Tag Archives: Larry Connor

Titanic

Titanic Survivor Family Objects To Billionaire Diving to Titanic

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

As noted on 30 May, an Ohio billionaire named Larry Connor wants to dive to Titanic to show that submersibles are safe. This has prompted Shelley Binder, the descendant of Titanic survivors Leah and Phillip Aks to come forward an object to his plan. According to the interview, she believes the resting place of those who died should remain undisturbed.

“Fundamentally, I think one could say these people have more dollars than sense,” Binder told the outlet. “And the idea of tourism to a wreck where 1,496 people lost their lives in a truly horrific disaster of epic proportions is offensive. What happened aboard that ship was extremely traumatic and harrowing for my great-grandmother and great-uncle. This was a devastating and landmark moment in their lives, and it had long-lasting repercussions for my entire family.”

While diving to the wreck to retrieve artifacts requires court approval, merely diving down to see the wreck is legal. When the idea of Titanic dive tourism began, RMS Titanic Inc. sought to stop people from diving claiming it had sole access to the wreck. However a federal appeals court ultimately ruled against them agreeing with the argument that merely viewing cannot violate their salvage claim. After all, one may have exclusive photos of the Empire State Building in New York but you cannot stop people from going to it and taking their own pictures.

Whether or not Larry Connor will go through with it is another story.  However it is more likely to occur than a certain Australian mogul’s desire to build a modern day Titanic. Despite lots of fanfare, it remains unbuilt to this day.

Source:
Pollina, Richard. “Titanic Survivor’s Family Rips ‘offensive’ Ohio Billionaire Larry Connor for Planning to Take Sub to Site After OceanGate Tragedy.” New York Post, 5 June 2024, nypost.com/2024/06/05/us-news/titanic-survivors-family-rips-offensive-ohio-billionaire-larry-connor-for-planning-to-take-sub-to-site-after-oceangate-tragedy.

Suggested Reading

Behe, George. Fate Deals a Hand: The Slippery Fortunes of Titanic’s Professional Gamblers. History Press, 2023.

Fitch, Tad, et al. On a Sea of Glass: The Life and Loss of the RMS Titanic. 2015.

Lynch, Donald. Titanic: An Illustrated History. Hyperion, 1995.

Titanic News Channel  is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Titanic

Ohio Billionaire Plans To Dive To Titanic; Harland & Wolff Warnings; Update on Titan Tragedy and more.

1 Comment
Titanic Wreck Bow
Image: Public Domain (NOAA-http://www.gc.noaa.gov/images/gcil/ATT00561.jpg)

O’Neill, Natalie. “Ohio Billionaire Larry Connor Plans to Take $20M Sub to Titanic Site to Prove Industry’s Safer After OceanGate Implosion.” New York Post, 28 May 2024, nypost.com/2024/05/27/us-news/ohio-billionaire-plans-to-take-20m-sub-to-titanic-site-to-prove-industrys-safer-after-oceangate-implosion.

Real estate investor Larry Connor, of Dayton, said he and Triton Submarines co-founder Patrick Lahey will plunge more than 12,400 feet (2.3 miles) to the shipwreck site in a two-person submersible. “I want to show people worldwide that while the ocean is extremely powerful, it can be wonderful and enjoyable and really kind of life-changing if you go about it the right way,” Connor told the Wall Street Journal. Lahey has designed a $20 million vessel dubbed the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer, which Connor said can carry out the voyage repeatedly. The duo said they want to prove that the trek can be done without disaster — despite the implosion of the Titan submersible in June, which killed all five people on board, including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush.

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Harland & Wolff David and Goliath crane in Belfast, 2006
Plastic Jesus (Dave) via Wikimedia Commons

Titanic Shipbuilder Warns Scottish Yards and 500 Jobs Are at Risk.” The Telegraph, 27 May 2024, www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/05/27/titanic-harland-wolff-shipbuilder-warns-scottish-yards-risk.

Struggling shipbuilder Harland & Wolff will be forced to close its yards in Scotland and focus exclusively on work for the Royal Navy if a £200m funding lifeline falls through, bosses have warned. The company – best known for building the Titanic –  is understood to have told workers that in a “worst case scenario”, where it cannot secure a loan guarantee from the Government, the Arnish and Methil facilities will shut, putting around 500 jobs at risk.

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Looby, David. “Kilkenny Titanic Sinking Survivor Is Recalled at Historical Lecture.” Irish Independent, 25 May 2024, www.independent.ie/regionals/wexford/new-ross-news/kilkenny-titanic-sinking-survivor-is-recalled-at-historical-lecture/a1886753959.html.

An interesting and well illustrated lecture on Liam Fitzpatrick, a Kilkenny Titanic survivor, took place recently in Mullinavat parish hall. MaryAnn Vaughan delivered the lecture, which drew a large audience to the hall and also online, via Zoom. William Cecil Fitzpatrick was born on April 26, 1890, exactly 134 years to the day of the lecture, at William Street, Kilkenny, to Robert Fitzpatrick and Mary Gertrude Fitzpatrick (formerly Ryan). Robert and Mary Gertrude were married, in Kilkenny, in September 1895.

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Titan (submersible)
Becky Kagan Schott, OceanGate

Guinness, Emma. “OceanGate Titan Sub: Key Update on Submersible Investigation Ahead of Anniversary of Tragedy That Killed Five.” The Independent, 24 May 2024, www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/titan-submersible-oceangate-titanic-investigation-b2551060.html.

Now, the Coast Guard has revealed that this investigation is in its “fact-finding” stage almost a year on from the tragedy. A spokesperson for the Coast Guard told The Independent: “The Titan Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) remains in the fact-finding phase of the investigation and is collecting all relevant evidence and information. “A projected completion date is not available. “The latter part of the fact-finding phase will include a public hearing, and the MBI will provide at least 60 days’ notice ahead of the public hearing.”

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Jesse. “Headline.” Cracked.com, 22 May 2024, www.cracked.com/article_42269_5-phrases-from-the-replica-titanic-wikipedia-page-that-merit-closer-inspection.html.

I had no idea there was a Wikipedia entry called Replica Titanic. It does list some of the more prominent ones of recent years, so it is worth a look to see what Cracked is referring to. Clive Palmer still claims to be plugging along with his Titanic 2 venture. Despite all the flurry, parties, and press releases nothing has been built yet. If you want to read the Wikipedia entry without reading the Cracked story, click here.

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TITANIC: The Artifact Exhibition Arrives in Germany This July. 22 May 2024, www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/titanic-the-artifact-exhibition-arrives-in-germany-this-july-302153069.html.

Following sold-out Exhibitions across the United States, Europe, and Oceania, the gripping story of the legendary ship arrives in Germany when TITANIC: The Artifact Exhibition opens its doors in Stuttgart on July 21, 2024. Produced by E/M Group and RMS Titanic, Inc., the Exhibition offers guests the chance to experience Titanic and connect with the stories they’ve encountered in movies or books in a deeply personal way.

Get all the details at  https://titanic-ausstellung.com/.