Bone-chilling TikTok clips show what the “catastrophic implosion” of the Titan submersible might have looked like — a terrifying re-enactment of the event that killed five passengers in the North Atlantic’s treacherous depths.
Implosions occur shockingly fast, as demonstrated by an old animation of a railroad tanker suddenly collapsing.
TikTok animators extrapolated what that might have looked like underwater.
In one clip, posted by user @sincerelybootz, a vessel that looks like a military sub suddenly flattens out, curls into a taco-shaped piece of metal, and rips apart — leaving behind nothing but air bubbles and shrapnel.
“It’s very instantaneous as far as death when it comes to any lives that may be on board,” the narrator states.
In another clip, posted by user @starfieldstudio, the OceanGate Titan is careening toward the seafloor when it begins to crumble like a stomped tin can. Metal explodes after the implosion, leaving no trace of the craft.
“The hull would immediately heat the air in the sub to around the surface of the sun’s temperature, as a wall of metal and seawater smashed one end of the boat to the other, all in around 30 milliseconds,” the caption reads.
On Thursday, the US Coast Guard announced that an implosion killed all passengers instantly as they plummeted to the sea’s black depths to explore the 111-year-old remains of the Titanic.
Debris from the Titan wreckage found on the ocean floor — some 12,500 feet below the surface — is “consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber,” which means the weight of the ocean crushed it sometime after the Titan lost touch with its surface vessel Sunday.
An unmanned undersea probe found five big pieces of debris about 1,600 feet from the RMS Titanic, which sank in 1912. It’s not clear what caused the implosion.
The ship’s hull is still missing, authorities said. But the debris would only have been found if the vessel had suddenly imploded.
Tourist submersible exploring Titanic wreckage disappears in Atlantic Ocean
What we know
A submersible on a pricey tourist expedition to the Titanic shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean has vanished with likely only four days’ worth of oxygen. The US Coast Guard said the small submarine began its journey underwater with five passengers Sunday morning, and the Canadian research vessel that it was working with lost contact with the crew about an hour and 45 minutes into the dive.
It was later found that a top-secret team with the US Navy detected the implosion of the Titan submersible on Sunday, but did not stop search efforts due because the evidence was “not definitive” and a decision was made to “make every effort to save the lives on board.”
Who was on board?
The family of world explorer Hamish Harding confirmed on Facebook that he was among the five traveling in the missing submarine. Harding, a British businessman who previously paid for a space ride aboard the Blue Origin rocket last year, shared a photo of himself on Sunday signing a banner for OceanGate’s latest voyage to the shipwreck.
Also onboard were Pakistani energy and tech mogul Shanzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman, 19; famed French diver and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush.
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- Titanic tourist Hamish Harding’s family slams OceanGate for delay in reporting missing sub
- Coast Guard knew Titan sub imploded Sunday, but continued search anyway — here’s why
What’s next?
“We’re doing everything we can do to locate the submersible and rescue those on board,” Rear Adm. John Mauger told reporters. “In terms of the hours, we understood that was 96 hours of emergency capability from the operator.
Coast Guard officials said they are currently focusing all their efforts on locating the sub first before deploying any vessel capable of reaching as far below as 12,500 feet where the Titanic wreck is located.
Mauger, first district commander and leader of the search-and-rescue mission, said the US was coordinating with Canada on the operation.
The debris recovered from the US Coast Guard’s Titan submersible search site early Thursday included “a landing frame and a rear cover from the submersible.”
After search efforts to recover the stranded passengers proved futile, and bits of debris from the submersible were found, it was decided that the sub imploded, which correlated with an anomaly picked up by the US Navy in the same area.
The Coast Guard later reported that all 5 passengers were confirmed dead, and rescue efforts were halted.
The Coast Guard didn’t say whether there was any plan to recover bodies.
The passengers lost on the vessel were British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, French Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Sulaiman.
“We offer our most heartfelt condolences for the loved ones of the crew,” Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick said Thursday.
The US and Canadian coast guards mounted a massive search for the sub, which only had about 96 hours worth of oxygen.
But it was too late.
“Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time,” OceanGate said in a statement. “We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.”
