Image of oceangate sub and part of the transcript

A Rumored Transcript Showing The Last Communications Of The Imploded OceanGate Titan Sub Has Leaked Online, But Is It Real?

Screenshots of what some people believe to be the last official communications sent from the lost OceanGate Titan submarine on its way to the wreckage of the Titanic have been making the rounds online. In June 2023, the world was captivated by news of a submarine carrying five wealthy Titanic enthusiasts going missing, only for its imploded wreckage to be found after three days.

Theories about why the submarine imploded and what went down deep in the Ocean have been swirling around the internet ever since. The supposed "leaked transcript" is one of the many such attempts by internet sleuths. But what does this transcript say, and is it real?

OceanGate TITAN Please reconnect to a controller


What Was The OceanGate Titanic Submarine Incident?

On June 18th, 2023, a small tourist submersible named "Titan" went missing about an hour into its descent into the wreckage of the Titanic ship. The sub was launched by a company called OceanGate, which charged over $250,000 dollars for each individual person trying to hitch a ride on the ship. The submersible was carrying five people down to the depths before all communication was lost on day one. On June 22nd, over the span of just four days, after the initial news about the missing sub broke, the world learned that the ship had imploded, leaving no survivors.


What Is The Transcript Supposedly Showing The Titan's Last Communications?

On June 29th, nearly a week after news of the sub's implosion broke, a screenshot from the secure messaging app Telegram began making the rounds on Reddit. The unverified screenshot was banned from the subreddit /r/OceanGateTitan, but nevertheless heavily discussed. The full unverified transcript can be accessed via Imgur here.

742 Leaked Titan communications transcript? Misinformation (self.OceanGateTitan) submitted 7 days ago by CourtAlternative1548 There have been rumors on Telegram about leaked messages claimed to be transcripts between Polar Prince and the Titan. Initially, people speculated that these documents were what J. Cameron's remarks were based upon. However, later it was discovered that these initial documents circulating on tele were fake. But in the last 12hrs, an allegedly authentic leaked document has been circulating. Apparently it's the one that was originally mentioned last week, but it wasn't widely circulating. I won't share it here due to the rules around unofficial sources. I know there are experienced people reading this and I'm just curious to hear any thoughts if you've come across the document in question. 976 comments source share save hide give award report crosspost hide all child comments [08:34:57] [SUB] All systems are functioning normally. We're in good shape. Continuing our descent as planned. [08:36:05 ] [ Top ] Superb, proceed. [08:49:10 ] [ Top ] Over 45-minute mark. Current depth? Confirm status. [08:51:30 ] [SUB] Depth at 1934. All systems stable and descent continuing as planned. Happy crew. [08:52:28 ] [ Top ] Excellent! [09:01:46 ] [ Top] You're at the hour mark. [09:02:13 ] [SUB] All is smooth sailing here. [09:15:21 ] [ Top ] You are at 75 minutes, depth? Status? Do you need to adjust velocity? [09:28:16 ] [SUB] we're noting an alarm from the rtm [09:28:35 ] [SUB] reducing velocity descent depth 3433 [09:28:47 ] [ Top] Understood. Do you need to ascend? [09:30:36 ] [SUB] no change with thrust the rate of descent is increasing. At 35. going to release the ballast now. Standby. [09:30:55 ] [ Top] Yes, agree. Release the ballast. [09:32:12 ] [SUB] No improvement. Preparing to jettison the frame. [09:33:00 ] [ Top ] Affirmative. Update when able. RTM indicator status? [09:35:48 ] [SUB] frame jettisoned multiple attempts needed. But starting [09:37:38 ] [ Top] Update please when able. [09:38:09 ] [SUB] crackling sound at aft [09:38:44 ] [ Top] Can you identify source? RTM indicators status? [09:40:12 ] [SUB] neg [09:40:40 ] [ Top ] RTM status? [09:42:12] [SUB] trying to run diagnostics. ascending now. but very slow. sounds have subsided. global RTM alert active all red. [09:42:57 ] [ Top ] Understood. Any codes? Depth? Ascent rate? [09:43:16 ] [ Top ] Updates when able please.


The news traveled over to TikTok around the same time as well, where people received it with less skepticism than the folks over on Reddit.

@starfieldstudio Thos appears to be legit and the final messages from the titan to the surface. #titan #sub ♬ My Heart Will Go On (Titanic) – Maliheh Saeedi & Faraz Taali

@theghostmoregirls #oceangate #titan #polarprince #titanic ♬ original sound – The GhostMore Girls

Why Are People Saying That The Transcript Is Likely Fake?

Various people who have been following the sub on /r/OceanGateTitan proposed their theories debunking the transcript, with Redditor /u/itsnobigthing showing a list of shorthand words the sub would have used for faster communication. Other users noted that while the transcript is a convincing piece of writing, it could have been put together with the help of all the now-public information about the vessel.

[-] itsnobigthing 150 points 7 days ago* (last edited 7 days ago) I think this is fake, as David Pogue shared a picture of the text codes they used to communicate and they were all single or few letters. Like SOS, A, C, Z. They had a code sheet detailing what they all meant, because they could only transmit the bare minimum. Edit: Found it! Picture here.[¹] X B Emergency Emergency Emergency General Surface immediately (Topside) Surfacing Immediately (Subside) Send Help (Subside) Topside Systems Comms Check Received your last, end thread Report your depth All Systems Nominal Fast Transit-No Ducers in the Water Subside Systems No Yes Cleared to Thrust Weather Improving Weather Deteriorating Locked In Cleared to Surface/ Lifting P (Toside) Surfacing/ Ready to Lift P (Subside) Off/Inop On/Working Transducer for Comms Transducer for Tracking Cameras Hull Acoustic Monitoring PHINS DVL Thrusters Drop Weight VBT High Pressure Air ( SOS K A D SN TND N Y CTT W+ W- L Z Z . + TfC TfT C H P V T R B HPA [-] lonegungrrly 272 points 7 days ago Points to true: • Accurate to the photos seen of the comms • at a quarter power the 2 hour journey would take 8 hours to return to the surface which is how long the topside waited before reporting • Rush having issues removing the ballasts shocker. Probably had never been tested at that depth. • there is apparently a Carlos the engineer who works for Oceangate found on LinkedIn • James Cameron etc must have had something to go on to say they had dropped ballasts and were trying to ascend • it is an unprofessional shambles so definitely in keeping with OceanGate • either a very well researched hoax or real Points to it being fake: • people are doks permalink source embed save save-RES report give award reply hide child comments [-] BreakfastUnique8091 78 points 7 days ago I see your point for sure. This is way more convincing than some of the other instantly recognizable fakes, but I'm still not buying it as a lot of the strengths you list could be: 1. Someone seeing a photo of the comms and recreating the format 2. Knowing OceanGate was unprofessional and had frequent issues and so adding that into the transcript 3. Seeing how other people criticized fake transcripts and adjusting theirs accordingly 4. Hearing James Cameron's statements about this and writing accordingly 5. Looking at the LinkedIn page to add some flavour of truth to this Like I just think the very fact we can corroborate this with public sources equally points to the possibility that someone took a couple hours and used these same sources to cobble something together for attention. permalink source embed save save-RES parent report give award reply hide child comments




For the full history of The OceanGate Titanic submarine, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.




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