FRENCH diving legend Paul-Henry Nargeolet tragically lost his life aboard OceanGate's Titan sub.
He was confirmed dead after debris from the submersible was found approximately 1,600ft (500m) from the bow of the Titanic on Thursday, June 22, 2023.
Who was Paul-Henry Nargeolet?
Born in Chamonix, France, on March 2, 1946, Paul-Henry Nargeolet was known as "Mr Titanic" within the small and experienced diving community.
The 77-year-old was a Navy veteran who served for 22 years, and had completed 37 dives to the famous shipwreck.
Paul-Henry was regarded as an expert in the field after joining the French Institute for Research and Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER) and even led the first mission to the Titanic wreckage in 1987.
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He explored the deepest parts of all five of Earth’s oceans after joining the Five Deeps expedition.
He worked closely with James Cameron, director of the 1997 Titanic movie.
Tragically, on Thursday, June 22, 2023, OceanGate announced the likely death of its CEO, Stockton Rush, along with the other Titan passengers.
Their statement read: "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."
This announcement comes following the discovery of a debris field near the Titanic wreckage.
What happened to Paul-Henry Nargeolet?
OceanGate Expeditions sent out a submersible to explore the Titanic wreckage located 900 nautical miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on Sunday, June 18, 2023.
It began its descent from Canadian research vessel the Polar Prince to the Titanic wreck at 8am but contact was lost at 9.45am UK time, less than two hours later.
The sub failed to appear at 3pm, the time it was expected to resurface.
The Coast Guard received a report about the missing vessel at 5.40pm.
Nargeolet was one of five passengers and crew members aboard the vessel.
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A desperate search and rescue mission was launched and on Thursday a deep-sea robot sub, dropped by Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic, found five major pieces of debris of the doomed Titan.
Rear Admiral John Mauger, of the US Coast Guard, said the debris was 1,600ft from the bow of the Titanic - and "consistent with a catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber".
Asked about recovering the bodies, Mauger said the sea floor was an “incredibly unforgiving, incredibly complex environment".
He added: "We will continue to work and search the area down there but I don’t have an answer for prospects at this time."
OceanGate said the "true explorers" on board were "sadly lost".
What did Paul-Henry Nargeolet say about submarines?
Nargeolet spoke frankly of the extreme dangers of deep-sea exploration in an interview.
He said: “If you are 11m or 11km down, if something bad happens, the result is the same.
“When you’re in very deep water, you’re dead before you realise that something is happening, so it’s just not a problem.”
Nargeolet's fears might have been predicted by Harding when he warned social media followers about poor weather conditions before their trip began on Sunday, June 18, 2023.
The British billionaire took to Facebook to write: "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.
"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 4am tomorrow.
He added: "More expedition updates to follow IF the weather holds!"
