing a “PlayStation controller” at Lochridge’s head. Lochridge issued an inspection report in January 2018 detailing his laundry list of concerns with an early version of the Titan. He was fired not long after.
“All good here.” Those were some of the final words that the doomed Titan submersible crew communicated before the submersible imploded on its mission to the Titanic wreckage site in June 2023. The message, revealed as part of the Coast Guard’s Monday hearing into the circumstances of the failed mission, was sent to support vessel Polar Prince on June 18, 2023, shortly before the submersible imploded, killing all five of its crew members. It was an incident that captivated both sides of the Atlantic as crews made a mad dash to save the crew after the sub lost contact with the surface – with the world unaware that the lives had been lost.
The lead engineer for an experimental submersible that imploded en route to the wreck of the Titanic testified Monday that he felt pressured to get the vessel ready to dive and refused to pilot it for a journey several years earlier. “‘I’m not getting in it,’” Tony Nissen said he told Stockton Rush, co-founder of the OceanGate company that owned the Titan submersible.
Bodnarchuk, Kari. “Travel News You Can Use: Titanic Exhibit and Theater District Tour.” BostonGlobe.Com, October 3, 2024. 
Lepore, Stephen M. “OceanGate Co-founder Reveals Truth About Sub Disaster That Killed Five.” Mail Online. Last modified September 24, 2024. 
