Originally Posted by :
A search and rescue operation is currently underway to locate a submarine that went missing during an expedition to the Titanic.
The U.S. Coast Guard was looking for the submarine Monday morning after it disappeared during the expedition from St. John's, N.L. The infamous 1912 wreck is located more than 600 kilometres southeast of the province in the North Atlantic Ocean.
The trip to the Titanic was being run by OceanGate Expeditions, a U.S.-based company. It uses a five-person submersible named Titan to reach the wreckage 3,800 metres below the surface. OceanGate's website advertises a seven-night voyage to the Titanic for US$250,000 per person, or approximately CA$330,000.
"We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely," an OceanGate spokesperson said in an email to CTV News. "Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families."
Those tours are a series of five eight-day missions to the Titanic with the money raised by tourists going towards Titanic research. Posts on social media show the ship launched from the St. John's area last week.
Did they really have 5 people in this?? Or do they have a larger version??
Um buddy, if you don't want it in an airplane, you don't want it 2 miles below the water...
I mean surely that's not the full story.
It probably isn’t, but I could see the argument for testing carbon fiber out on submersibles without crew in if repeatedly to see the effects that using it deep in the ocean could have and if it was possible.
But I don’t believe OceanGate did that. They took a $447K PPP loan in 2020 and had $450K forgiven.
There’s no ****ing way this company should’ve been operating for commercial travel with all the corners they cut. [Reply]
And even most people that dive consider that sort of thing a bridge too far. Everyone's appetite for risk -AND control - is a little different.
Most times it's going to be directly proportional; people who take greater risks demand more control. That said, there's also a thresshold point where you reach a 'trust the experts' mindset. If I'm going to jump from a plane, for instance, I'm letting the guys who have run this shop pack my chute. And if/when I do a trimix dive, I'm not gonna be the guy blending those cannisters. Oh sure, I'll make sure it's all rigged up, but I do have to put SOME level of trust in someone else when I'm presuming that they didn't fill the whole damn tank with helium.
Now in time I'll take the wheel there as I know you can alter those mixes a bit depending on the depth and purpose of the dive - but that wouldn't come until I had a ton of experience with it. How precisely would one ever get tha level of experience with deep water submersibles.
At a certain risk threshhold, you have to either BE an expert or TRUST the experts. I just don't think the former is doable here.
Originally Posted by ghak99:
Some people sit on the couch and watch. Some people want to lay their nuts on the mountain top. Some would say only one of the two have actually lived.
For me, people with the means and no desire to push the envelope of their choice are the most disappointing part of society.
What an incredible celebration of a pack of hapless morons. (And one hapless moron's kid) Most people who "lay their nuts on the mountaintop" bother to learn a thing or two about mountain climbing before they do it.
This wasn't bravery. It was ignorance and ego. [Reply]
Originally Posted by GloryDayz:
I can say that I've been beyond 800 feet. :-) I was on sturgeon class submarines and the one-of-a-kind USS Narwhal (a very unique Sturgeon class boat), and that class' rated test depth 1,300 to 1,600 feet.
Honestly, we didn't spend too much of our time "deep", it's sort of pointless unless you're looking for something in that layer, frequently put us in thermal layers that weren't optimal for our operation, and really was stress on parts of the boat that just weren't necessary for the mission.
Wow, USS Narwhal. One of the machinist mates on our boat had served on Narwhal and was glad that he did just because of how unique it was.
Our boat was Topeka sub class of 688's so we did not go as deep. [Reply]
And even most people that dive consider that sort of thing a bridge too far. Everyone's appetite for risk -AND control - is a little different.
Most times it's going to be directly proportional; people who take greater risks demand more control. That said, there's also a thresshold point where you reach a 'trust the experts' mindset. If I'm going to jump from a plane, for instance, I'm letting the guys who have run this shop pack my chute. And if/when I do a trimix dive, I'm not gonna be the guy blending those cannisters. Oh sure, I'll make sure it's all rigged up, but I do have to put SOME level of trust in someone else when I'm presuming that they didn't fill the whole damn tank with helium.
Now in time I'll take the wheel there as I know you can alter those mixes a bit depending on the depth and purpose of the dive - but that wouldn't come until I had a ton of experience with it. How precisely would one ever get tha level of experience with deep water submersibles.
At a certain risk threshhold, you have to either BE an expert or TRUST the experts. I just don't think the former is doable here.
With the price of helium and all that goes into it, it's something you really have to decide if it's your thing, or not. And, with the next level being hypoxic trimix and all the extra training you need their for the travel gas knowledge, at this point in the industry, Closed Circuit Rebreather (CCR) makes a lot of sense.
But you really need to have a really good reason to do trimix, hypoxic trimix, and even CCR IMO. It's a very expense game and if you're not living where you can do it a lot, you can go poor just lugging the stuff on planes.
But if you really want to dive something like the Might O (Oriskany) in Florida:
Or the wrecks in Truk lagoon:
You'll want some of these advanced skills and certs to make it worth it. [Reply]
Originally Posted by jettio:
Wow, USS Narwhal. One of the machinist mates on our boat had served on Narwhal and was glad that he did just because of how unique it was.
Our boat was Topeka sub class of 688's so we did not go as deep.
The Narwhal was 100% the foshizzle. SOOOOOOOO cool... I'm shocked the 88s didn't take more of her idea and put them into their platform. But these new Virginia class boats seem to be one hell of a platform, and not as spendy as Seawolf, so it's a win... And that escape trunk if my favorite feature. Getting in and out via the forward escape trunk was only fun the first few times. [Reply]
Originally Posted by jettio:
Wow, USS Narwhal. One of the machinist mates on our boat had served on Narwhal and was glad that he did just because of how unique it was.
Our boat was Topeka sub class of 688's so we did not go as deep.
I served on 688's and SSBN's but also on Submarine NR-1 (Rickover's baby -Nuclear Research 1) which went well beyond those depths. It had viewing ports, manipulator arm, Tines and basket. A million times different from a fast attack or boomer sub. Interesting, scary and exciting all wrapped up in a 135 ft, tiny reactor, four thrusters, a 12 person underway crew submarine with alcohol filled wheels... [Reply]
Originally Posted by GloryDayz:
The Narwhal was 100% the foshizzle. SOOOOOOOO cool... I'm shocked the 88s didn't take more of her idea and put them into their platform. But these new Virginia class boats seem to be one hell of a platform, and not as spendy as Seawolf, so it's a win... And that escape trunk if my favorite feature. Getting in and out via the forward escape trunk was only fun the first few times.
So, did you qualify as ship's diver or did you take up diving later?
I was ship's diver, but have not done a lot since. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KC Dan:
I served on 688's and SSBN's but also on Submarine NR-1 (Rickover's baby -Nuclear Research 1) which went well beyond those depths. It had viewing ports, manipulator arm, Tines and basket. A million times different from a fast attack or boomer sub. Interesting, scary and exciting all wrapped up in a 135 ft, tiny reactor, four thrusters, a 12 person underway crew submarine with alcohol filled wheels...
Wow, you have to be top notch to serve on NR-1. I actually was wondering if it could be used to help in this situation, but considering that the implosion was picked up on Sunday, I was suppose US Navy knew the score right away. [Reply]
