The US Navy reportedly detected the Titan sub implosion less than two hours after the submersible set out on its journey to the Titanic wreckage.
Thanks to the Navy’s acoustic detection system, which has been around since the 1950s to help with the early detection of potential enemy vessels, Titan’s implosion was detected one hour and 45 minutes after the sub’s descent.
Officials have confirmed that the sub imploded just around 1,600 feet away from the Titanic wreckage due to unknown causes.
Everyone on board was killed instantly.
“The U.S. Navy conducted an analysis of acoustic data and detected an anomaly consistent with an implosion or explosion in the general vicinity of where the Titan submersible was operating when communications were lost,” a senior Navy official told The Wall Street Journal.
The source continued: “While not definitive, this information was immediately shared with the Incident Commander to assist with the ongoing search and rescue mission.”
Since the news of the detected implosion was previously kept secret, questions as to why the multi-million international mission classed as ‘search and rescue’ was launched in the first place have risen.
It wasn’t until Thursday when parts of Titan were discovered on the ocean floor that the deaths of the sub’s five crew members were confirmed.
This comes after the US Coast Guard claimed that the implosion was not detected by their sonar buoys which were deployed after the search began, signifying that the implosion of the sub must have occurred shortly after its descent and before the search was launched.
“We had listening devices in the water throughout and did not hear any signs of catastrophic failure from those,” Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger said on Thursday.
“The implosion would have generated a significant, broadband sound that the sonar buoys would have picked up.”
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