Titanic Tour Sub Missing. Remarks/Questions.

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HawkeyeLinus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2020
5,816
42,068
Iowa
Everything has some inherent risk involved. Simply driving to the grocery store could get one killed - it happens every day. Some people won't even get on a plane to go somewhere they've always wanted to visit simply due to the miniscule chance of disaster.

I used to live like that. I'm done with it. At one point, I had a pretty serious wake-up call, and it snapped me out of the trance. After no small amount of rumination, I realized that I'm not as afraid of dying as I used to be. Am I going to take stupid, unnecessary risks? No, I'd very much like to live to be old. But I'm gonna get out and do shit and see the world, not sit on my ass and flip channels until I get stuck in the old folks' home.
Living life to the fullest, whatever that is for you? Awesome! Fully endorse. That’s a little different mantra than where you started, but was guessing that’s what you really meant and glad you are rational. :) ✌️
 
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blackpowderpiper

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 19, 2018
836
3,877
Middle Tennessee
I've come to terms with my own mortality. Yet, I don't want to willingly do something that would have a good chance of ending my life.

Diving to 12,500 feet in a capsule constructed with a material that was known for it's tensile strength, not compressive strength, which ignored decades of design evolution and best practices is not what I would consider a good idea.
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,960
14,334
Humansville Missouri
I suspect there's a middle road. Stepping in front of a speeding train for kicks isn't what I'd be doing.

No doubt, Rush was passionate about the deep ocean, as much as Ballard and Cameron are.

But Cameron had his submersible Deepsea Challenger designed just for him. It only holds Cameron himself.


Dr. Robert Ballard is justly famous, but he’s not designed or had made for him a manned submersible.

To design and build a one person deep submersible costs so much money.

If you make it hold two, so you could charge somebody for a ride, it would have to be larger, and cost more. A three person craft costs more, etc.

Why Rush is dead, is because he gambled on using innovative materials and methods to build a five person private revenue generating submersible.

The cost of the charter support ship was spread over four revenue paying clients, not one or two.

By the end Rush was turning a million dollars a trip.

Rush had hauled about 24 paying passengers down to see Titanic.

But he neglected testing, and certification.

The fact you’ve got away with it a dozens of times, is no guarantee the last trip won’t be your last.
 

Lumbridge

(Pazuzu93)
Feb 16, 2020
763
2,752
Cascadia, U.S.
Living life to the fullest, whatever that is for you? Awesome! Fully endorse. That’s a little different mantra than where you started, but was guessing that’s what you really meant and glad you are rational. :) ✌️
Yeah, I think I could have worded some of my comments better so that it was more clear that I'm not endorsing foolhardiness.
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,610
This thread has had very long legs with 368 posts so far. I think that was because there was suspense about a possible rescue that people looked forward to. If the implosion had been recognized right away by the public, I think the response on Forums and in general would have been much less powerful, sad but not as affecting.
 
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Jaylotw

Lifer
Mar 13, 2020
1,062
4,069
NE Ohio
This thread has had very long legs with 368 posts so far. I think that was because there was suspense about a possible rescue that people looked forward to. If the implosion had been recognized right away by the public, I think the response on Forums and in general would have been much less powerful, sad but not as affecting.
The suspense, the speculation, the ultimate demise...it's been such a fascinating story to follow, as we've slowly learned more and more. I don't know anyone who hasn't heard about it and has something to say.

I feel like this story might live on, I don't think people will forget it, as it's forever tied to the story of Titanic, itself the most famous of all shipwrecks, and the parallels to Titanic's story are ironic, to say the least.
 

Jaylotw

Lifer
Mar 13, 2020
1,062
4,069
NE Ohio
Terrible! Terrible! And they all signed waivers knowing the risks and the knowledge that there would be no backup sub or ROV. I wouldn't have crawled into that shoddy piece of shit knowing it's history.
Oceangate did a pretty good job of hiding the various lawsuits and stuff, but one father/son duo backed out for safety concerns after doing some research. Rush tried to convince them it was safe...they would've been on the trip which was Titan's last...
 
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Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,960
14,334
Humansville Missouri
I forgot about the submersible Alvin, my real name!

View attachment 229507

Alvin has been rebuilt many times since 1964. It’s sort of the granddaddy of deep submersibles. It more or less obsoleted the Trieste.

Trieste (bathyscaphe) - Wikipedia - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trieste_(bathyscaphe)

The Alvin at 17 tons and three passengers is substantially smaller than Titan, 23 tons and five passengers.

Alvin has a two inch thick titanium pressure hull, and Titan used a five inch thick carbon fiber hull with titanium end caps.

Alvin in the water is actually a true submarine, able to dive and surface, and propel itself, although classed as a submersible because it depends on a mother ship to launch. In the event of an emergency the crew compartment on Alvin detaches and floats up.

Titan’s claim to innovation was it’s ability to carry four passengers and a pilot, which doubles the revenue of a three passenger craft.

And, Titan dived because of detachable weights. To surface the weights were dropped.

The fatal difference was that Woods Hole had the expertise and money to continuously inspect and upgrade Alvin and Ocean Gate neglected Titan one dive too long, before rebuild.
 
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