The 1912 Titanic Disaster Was a ‘Sea Horror’: How the World of Entertainment Grappled With the Tragedy
K.J. Yossman Like the disaster that inspired both Titan’s name and journey, last week’s submersible disaster captured the world. Millions waited with bated breath to learn the fate of the sub’s five occupants. On Friday, after a six-day search, the Coast Guard confirmed that debris from the sub consistent with a “catastrophic implosion” had been found just 1,600 feet from the wreck of the Titanic itself. In the interim, the missing sub dominated the news cycle, prompting thousands of tweets, headlines and hot takes. Before Titan had even been located, one enterprising U.K. network commissioned and aired a documentary about the sub’s deep-sea exploration to the Titanic while Netflix has faced backlash for bringing James Cameron’s 1997 feature about the original disaster back to the streaming service (sources say the timing is a coincidence).