OceanGate's Titan submersible at the bottom of the sea

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New footage reveals moment of Titan sub implosion amid US Coast Guard investigation

23 May 2025 • Written by Holly Margerrison
 

Footage reveals moment Titan sub imploded

BBC’s soon-to-air documentary Implosion: The Titanic Sub Disaster offers unprecedented footage from Titan’s support ship, capturing the moment the sub imploded during its fatal June 2023 dive.

The video, recently obtained by the US Coast Guard (USCG), has been presented as evidence to the USCG Marine Board of Investigation, which has spent the last two years examining the sub’s catastrophic failure. The footage shows Wendy Rush, Stockton’s wife, reacting to the implosion sound – a “door slam” noise – that the USCG confirmed as the moment Titan failed.

The film also reveals that Titan’s carbon fibre hull began to fail a year earlier due to delamination, a critical weakness that experts warned made the vessel unsafe. Despite these warnings, the sub continued to operate until its tragic implosion.

The USCG Marine Board of Investigation has spent two years examining the incident, with a final report expected later this year.

Implosion: The Titanic Sub Disaster airs on BBC Two at 9pm on Tuesday 27 May and will be available on BBC iPlayer.

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