Stockton Rush, the founder and CEO of OceanGate who perished along with four passengers in the catastrophic implosion of the Titan submersible in June 2023, may have intentionally planned his own demise during the ill-fated voyage to the Titanic wreck. This theory is proposed by a friend of Rush and an expert in commercial submersibles, Karl Stanley, who claims that Rush was suicidal and intended to die as part of a narrative to become a historical figure.
Stanley, who knew Rush for years, believes the OceanGate CEO wanted to write himself into the mythology of the Titanic disaster. Rush, who was related by marriage to Isidor and Ida Straus, passengers who died on the Titanic in 1912, may have sought a dramatic end to achieve a form of immortality. "He was suicidal, and he wanted to die in the Titanic. He was going to write himself into the mythology of the Titanic," Stanley stated.
Rush founded OceanGate in 2009 with the ambition to be the "Elon Musk of ocean exploration," according to a former business associate. His venture focused on deep-sea tourism, culminating in the development of the Titan submersible. The vessel, however, was constructed with a carbon fiber hull, a material and design choice that raised significant safety concerns among industry experts.
Despite these concerns, Rush pushed forward with expeditions to the Titanic. The submersible imploded during a dive on June 18, 2023, killing all five people on board: Rush, businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, British explorer Hamish Harding, and French submersible pilot Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
The investigation into the disaster revealed that the implosion was triggered by the failure of the Titan's carbon fiber hull. The debris from the submersible was found approximately 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic.
Matthew Gavin Frank's new book, "Submersed: Wonder, Obsession and Murder in the World of Amateur Submarines," explores the events and individuals surrounding the disaster, including insights from those who knew Rush.