# Titanic tourist submarine missing 6-19-2023 (Debris field found, passengers presumed dead. 06-22-23) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** breaking-news\ **Created:** [June 19, 2023, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781 "2023-06-19T16:29:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781/61 "2023-06-20T02:06:41Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > At least one of the “tourists” on previous dives was a 12 year old child. That company should have been prosecuted for child endangerment. I think that was Hamish’s son. He can’t give consent to such an activity, you’d argue? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781/62 "2023-06-20T02:09:13Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I hope they pull through by some unlikely miracle but- there shouldn’t be such dangerous tourism in the depths of the ocean any more than we should have tourism in space. These risks should only be taken for scientific research, not to have someone who has nothing better to do with his money have something to boast about. Your recurrent use of the word “should” here is rather insidiously ambiguous. Are you suggesting that there should be legislation banning excursions like this one, or the suborbital flights that Bezos set up with Blue Origin? Or any such future endeavors? I don’t. I simply believe that the extent of legal mandates should be the same as for people entering into financial arrangements that may potentially be risky: the provider has an obligation to inform their customers of the risks and, if appropriate, even to take reasonable care to ensure that such communication is understood, but nothing more. In financial situations the usual risk statement is in the form of a prospectus, which is legally required to be accurate and complete, but the obligations of the offer provider end there. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781/63 "2023-06-20T02:11:50Z")
Yeah–I do some pretty risky shit, guided and unguided. I appreciate the regulations about helicopter skiing, but I’d be pretty pissed off if it was banned. And SCUBA. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781/64 "2023-06-20T02:13:39Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#): > > He can’t give consent to such an activity, you’d argue? Yes. Parents have a lot of authority, but they don’t have the authority to put their child in real danger. That’s when the child is in need of protection and child protection agencies get involved. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781/65 "2023-06-20T02:27:33Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > there shouldn’t be such dangerous tourism in the depths of the ocean any more than we should have tourism in space. It’s easier to build a spacecraft than a submersible. A spacecraft only has to withstand one atmosphere. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781/66 "2023-06-20T02:38:44Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/O4RLOo6bchU/maxresdefault.jpg "Over 150 Atmospheres of Pressure") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4RLOo6bchU) As explained on Futurama. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781/67 "2023-06-20T02:46:08Z")
Seems simplistic. A spacecraft also needs to be light. A submersible does not. I’m not meaning to suggest that lack of weight restriction solves all problems, but what is easier and what is harder is a far more complex calculation. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781/68 "2023-06-20T02:48:57Z")
What non-essential activities do you engage in, so that I can point out the dangers inherent in them that you are too habituated to notice? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781/69 "2023-06-20T02:59:09Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > A spacecraft also needs to be light. A submersible does not. A spacecraft needs to be light, but it doesn’t _need_ to be heavy for 1000 millibars. A submarine can be heavy, but it _has to_ withstand thousands of pounds of pressure. Maintaining less than one atmosphere of pressure in a vacuum is trivial. The only other ‘special’ accommodation for a spacecraft is the heat shield, and those are well-developed. I still contend that it’s easier to build a spacecraft than a submersible. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781/70 "2023-06-20T03:00:51Z")
I feel like its my life and I can pretty much do with it as I choose. However when my lifestyle risks the health and well being of others by putting these others at serious peril in rescuing me from or aiding me in my activity, then I have a moral responsibility to minimize that risk for these others as much as possible. Having wealth such that I can afford to carelessly risk the life of others is, to my way of thinking, immoral. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781/71 "2023-06-20T03:08:32Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#): > > Further, if the vessel were able to surface, he said the passengers and crew are unable to exit without outside (or topside) assistance, they are bolted in. I wonder how that worked in the past, I do remember seeing in documentaries that even in the 50s the Triestre, that did go deeper than the missing sub, had hatches that the crew could open (although the videos and images could only show one part of the process and the hatches of previous deep subs could be bolted from the outside later). I would be even less willing to do a trip on a sub that could surface in an emergency, but that could suffocate me after reaching the surface. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781/72 "2023-06-20T03:23:28Z")
Virgin Galactic is scheduled to launch it’s first space tourism flight later this month, and then more starting in August. I am not sure of the pricing, but I think that it is now over $250K. While I hope that these flights operate safely, I think it’s inevitable that there will be fatalities at some point, it’s just the nature of space flight. If rich people want to do it, then have at it. But once the fatalities happen, the business plan goes to hell. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781/73 "2023-06-20T04:32:41Z")
Moderating: > [@BobLibDem](#): > > I hope they pull through by some unlikely miracle but- there shouldn’t be such dangerous tourism in the depths of the ocean any more than we should have tourism in space. These risks should only be taken for scientific research, not to have someone who has nothing better to do with his money have something to boast about. This post and the several replies about what kinds of tourism are acceptable risks is a hijack of what’s really a breaking news thread. If y’all want to continue this conversation, start an IMHO thread. (If you want me to start it by moving these posts, drop me a note. But it’s too late as night for me to do it now.) Either way, please drop the subject in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781/74 "2023-06-20T06:31:28Z")
A couple of threads from a Navy sub vet about why this sub was a bad idea, and what’s probably happening onboard right now. [https://twitter.com/ceparmele/status/1670997982131662848](https://twitter.com/ceparmele/status/1670997982131662848) [https://twitter.com/ceparmele/status/1671010206099337216](https://twitter.com/ceparmele/status/1671010206099337216) ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781/75 "2023-06-20T06:56:44Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > A spacecraft needs to be light, but it doesn’t _need_ to be heavy for 1000 millibars. A submarine can be heavy, but it _has to_ withstand thousands of pounds of pressure. But unless a spacecraft is one that is going to operate purely in space, it has to withstand other forces besides internal air pressure and yet must be light, which is an engineering challenge. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781/76 "2023-06-20T07:05:21Z")
There’s a lot of emotion and speculation there, but not much by way of actual solid facts about why it was a bad idea. It may have been a bad idea but if you want facts about it, you will need to look elsewhere. He grandstands about “people risking lives” to save those on board engaging in recreation - people go to sea for recreation constantly, and get into trouble continually, and search and rescue operations occur continually. People climb mountains constantly and same thing. There’s always a keyboard hero who wants to talk up their expertise, and armchair pontificate about such things. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781/77 "2023-06-20T07:22:49Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > There’s always a keyboard hero This may not be the best time to point out that the piloting mechanism for the vessel is literally _an off-brand Playstation controller_. [![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FzCBcNCagAAewDB?format=jpg&name=large) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FzCBcNCagAAewDB?format=jpg&name=large) ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781/78 "2023-06-20T07:37:21Z")
PlayStation controllers are an excellent input device for controlling motion. And if they have reliability issues do you know there are no backup ways of making inputs? Seems vanishingly unlikely. Edited to add: actually a cursory glance shows two keyboards. Have you heard the anecdote from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance about the beer can shim? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781/79 "2023-06-20T07:40:26Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Seems vanishingly unlikely. It seems vanishingly unlikely that they’d build a sub with no backup, no tether, no external communications, and a hatch that can only be opened from the outside, but here we are. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781/80 "2023-06-20T07:40:50Z")
And yet see the edit to my post. You clearly are too busy armchair hooting at others’ perceived incompetence to even examine your own photo closely. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-6-19-2023-debris-field-found-passengers-presumed-dead-06-22-23/985781.md?page=5)