On June 18, 2023, four men and a teenager climbed into the Titan submersible, a mini submarine, to descend thousands of feet through the dark waters of the North Atlantic until they reached the wreck of the Titanic off the coast of Newfoundland.
As history now knows, none of them returned. Instead, one hour and 45 minutes into the dive, the Titan lost contact with its support ship, the Polar Prince, and vanished.
For four long days the world held its breath until the US Coast Guard finally confirmed that all aboard had perished following a catastrophic implosion of the sub.
The victims included Stockton Rush, the captain and chief executive officer of OceanGate, the American company which owned the Titan.
There were three Britons on board as passengers – Hamish Harding, 58, Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son, Suleman – and 77-year-old Frenchman, Paul-Henri Nargeolet. All died instantly.
