Titan rescue delayed by US paperwork
In an astonishing display of bureaucratic ineptitude, the US Government successfully delayed rescue efforts to find the Titan submersible, missing while diving to the site of the 1912 Titanic sinking.
A delay by US officials in approving paperwork is hampering the mission to find a submersible with five people trapped on board, an advisor to the company that owns the sub said.
The Titan craft was conducting a trip to the wreck of the Titanic organized by the tourism company OceanGate when it submerged on Sunday morning.
Its support vessel lost contact with it about an hour and 45 minutes into its trip, the Coast Guard has said.
David Concannon, an advisor to OceanGate, told NewsNation on Monday that vital search-and-rescue equipment was sitting on a plane on the island of Guernsey because US officials hadn’t signed off on the paperwork.
The crew in the submersible could run out of oxygen by Thursday afternoon if the vessel is still intact.
The search is being conducted about 435 miles south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, where in 1912 the Titanic sank on its maiden voyage, with more than a thousand passengers and crew members perishing.
Apparently the bureaucrats responsible for signing off such a request were on holiday Monday and unavailable. Wonder if they could have been available if a real national emergency arose?
he teams also expanded their underwater search capability on Tuesday by adding a remotely operated vehicle in order to reach lower depths. That search is ongoing.
But even if the crews can locate the vessel at a low depth, hauling it up to the surface is another task. The Titan could be at a depth of over 13,000 feet and a distance of over 900 miles offshore. Frederick said the search and rescue crews did not yet have salvage equipment in place.
Category: "Your Tax Dollars At Work", Coast Guard
I hope for the best outcome for them and their families. That has to be terrifying.
More Biden Regime ineptitude. They should have said there was CCP bribe money on the Titanic wreck.
Sooooo they don’t actually want anyone to find out anything about the Titanic itself. Like what was the REAL reason it was sunk. Thereby sacrificing these folks in the sub. A huh.
Jackie O’s comment went over as well as I thought it would when I approved it.
I’m kind of curious what the conspiracy theory says is the “REAL” reason it was sunk and why after a couple of decades of people exploring the wreck or the Titanic “they” decided to stop this one tourist sub from doing so.
Mr Van Winkle has apparently written a tribute song some years ago…
Guess no one has smart phones in government in 2023.
Obama had a pen and a cell phone. Nobody else. Well, Hillary allegedly had cell phones.
Not to mention the server she wiped with a cloth…
Yes, the cloth was called Bleach-Bit.
She had Blackberries until they were smashed by her staff, so that none of her emails or texts could be recovered.
No emergency contact info? Really? No flow chart for emergencies? No one could simply make an executive decision and sign it off themselves and say “Okay… we’ll go,” Eisenhower style?
I’d say these folks should be ashamed of themselves but… they aren’t familiar with that word.
Everyone wants to be the HMFIC right up until it’s time to sign on the blame line.
Typical government ineptitude. Bravo, bureaucrats.
I read that even our nuke subs are limited to about 1400 ft.
Didn’t know that. Used to watch the sub movies as a kid.
“run silent, run deep” for one.
Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster and Don Rickles.
Toured a sub in Boston harbor while a Boy Scout. No thanks!
“I read about our nuke subs that…”
*grin*
I’m a lot more concerned about the crews going out on SAR for these idiots, and who is footing the bill for the effort.
Shack.
How many SAR aircraft and crews do we put at risk to look for these uber-rich assclowns who shouldn’t have been out in deep water f*cking around on a “tourist submarine” in the first place?
These “adventurers” need to realize that when they intentionally go out and do stupid shit like this, SAR assets may not always be put at risk to go out and save their stupid asses.
Doing stupid shit frequently has extremely adverse consequences.
Oh well. At least the ASW bubbas are getting some good, realistic “live” training out of this.
Bodies of dumb dead millionaires pave the road to the top of Mount Everest. If Somebody wants to participate in high stakes adventure tourism, at the extreme margins, then they need to realize that their luck is going to run out at some point.
Even if they find the submersible, intact, in time, which is very unlikely, they have practically no way to bring it up in time. The real lesson here is don’t take an experimental, uncertified, unregulated submersible, controlled by a Nintendo controller with a single pilot; two and a half miles underneath the ocean and expect bad things not to happen. Not everybody is going to want to risk their life to save your dumb ass.
I feel for the families and loved ones and hope for the best, but it will be a miracle if they are found and recovered in time. Running out of air has to be a horrible way to go. Of course, the alternatives–implosion or flooding leading to drowning–are much quicker.
If US bureaucrats delayed recovery efforts by even a minute, that’s evidence that our system is broken. With that said, many of us have worked alongside .gov Civilians. “Sorry, Mr. GS-15 is on vacation, let me try to Ms. GS-14, she’s teleworking at the moment and usually takes her lunch now.” In this case, it appears that our newly minted and very necessary Juneteenth holiday may have cost lives. Probably not, but I’ll blame it anyway.
With that said, I don’t do heights, don’t do depths, and don’t do anything overly slippery, steep, isolated, or difficult to self-recover from. Deep-sea diving, cave diving and exploration, mountain climbing, all that can be saved for the rich thrill-seekers and professionals. How many unrecoverable bodies are on Everest and in deep water-filled crevices around the world?
I’m a GS employee that works for range control. The only time we shut down is on Federal holidays or weekends when nothing scheduled, but even on those days our higher ups have government issued cell phones on them in order to respond to emergencies. Our policy is that if there is a single Soldier in any training area under our control someone has to man the desk and the radios. On a side note, we do get a bad rap because we have to follow and enforce rules and regulations foisted on us by the GO level bureaucrats that a lot of the time even we think are stupid, but have no choice in the matter. We bend over backwards in order to facilitate training, but a lot of times the regulations forbid us from approving something or, let’s be honest, the brain trust in BN staffs think something is a good idea when in fact it is stupid and more dangerous than it whould be.
Cool. I’m going to make sure that I’m not fucking things up now that I’m a staff officer.
The main issues are usually having troops in other troops SDZs or trying to fire a weapon system that the range they are requesting does not support. The one that is off the top of my head was trying to fire the M240 and M2 on the M4 qualification range.
“The Vessel That Takes Tourists To See The Titanic Shipwreck Is A Submersible, Not A Submarine. The Distinction Is Key To Why It’s Missing”
https://www.insider.com/missing-titanic-vessel-difference-between-submersible-and-submarine-2023-6
“Titan is a submersible, not a submarine.”
“This means that it is launched from a support ship, which takes the vessel to the site where it will deep dive, similar to how a boat deposits a scuba diver into an area of the ocean to explore.”
“A submersible is smaller than a submarine and does not have the power to get to a port. It also needs a mothership to help recover it.”
“Submarines, on the other hand, can launch themselves into the ocean from a port independently.”
“Titan was designed to be piloted with a video game controller and fitted with “off-the-shelf” components.”
“The interior of the Titan is no bigger than a minivan and can accommodate around five people sitting cross-legged, as well as several screen displays and some camera equipment.”
“The vessel is sealed with at least 17 deadbolts, which means the only way to get people out is to find and open it up.”
“Submersibles typically have a drop weight, which is “a mass they can release in the case of an emergency to bring them up to the surface using buoyancy.”
“If there was a power failure and/or communication failure, this might have happened, and the submersible would then be bobbing about on the surface waiting to be found.”
But all submarines are boats, and boats by definition are carried by ships.
Navy dooods sure talk funny.
Is it just me, or is that thing kind of shaped like a turd?
USMC Steve,
Worse,
a pinch turd.
That said, turd jokes today seem so wrong, so very wrong.
A turd that don’t float.
Lord, I apologize, that ain’t funny. And be with the starvin’ pygmies down there in Africa.
I typed into google to get a better idea of what this thing looked like — first image to pop up was the one posted above with the caption “Lieutenants doing land nav.”
🤦🏻♂️
😉😎
“Not Funny—Plenty Of Jokes Made On Social Media About The Lost ‘Titanic Submersible'”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/petersuciu/2023/06/20/not-funny-plenty-of-jokes-made-on-social-media-about-the-lost-titanic-submersible/
“Did you hear the one about Ocean Gate’s ‘Titan’ submersible? Chances are if you’ve been on social media at all this week you’ve seen at least a few jokes that are in very bad taste—none of which are truly worth repeating.”
“Humor has always been subjective, especially following a tragedy, but in the social media era, such ill-timed jokes aren’t just in bad taste, they can be truly hurtful.”
Or truthful as some memes show from time to time. And some memes are in bad taste, but people still spew liquid from their noses while rolling their eyes.
Dark humor and all that. Some like and some don’t.
Yeah, I’ve got a boat load of jokes. See what I did there?
At this point it is a human tragedy though and I hope for a rescue.
And safety for all involved.
I’ll keep the jokes to myself.
Dark humor is very subjective…but in the era of social media at the end of the day if you do something really fucking stupid and it kills you a lot of people these days are going to be laughing at your death.
Whether that is appropriate or inappropriate depends largely on the person viewing said dark humor and their personal sensibilities around such things.
The irony of spending a quarter million dollars to view the wreck of the Titanic and then perhaps joining it as another component of the wreck site for all eternity will be a source of humor appropriate and inappropriate for at least a few weeks and then the mob will move on to the next disaster.
The current climate in this country doesn’t leave a lot of sympathy for those who can afford to do anything they want without concern for money who then choose to do something dangerous and it takes them out…not a lot of people crying over the 17 dead on Everest this year and very few will be concerned about a CEO of a tourist sub and his billionaire client.
I’m not certain what that says about our society as a whole, but I suspect it’s somewhat less than flattering.
Ya pays your money, ya takes your chances. It’s what medical examiners call “death by misadventure”.
And if your choice of fun and adventure, high risk or dollar amount results in death, at that point you’re just as wealthy as the person they bury you next to.
Death. The great equalizer. Who says equity ain’t possible!
You posted this, here?
Well played.
*grin*
There’s so many out there….😶
https://9gag.com/tag/submarine
Well that didn’t take long.
Must be an email server or laptop on board. That’s why the fed.gov is in no itching hurry to “find” any paperwork.
Not a whole lot of sympathy for the ones that took this dive. They knowed the job was dangerous when they took it, pilgrim.
Not a whole lot of confidence that the submersible will be found in time either. Implosion? Hull collapse? An oops moment?
Every body on Everest was once an affluent highly motivated “explorer” as well…when you have that kind of capital to spend without any concerns the choices you make sometimes prove lethal.
Private planes, mountain climbing, cave crawling, racing, ocean crossing in small yachts (50 feet or less), the list is damn near endless on ways to get yourself killed while chasing an adrenaline rush…I’ve done some racing, some sailing in blue water during big storms, and a few other really fucking stupid pursuits as well…fortunately it’s not cost me anything beyond some road rash and a few broken bones from time to time…
But I could easily have been taken out by my choices as well…sometimes we have to accept that what we choose to do might end us today. We then have to weigh that reality against our obligations to our families and decide if it’s time to put away our childish, selfish choices and take care of those who rely on us to be here tomorrow. That’s also a less than fun reality at times, that our obligations require some self sacrifice and discipline for a period of time when we’d rather being doing that more interesting and exciting stuff…
A submersible that seems cobbled together under two and a half miles of water appears to my simple mind as a truly poor way to seek some adrenaline rush, but that’s just me perhaps.
VOV,
Lots of trail markers on Everest.
Turn left at red vest.
Veer to the right at green boots.
Annual changes to the trail markers,
as some get blown further down a slope,
and some magically vanish down a long drop or into a crevice.
They just released two more names. Pakistani billionaire and personal friend of the King of England as well as his son, Shazada Dawood. Somebody summon Roh dog so we can get some conspiracy theories spun up, stat.
You say this thing as to offend?
I’m here to tell ya, it only emboldens my motivation to fight against the reptilian overlords!
On the other hand, I got nothing…
I am disappointed.
What if the 5th man is Hunter Biden’s lawyer? How about then? Dropping him to the bottom of the Atlantic after getting a sweet heart deal would be more Clintonesque, but not off the table.
Man, I need a cigarette after that!
I’ve given you updoots all the way down this thread but if you keep stealing my thunder you’ll earn that down thumb!
It’s always the Clintoons…
Maybe someone onboard knew the location of Joseph Mifsud?
Happy now?
Watching the committee hearing with Durham. Man… we are so freaking screwed.
Past time to do this…
Thumbs up to the meme.
I heard that the passengers had to sign a waiver to take the deep dive.
I am willing to be the survivor families didn’t sign a single document.
Implosion:
The thing that got to me….and gave me a BIG case of the “NOPES”, is that there’s no beacon or LF (Low Frequency) communications on that “three hour tour” sinking coffin.
I hope that the submersible is found in time, with all tourists alive.
But I’m highly doubting that either will happen.
God rest their souls.
I’m wondering why they just didn’t run a tether on the sub instead of having it free moving. Obviously using tethered underwater drones shows the concept is valid.
The couple-three miles of cable stout enough to recover the vessel from depth? They’d need another support ship just for the reel.
Money
I took one look at this sub and felt ill, then the guy in the video said it was basically a tube of carbon fiber and I wanted to puke. The guy running this youtube channel was a sub guy (sonar I think) for 20, so he knows his shit.
And there it is at the 5:20 mark.
Spot on. I grew up looking up to my elders and tried to emulate them as I aged. When I joined the Marine Corps, I was inspired by the Senior SNCO’s and Officers and tried to emulate them as my time in the service progressed. When I was a new Texas State Trooper, I was inspired by the old hands that had made the Texas Highway Patrol what it was and tried to emulate them when I was working the road.
I guess I did it wrong.
If you’re still here you didn’t do it wrong, just smarter than them.
Sounds like the CEO has pulled a Bernathian-level DAM but took other people down with him. Much further than -6 AGLs.
Mike Nelson would know what to do.
DAMN, you’re old!
Yeah, I was going to say something about that, but since I hadn’t seen the Argonaut listed as one of the search vessels, I passed on doing a reply. / s
Can’t wait for the first space tourist recovery mission.
Don’t bother, they will go through the cremation process upon reentry.
Here’s a song from the 1980’s to play in the background while reading this article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OsZTJ5vfUs
It looks like AF Rescue is ‘in the game’. C-130 (16-5863) attached to 102nd Rescue Squadron (102 RQS) left Gabreski ANG Base around noon (eastern) heading in the direction of the search box.
Happy hunting, Zoomies!
(repost cuz I shmart!)
RSQ5863 is back over LI, NY at 21:41 hours (eastern).
Let’s hope they did a good.
So, I almost got smoked on my way to work Monday. Some idiot in a hurry
passing in a no pass zone. Die on my way to work, or die exploring the Titanic? I’m going with Titanic. As for them being rich folks blowing their money, what do I care? It’s their money.
Now, for rescue gear sitting on the tarmac. I tell stories like this to my civilian friends all the time. The US government is grossly incompetent. The jackass in command clearly has no foresight, or he would have made his #2 capable of making decisions in his absence. And we can climb the chain of command to whomever put that less than stellar CO in charge. Probably some flag/general officer who got the job by hobnobbing in Congress. Anyway, condolences to the families, and I hope that jackass CO gets fired.
Just in… Owner of sunken sub didn’t hire “50-year-old white guys” because he wanted the crew “to be younger, to be inspirational” instead… despite that competence and not age/color/gender matters two miles down:
https://confirmedsource.com/titan-sub-oceangate-ceo-didnt-want-to-hire-50-year-old-white-guys-because-theyre-not-inspirational/
No, wait, there’s more… They fired a guy who raised safety concerns:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/company-behind-missing-tourist-sub-053000248.html
Well, they can console themselves with the thought that they did their part for diversity!
Just sayin’. Commies gonna commie:
If the Titanic sank today
I’ve heard that even the f that submersible made it to the surface they wouldn’t be able to open the hatch because they’re bolted shut from the outside.
Operational definition of “f*cked”.
I read that the owner of this said “OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush, who is aboard the missing submersible, once explained why he preferred not to hire “50-year-old White guys” with military experience to pilot his company’s vessels.
Rush said he valued captains who were “inspirational” over experience, noting that “anybody can drive the sub,” which is controlled with a $30 video game controller“. Tell us how that worked out for you and your passengers, Mr. Rush. What’s that, you can’t talk right now?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/oceangate-ceo-explains-why-he-didnt-want-to-hire-50-year-old-white-guys-to-pilot-subs/ar-AA1cR3go
Couldn’t they have just gone over Niagara Falls in that thing? Clean up would have been a lot easier!
Hope they survive this but have my doubts.
It will be interesting to see the whole story in the end without all the CYA posturing.
I hope for a good outcome
The submersible imploded off Titanic’s bow. The only question is whether any bodies can be recovered.
Doesn’t sounds like this delay, however fucked up, had any impact at all on the outcome. Implosion likely happened well before the company even called the Coast Guard.
Yes, the experts are saying it likely happened on Sunday when commo stopped along with a sonar ping emitted by the submersible.
At that pressure there are no ‘slow leaks’.
I’m gonna go with no.
One experienced submariner said the implosion likely shredded the bodies to the point they look like globs of spaghetti.