Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Discover
Close up of praying mantis walking on stone ground against a blurred background in Japan
6 Animals That Eat Their Mates
Artist interpretation of space asteroids impacting earth and moon. Meteoroids, meteor impact, end of the world, danger, destruction, dinosaur extinct, Judgement Day, Doomsday Predictions, comet
Major Mass Extinctions
illustration of the walking titanosaurus, Patagotitan mayorum
Titanosaurs: 8 of the World's Biggest Dinosaurs
Lake Mead (the impounded Colorado River) at the Hoover Dam. The light-coloured band of rock above the shoreline shows the decrease in water level in the first few years of the 21st century.
6 Lakes That Are Drying Up
Happy young nurse assisting an elderly patient walking outside
Why Do Gray Hairs Have a Different Texture?
Artwork for themes for Pro-Con articles.
Pro and Con: Path to Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants
Paul Revere. "The bloody massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regt.," engraved by Paul Revere. Boston Massacre.
There’s a Riot Goin’ On: Riots in U.S. History (Part One)

Why did the Titan submersible fail?

verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated:

No one knows what caused the Titan to implode on June 18, 2023. Days after the accident, the U.S. Coast Guard convened a Marine Board of Investigation to determine what happened to the submersible. The board was expected to release the findings in 2024, but that date was pushed back to 2025. In the absence of an official ruling, most of the speculation has involved the submersible’s unique design, which many experts believed was unsafe. Notably, the Titan was made of carbon fiber rather than titanium, the most commonly used material. In addition, while the hulls of most submersibles are spherical—in order to evenly distribute pressure—the Titan’s hull was oblong.