URI_Research_Magazine_Momentum_Fall_2021_Melissa-McCarthy

The University of Rhode Island (URI) hosted an open house for Titan, the five-crewmember submersible that recently completed a six-week expedition to document the Titanic maritime heritage site. Titan is a unique carbon fiber and titanium crewed submersible designed to take five people to depths of 4,000 meters (13,123 feet). Bridget Buxton, a URI associate professor of ancient history and Mediterranean archaeology, arranged the viewing of the submersible in cooperation with the URI Research Foundation (URIRF) and OceanGate Inc., a company dedicated to providing state-of-the-art submersibles that make deep ocean exploration possible for a wide variety of researchers and explorers. Buxton, chief archaeologist of the Titanic Survey Expedition, and her team supported OceanGate Expeditions during a series of 12,800-foot-deep dives to survey the wreck of the Titanic. OceanGate’s Titan, a five-person submersible that can dive to depths of 4,000 meters, is towed behind a research ship.

People waiting in line to go inside the Titan at URI.

OceanGate’s Titan, a five-person submersible that can dive to depths of 4,000 meters, is towed behind a research ship. (Photo courtesy of David Concannon)

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