How did the Titanic Five submarine passengers die?

A decorated former Navy doctor has revealed what would have happened during the Titanic Five’s tragic final moments before their vessel suffered a ‘catastrophic implosion.’

Dr. Dale Molé, the former director of undersea medicine and radiation health for the US Navy, told DailyMail.com the deaths would have been quick and painless, dying almost instantly by the extraordinary forces exerted by the ocean at depth.

Molé said: ‘It would have been so sudden, that they wouldn’t even have known that there was a problem, or what happened to them.

‘It’s like being here one minute, and then the switch is turned off. You’re alive one millisecond, and the next millisecond you’re dead.’

US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger confirmed in a Thursday press conference that the search for Titan yielded debris that is ‘consistent with a catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber.’

Five people were onboard, including British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding and Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, who was just 19

The crew were more than 2 miles below the ocean surface, which would have generated more than 5,500 pounds per square inch (PSI) of pressure.

On board the vessel was OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, 61; French Navy veteran Paul-Henri (PH) Nargeolet, 77; British billionaire Hamish Harding, 58; Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 41;  and his son Suleman, who was just 19. 

The tiny vessel carrying the crew was protected by a pressure chamber, a sealed pod that holds internal pressure significantly higher than ambient pressure, a pressurized gas system to control the internal pressure, and a supply of breathing gas for the occupants.

Molé said: ‘The pressure hull is the chamber where the occupants reside. It sounds as though they had reached the bottom when the pressure vessel imploded, and usually, when it gives way, it gives way all at once. 

‘It sounds like it was the carbon fiber cylinder that gave way and resulted in the implosion.’

How the pressure chamber was breached remains unclear. But such an implosion could be due to a leak, power failure, or small fire from an electrical short circuit. 

What would have resulted would have been a violent and instantaneous implosion as the high pressure water outside flooded in, wrenching away the rear cover, landing frame, and ripping apart the sub’s hull, crushing those inside. 

Molé said: ‘They would have been ripped to shreds. 

‘An implosion is when the wave of pressure is inward, whereas an explosion is when the pressure wave or the shock wave goes out from whatever the source of that is.’

He explained it like blowing up a balloon too much – the balloon will eventually pop when there is too much pressure.

In an implosion, the opposite occurs, when there is more outward pressure than the container can understand, then the insides collapse. 

Molé said: ‘When somebody stands on an empty soda can, it would support your weight, but then if you press on the sides, the can would collapse immediately.’ 

He added: ‘It’s simply where the debris and fragments and everything else goes inward because of a strong external force. In this case, it was the ocean.

‘At least at the depth of the Titanic, which is 12,500 feet, the external pressure would be 6,000 lbs per square inch. It’s that pressure that, if there were a weakness in the hull, would cause the hull to collapse and suddenly creates a shockwave. An implosion can certainly be every bit of destructive as an explosion.’

According to Scientific American, if the submersible was near the Titanic, it would have experienced higher pressure than a great white shark bite.

Nicolai Roterman, a deep-sea ecologist at the University of Portsmouth, UK, agreed if such an implosion did occur, the pressure would have killed the  occupants almost instantly.

‘If there was any kind of hull breach, the occupants would succumb to the ocean in a near instant.’

French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) was in the sub along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition

The company’s Titan sub submerged at 8am EST on Sunday morning around 400 miles southeast of St John’s, Newfoundland, according to the US Coast Guard. It lost contact at 9.45am but it wasn’t reported to the Coast Guard until 5.40pm

After Thursday’s announcement of the deaths of the Titanic Five, tributes were posted and released. 

Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77 – known universally as PH – was part of the first human expedition to visit the Titanic’s wreck in 1987, and had visited the site at least 35 times. His family said their hearts were broken over his death. 

‘He is a man who will be remembered as one of the greatest deep-sea explorers in modern history. When you think of the Titanic and all we know about the ship today, you will think of Paul-Henri Nargeolet and his legendary work.

‘But what we will remember him most for is his big heart, his incredible sense of humor and how much he loved his family. We will miss him today and every day for the rest of our lives.’

Harding’s company Action Aviation also released a statement on the news of his passing. 

“Hamish Harding was a loving husband to his wife and a dedicated father to his two sons, whom he loved deeply. To his team in Action Aviation, he was a guide, an inspiration, a support, and a Living Legend,” a statement read.