OceanGate CEO and Titan pilot’s family links to Titanic victims

Some things seem to be just too much of a coincidence to be true. If the unthinkable happens and it is ultimately not possible to locate OceanGate’s Titan submersible in time, then it will be second time the company’s communications director Wendy Rush and her family will have suffered heartbreak because of the Titanic.

Ms. Rush’s husband Stockton doubles up as the CEO of OceanGate, who offer expeditions to visit the wreckage of the Titanic, at a depth of 12,500 feet below sea, and pilot of the Titan.

Titan serach and rescue mission ongoing

Early on Thursday, it was reported that oxygen supplies on board are estimated to have run out, with the submersible yet to be located, never mind rescued. Sadly, there appears to be little hope of Mr. Rush and the other four people on board surviving.

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As reported by The New York Times, archival records show that Stockton’s wife Wendy is also the great-great granddaughter of two first-class passengers who died when the Titanic sank on its maiden voage from Southampton in England to New York in 1912.

Isidor Straus: a Titanic hero

Retail magnate Isidor Straus, a co-owner of Macy’s department store, and his wife Ida were two of the over 1500 passengers who tragically went down with the vessel. Mr. Straus’ body was recovered at sea around two weeks after the Titanic sank but Ms. Straus’ has never been found.

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According to survivors, Isidor Straus refused to board a life boat as the ship was sinking, instead giving preference to women and children. His wife is said to have vowed not to leave his side. In the 1997 movie Titanic, directed by James Cameron, is it thought that an elderly couple seen to be embracing, resigned to their fate, as the water around their cabin rises is Mr. and Ms. Straus.

Ms. Rush, who is a descendent of one of the Strauses’ daughters, works with her husband at OceanGate as both Director of Communications and Expedition Team Member.