Philadelphia Inventor ‘Solves’ What Went Wrong with the Oceangate Titan Sub. The Problem Was Avoidable: ‘It Doesn’t Make Sense Underwater’

Nearly four years ago, the world was gripped with the news of billionaires going missing while onboard the Oceangate Titan Submersible. Social media debated for days whether or not the passengers survived. Days later, it was discovered that everyone on board had passed away. While the sub was confirmed to implode, there’s been scant reporting on why it happened in the first place. Daisy Foko Granson (@daisyfoko), an inventor from Philadelphia, explained why the engineering of the Oceangate sub failed.

Granson put aside everything most people already knew: that the Oceangate sub had a video game controller and that those onboard were gradually running out of oxygen. Many things could have gone wrong, but what Granson wanted to talk about is what she believed to be the “inciting incident” that caused the implosion.

Just on a first look at the sub, she said she could tell why it “probably imploded.” The shape of the sub’s body was odd, to say the least. But she doesn’t dwell on it. Instead, Granson talked about the history of submarine design.

Why are submarines built with steel?

She explained that although the first submarines were made of wood, the first “good” submarines were constructed with steel. “We’re really lucky to have that element available. It’s actually crazy how valuable steel is,” she said.

Then, when humans discovered that they could use titanium to craft subs and planes, they started using the element. Titanium is non-corrosive and lighter, which is why engineers started tinkering with it. While there are titanium submarines nowadays, the industry standard remains to be steel—primarily due to costs.

“And then, carbon fiber entered the chat,” Granson said. “Carbon fiber is very strong. Its fabric is woven and then covered in a special lamination process.” She noted that for planes, carbon fiber is the ideal material because it’s light—and less weight is what airplanes need.

“What’s not great about carbon fiber is the fact that it’s fiber. So, it’s a lot better at pulling things than it is pushing things,” she demonstrated with a string. In terms of physics, a string exhibits elasticity better when it’s pulled. If the string is being scrunched, it’ll go slack and have little to no resistance.

Carbon fiber might be the culprit to the Oceangate tragedy

“Very quickly, it doesn’t make sense for carbon fiber to be underwater more than titanium does, for several reasons,” Granson commented. She claims it has been tested before and that this is common knowledge for engineers for over 60 years. “It does well for a while. Carbon fiber can go underwater for a while… But again, that whole push-pull thing is a problem because when you’re underwater, you’re being pushed on constantly.” Essentially, the carbon fiber itself is bound to wear out.

Ultimately, Granson believes that underwater travel plays against the strengths of carbon fiber because of water pressure. Moreover, she pointed out that carbon fiber has multiple fraction points under its lamination.

So, what does this all have to do with the Oceangate sub?

“Saltwater is very corrosive,” Granson said. “Your sub might do very well underwater made of carbon fiber one time, two times, three times, four times, five times… But every time that it’s in that saltwater, the lamination is being stripped. And so, it’s not before long that somewhere on this carbon fiber, it’s going to be delaminated to the point where collapse is in it.”

The unsettling part about Granson’s explanation is that the carbon fiber only needed a “needlepoint” fracture for it to implode in the depths the Oceangate sub was in.

“It looks sort of very MacGyver’d together, because it is,” Granson alleged. The engineering of the sub supposedly went against conventional knowledge and failed. Rush may have flown too close to the sun, and he brought a few unwitting people with him to their untimely demise.

(featured image: Harvey Clements, Daisy Foko Granson, Cemrecan Yurtman)

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