Titanic Tour Sub Missing. Remarks/Questions.

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warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
12,281
18,261
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
Since we know nothing really about the vessel and its' build, it's nice to have complete evaluation of the vessel available to all of the members. My thanks. All we really know is there was a law suit. The designer and employees were sometimes at odds, the vessel imploded for an as yet undetermined reason. So, we take media provided information or, as I prefer, unsubstantiated "click bait", and, in some of our minds have resolved all the questions. We now fully understand the causes. Some here are going to be sore in the morning from all jumping to conclusions.

To be sure it was a compelling story as it unfolded. Facts will follow in the next few months or so. Will, the media care? Will the general public still be interested? Stay tuned!
 
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Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,960
14,329
Humansville Missouri
I think it is possible the implosion happened around the time that communications ended. The debris field took time to float up the two miles from near the bottom. Most of the pieces of the craft will probably be dispersed by currents and never be found, I'd guess.

I don’t know if any of the craft can float.

What’s been found so far is on the ocean floor next to the Titanic at 13,000 down.

—-

Five different major pieces of debris from the submersible, known as the “Titan,” were found in the area, and each end of the pressure hull was found in a different place, according to Paul Hankins, US Navy Director of Salvage Operations and Ocean Engineering.
—-

We are pipe smoking,armchair,wannabe, internet marine engineers.:)

Real marine engineers (mostly 50 year olds) who are so skilled and informed about these matters it’s almost beyond belief will issue a report and the cause of the failure will be determined.

It would seem to me, the pressure hull suffered from fatigue from just one dive too many.

But others will tell us.
 
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Navy Chief

Starting to Get Obsessed
Dec 11, 2022
106
520
Since we know nothing really about the vessel and its' build, it's nice to have complete evaluation of the vessel available to all of the members. My thanks. All we really know is there was a law suit. The designer and employees were sometimes at odds, the vessel imploded for an as yet undetermined reason. So, we take media provided information or, as I prefer, unsubstantiated "click bait", and, in some of our minds have resolved all the questions. We now fully understand the causes. Some here are going to be sore in the morning from all jumping to conclusions.

To be sure it was a compelling story as it unfolded. Facts will follow in the next few months or so. Will, the media care? Will the general public still be interested? Stay tuned!
We do know that it is a relatively new submersible that was designed with checking the box for "not designed by a 50 year old white guy" as part of the design criteria. And wise decisions were made like, not having a wired control backup and relying on a Bluetooth game controller as primary control. We also know that an engineer who worked on on the project was fired for raising safety concerns .lawsuits still pending on that one.

It doesn't take a lot of armchair quarterbacking to put together the pieces....
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,960
14,329
Humansville Missouri
We do know that it is a relatively new submersible that was designed with checking the box for "not designed by a 50 year old white guy" as part of the design criteria. And wise decisions were made like, not having a wired control backup and relying on a Bluetooth game controller as primary control. We also know that an engineer who worked on on the project was fired for raising safety concerns .lawsuits still pending on that one.

It doesn't take a lot of armchair quarterbacking to put together the pieces....

The pressure hull catastrophically failed.

I’ve read where the engineering specified a 4 1/2 thick hull and they used 5 inches.

For the pressure hull to fail so that both ends blew out the crew compartment was not fully flooded.

Fabrication of the carbon fiber and titanium hull was contracted.

The kid’s Play Station controller worked fine, until the pressure hull failed.:)
 

Jaylotw

Lifer
Mar 13, 2020
1,062
4,069
NE Ohio
We do know that it is a relatively new submersible that was designed with checking the box for "not designed by a 50 year old white guy" as part of the design criteria. And wise decisions were made like, not having a wired control backup and relying on a Bluetooth game controller as primary control. We also know that an engineer who worked on on the project was fired for raising safety concerns .lawsuits still pending on that one.

It doesn't take a lot of armchair quarterbacking to put together the pieces....
We also know that the hull was rebuilt after scans showed signs of cyclic fatigue, and that following that rebuild the owner (who appears to be a 50 year old white guy) refused to have the hull scanned but instead relied upon his own designed "hull monitoring system." We know that the front viewport was only rated to 1300 meters---thats the concern the engineer was fired over. The thing was a deathtrap.
 

Jaylotw

Lifer
Mar 13, 2020
1,062
4,069
NE Ohio
The much maligned engineers of the craft placed a constant hull monitoring system designed to warn the pilot of impending hull failure. Then he could drop the weights.

It will be interesting to see if the weights were dropped.
The "hull monitoring system" was a way for Oceangate to avoid having the hull scanned...because the first time they had it scanned, it showed signs of cyclic fatigue and had to be rebuilt.

As far as seeing if the weights were dropped, I'd wager that it would be nearly impossible to tell.
 

Navy Chief

Starting to Get Obsessed
Dec 11, 2022
106
520
The "hull monitoring system" was a way for Oceangate to avoid having the hull scanned...because the first time they had it scanned, it showed signs of cyclic fatigue and had to be rebuilt.

As far as seeing if the weights were dropped, I'd wager that it would be nearly impossible to tell.
I'm sure it was captured on their super robust data logging system that sure was part of the build...
 

Jaylotw

Lifer
Mar 13, 2020
1,062
4,069
NE Ohio
I'm sure it was captured on their super robust data logging system that sure was part of the build...
And good thing they had an EPIRB. Well, not that it would've done them much good when the hull imploded...but still...

I'm pretty sure I have more safety awareness on my 14' fishing boat...
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,960
14,329
Humansville Missouri
We also know that the hull was rebuilt after scans showed signs of cyclic fatigue, and that following that rebuild the owner (who appears to be a 50 year old white guy) refused to have the hull scanned but instead relied upon his own designed "hull monitoring system." We know that the front viewport was only rated to 1300 meters---thats the concern the engineer was fired over. The thing was a deathtrap.

——

There were five major different pieces of debris that led officials to realize those parts were from Titan, according to expert Paul Hanken.

"The initial thing we found was the nose cone, which was outside the pressure hull. We then found a large debris field, within that large debris field we found the front end bell of the pressure hull. That was the first indication that there was a catastrophic event," he said.

A second, smaller debris field was also found, which included the other end of the pressure hull, “which basically comprised the totality of that pressure vessel,” Hanken said.

—-

It seems the failure was of the walls of the pressure hull, and the observation portal and entrance hatch held.


Whatever firm contracted to fabricate the hull is looking up all their waivers and their insurance right this minute.:)
 
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Navy Chief

Starting to Get Obsessed
Dec 11, 2022
106
520
——

There were five major different pieces of debris that led officials to realize those parts were from Titan, according to expert Paul Hanken.

"The initial thing we found was the nose cone, which was outside the pressure hull. We then found a large debris field, within that large debris field we found the front end bell of the pressure hull. That was the first indication that there was a catastrophic event," he said.

A second, smaller debris field was also found, which included the other end of the pressure hull, “which basically comprised the totality of that pressure vessel,” Hanken said.

—-

It seems the failure was of the walls of the pressure hull, and the observation portal and entrance hatch held.


Whatever firm contracted to fabricate the hull is looking up all their waivers and their insurance right this minute.:)
I'm betting they had them pulled on day one standing by for this moment ..
 
Last edited:

Navy Chief

Starting to Get Obsessed
Dec 11, 2022
106
520
And good thing they had an EPIRB. Well, not that it would've done them much good when the hull imploded...but still...

I'm pretty sure I have more safety awareness on my 14' fishing boat...
An auto deploying EPIRB would have at least saved a few days on searching...
 
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Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,960
14,329
Humansville Missouri
I'm thinking more regulations will follow.

According to international treaties each nation has a 12 mile territorial limit and a 200 mile economic exclusion area beyond the shore.

Where this happened was on the “high seas” outside of any nation’s regulations or legal authority.


If an exploration company was chartered in the USA, Canada, the UK, or other civilized nations they might regulate them, at least in home waters.

But who knows if any nation has authority to regulate submersibles on the high seas.
 
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jpberg

Lifer
Aug 30, 2011
3,172
7,407
I’m reading replies from a bunch of guys whose nuts are imprinted in their lazy boy.
Couple submariners, couple vets, and a whole bunch of wicked smart internet philosophers.
I’ll take the billionaires in the sub.
 

Jaylotw

Lifer
Mar 13, 2020
1,062
4,069
NE Ohio
According to international treaties each nation has a 12 mile territorial limit and a 200 mile economic exclusion area beyond the shore.

Where this happened was on the “high seas” outside of any nation’s regulations or legal authority.


If an exploration company was chartered in the USA, Canada, the UK, or other civilized nations they might regulate them, at least in home waters.

But who knows if any nation has authority to regulate submersibles on the high seas.
That's kinda the thing...there's only maybe a dozen of these vessels in existence, regulating them on international waters is practically impossible. There are independent regulatory bodies from what I understand...but guess who ignored those regulatory bodies when said people sent a letter pleading with them to not use this sub?
 
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Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,960
14,329
Humansville Missouri
An auto deploying EPIRB would have at least saved a few days on searching...

I wonder if any deep diving submersible has an automatic pinger.

A really top of the line dive watch is certified to a thousand feet.

Naval military submarines dive from about a thousand to three thousand feet.

The deep water explorers go down as far as 35,000 feet, although the Titanic is at 13,000 feet.

At 13,000 feet the pressure is nearly three tons per square inch.

A pinger that could stand three tons an inch pressure might be impractical if possible.

And if you put it inside, what good would it be in the event of a sudden hull collapse?
 
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