r/interestingasfuck • u/ThugLeeVoguee • 1d ago

The implosion of the Titan submarine (OceanGate) was so rapid that the pain wasn't even registered by the brain. They didn't feel anything at all. Utterly instantaneous.

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u/Mecha-Dave 1d ago

Sure, but the fun part was when they lost power and drifted without thrust or depth control for up to 40 minutes before the implosion. They might not have even been in a "comfortable" orientation...

And then there's the cracking. As the depth increased, the carbon fiber would be crackling like rice krispies prior to failure. There might even have been some decent "bangs."

So pain? No. Panic? Almost assuredly.

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u/duckduck-a-go-go 1d ago

From what I saw on the Netflix doc the carbon fiber was crackling like crazy way before they even got to any kind of depth.

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u/Mecha-Dave 1d ago

Yes, as an engineer with experience in composites I wouldn't have ever gone near the thing, or ever recommended putting humans in it.

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u/wanderlustcub 1d ago

And the guy who did warn them that it was a death trap had his life ruined by the company suing the hell out of him for years.

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u/SPITFIYAH 1d ago

Well they’re in contempt of court for not showing up on their court date!

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u/WingerRules 1d ago

Was he able to sue them back after the incident?

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u/gleatherman93 1d ago

I was at a conference where a lot of engineers warned him of the risks. He waved it all off and just gave tours aboard a similar submersible. I went onboard. To examine, but would not have gone underwater in one after what I heard from the subject matter experts.

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u/TheBigBangClock 1d ago

They also stored the submersible outside in a parking lot during the winter rather than a temperature controlled environment. The epoxy holding the end caps to the carbon fiber hull needed to be stored indoors and leaving the hull outside all winter also compromised the structural integrity of the carbon fiber since it was regularly enduring freeze/thaw cycles. The level of negligence was astounding.

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u/Agent-Blasto-007 1d ago

A 300+ ft submarine in the Navy is going to make noises at depth.

I can't imagine what noises that thing made.