Crew killed in 'catastrophic implosion': Timeline of mission to find OceanGate's missing Titanic submarine

News of OceanGate Expedition's missing submarine exploded on Monday as the U.S. and Canadian coast guards sprang into action with search and rescue missions. 

Unfortunately, the search came to a tragic end Thursday after rescue officials discovered debris from the imploded vessel near the wreckage of the Titanic. 

Here is the timeline of how OceanGate's Titan submersible went missing during its descent to the wreckage of the Titanic.

JUNE 17

U.K. billionaire Hamish Harding, one of the tourists aboard the missing sub, posts to Facebook one day before the sub is set to begin its descent.

"Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023," Harding wrote "A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow. We started steaming from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4 a.m. tomorrow morning. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do."

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Inset, from left: Suleman Dawood, Shahzada Dawood, Stockton Rush; Paul-Henry Nargeolet and Hamish Harding died when the OceanGate Titan submersible imploded. (Engro Corp. | Reuters/Shannon Stapleton | @OceanGateExped/Twitter | Felix Kunze/Blue Origin via AP | Ocean Gate/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

JUNE 18

Harding boards the submersible alongside Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19. OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush also boards the submersible, as well as an OceanGate pilot whose identity has not been confirmed.

Critically, the crew are sealed into the vehicle with 17 bolts, and it cannot be opened from the inside. The craft has enough stored oxygen to keep the crew alive for 96 hours.

The Titan then departs the Polar Prince mothership Sunday morning and begins its descent over the wreckage of the Titanic. The ship loses contact with the submersible 1 hour and 45 minutes into the dive.

At this time, U.S. Navy's top secret acoustic detection system picks up sounds that were consistent with either an explosion or an implosion. The Navy passed on that information to the Coast Guard which continued its search because the Navy did not consider the data to be definitive. 

US NAVY DETECTED TITAN SUB IMPLOSION WITH TOP SECRET ACOUSTIC SYSTEM DAY VESSEL WENT MISSING

This file image provided by OceanGate shows the Titan submersible being towed in Everett, Washington. (OceanGate Expeditions)

JUNE 19

At an unknown time, OceanGate sounds the alarm from the Polar Prince that the submersible has gone missing.

Immediately, the U.S. Coast Guard Northeast diverts a C-130 aircraft already in the area to begin searching the ocean surface. The Titan is designed to automatically surface in the event of a technical failure. If it is on the surface, rescuers must reach it within the 96-hour window to unseal the vehicle and release the crew.

Some failure may have caused the vehicle to remain stuck underwater. Rescue Coordination Center Halifax in Canada also delivers a P8-Poseidon aircraft, which is capable of dropping sonar buoys that can search underwater.

The U.S. and Canadian coast guards also dispatch more aircraft to the search area, located 900 miles off the U.S. northeast coast.

During this time, Harding's stepson, Brian Szasz, confirms that Harding is on board the submersible in a statement on social media.

This file image provided by OceanGate shows the Titan submersible descending into the ocean. (OceanGate Expeditions)

JUNE 20

Rescuers have been searching for roughly 48 hours and have covered 10,000 square miles of ocean, with no sign of the missing submersible.

Engro Corp. confirms that Dawood and his son are aboard the submersible in addition to Harding. OceanGate also confirms that CEO Rush is on board.

IMAGES SHOW OCEANGATE TITAN SUBMARINE'S FINAL MOMENT BEFORE IT BEGAN DIVE TO TITANIC 

"All that we know so far is that contact was lost with their submersible craft," Engro wrote at the time. "There is limited information available beyond this that we know, and we humbly request that speculation and theorization is avoided."

Meanwhile, rescue efforts are ongoing as the U.S. Coast Guard reaches out to both the U.S. Navy and the private sector for assistance. A commercial pipe-laying ship arrives to the area. Rescuers hope it will allow them to search depths of up to 3,800 meters after an unsuccessful night.

The U.S. Coast Guard delivers an update on their rescue efforts and say the Titan craft has 40-41 hours of oxygen remaining as of 1 p.m. ET.

Capt. Jamie Frederick, the response coordinator for the USCG's first district, explains that the Coast Guard does not have the equipment or expertise to conduct deep-sea search and rescue. The U.S., Canada and the private sector are working in concert to provide the necessary equipment and skill for such a search, such as remote-operated vehicles (ROVs) that can dive to the necessary depths.

Officials stressed that they are continuing to search for the submersible on the surface, however.

Assets now searching for the lost submersible include:

• Canadian CGS John Cabot
• Canadian CGS Ann Harvey
• Canadian CGS Terry Fox
• Canadian CGS Atlantic Merlin (ROV)
• Motor Vessel Horizon Arctic
• Commercial Vessel Skandi Vinland (ROV)
• French Research Vessel L’Atalante (ROV)
• His Majesty's Canadian Ship Glace Bay (mobile decompression chamber and medical personnel)

An undated photo shows tourist submersible belongs to OceanGate descents at a sea. Search and rescue operations continue by US Coast Guard in Boston after a tourist submarine bound for the Titanic's wreckage site went missing off the southeastern coast of Canada. (Ocean Gate / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

JUNE 21

The USCG announces that a Canadian P-3 aircraft had detected "underwater noises" in the search area.

As a result, available ROVs were diverted to the area to begin searching. They had found nothing as of 12:18 a.m., but still continued their search.

The Coast Guard says the noise data from the P-3 aircraft, which dropped sonar buoys in the area, has been delivered to the U.S. Navy for further analysis.

The CCGS John Cabot seen docked in North Vancouver, British Columbia on July 6, 2020.  (Malcolm Millar/MarineTraffic)

MISSING TITANIC SUBMARINE: CANADIAN UNDERWATER ROBOT SEARCHES OCEAN FLOOR AS OXYGEN LEVELS DWINDLE

JUNE 22

The USCG said Thursday a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) deployed by the Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic had found a "debris field" in the search for the missing submersible. 

The USCG later confirmed that the debris was "consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber" that killed all five men aboard. 

"Upon this determination, we immediately notified the families," U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told reporters. "On behalf of the United States Coast Guard and the entire unified command, I offer my deepest condolences to the families."

USCG said the underwater sounds and banging noises detected earlier were unrelated to the missing submersible. 

In this satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies, from top to bottom, the vessels Horizon Arctic, Deep Energy and Skandi Vinland search for the missing submersible Titan, Thursday, June 22, 2023 in the Atlantic Ocean. (Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies via AP)

OceanGate Expeditions confirmed that the passengers aboard the missing Titanic submersible are believed to have "sadly been lost." 

"We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost," OceanGate said in a statement.

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"These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans. Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew," OceanGate said in part. 

Thursday evening, a U.S. defense official revealed the U.S. Navy detected what it suspected may have been an implosion within hours of the Titan submersible descending into the ocean to visit the Titanic wreckage. The sounds were detected near where the Titan was found.