Turns Out, the Wife of the OceanGate CEO Is a Direct Descendant of Passengers of the Titanic

OceanGate’s tourist submersible Titan is still missing, days after it went down in the North Atlantic for its passengers to see the wreckage of the ill-fated Titanic. 

As of Thursday morning (Manila time), the 21-foot 5-passenger deep sea dive craft only has a few hours of reserve oxygen left for its occupants, which include OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who is also the sub’s pilot, UK billionaire and adventurer Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, and French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

Photo by OceanGate.

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Known as Mission V, OceanGate has been operating deep sea dives since 2009 and collectively, its three subs have made over 200 dives in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and Gulf of Mexico. But it was only in 2021 and 2022 that its subs went down to explore the over century-old Titanic shipwreck.

With several search and rescue missions from the US, Canada, and France underway, the world awaits news about the submersible’s whereabouts. Questions have been raised about the Titan’s deep-sea worthiness. CBS reported David Pogue said that the sub uses a Playstation control stick as steering and some parts of the craft were improvised and described it as “MacGyvery.”

CBS reporter David Pogue and the Simpsons writer Mike Reiss describe what it was like inside the Titan, the missing submersible which disappeared while taking tourists to see the wreckage of the Titanic https://t.co/rHr3lBSspC pic.twitter.com/2I2p5cuzt9

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— Reuters (@Reuters) June 21, 2023

There is some hope, as the four-day oxygen reserve tank rapidly depletes. Canadian buoys have reportedly detected some banging sounds and shows that there is a slim chance for recovery in the vast depths of the North Atlantic.

As the story develops, eagle-eyed observers have noticed some strange coincidences concerning the mission and its occupants. The OceanGate sub itself is a Cyclops-class and is named Titan, which is of course, derived from Greek mythology. The Titans were a race of powerful deities. Today the adjective “titanic” can refer to anything extremely large or strong.  

The Titanic was the name of the famous cruise ship that sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean. This name was chosen not only because it was the largest passenger steamship of its time, but also because it was touted as a strong ship, specifically that it was “unsinkable.”

Isidor and Ida Straus

Photo by Wikipedia.

The Titan submersible was designed to sink to depths of over 13,000 feet and, despite its reportedly “McGyverish” components, its hull is actually made of five-inch carbon fiber designed in cooperation with NASA to withstand deep sea pressure, deeper than most naval submarines.

Additionally, the New York Times has reported that Wendy Rush, the wife of OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, is a descendant of passengers of the RMS Titanic all those years ago. Rush’s great, great grandparents were Isidor and Ida Straus, both of whom perished onboard. 

The Straus couple was said to be one of the wealthiest people onboard the ocean liner. In fact, Isidor Straus was the co-owner of Macy’s Department Store. Based on eyewitness accounts from the survivors of the Titanic, Mr. Straus refused a seat on a lifeboat since women and children were still waiting to board. His wife, Ida, decided to stay behind as well. As the ship went down the two were seen holding each other’s arms. The story was the inspiration behind a scene in James Cameron’s 1997 film Titanic, where an elderly couple was filmed embracing in bed in their cabin as waters rushed inside. According to the New York Times, Isidor Straus’ body was recovered at sea after two weeks, but Ida’s remains were never found.

Wendy Rush’s maiden name was Wendy Hollings Weil, and her mother’s name was Minnie, who comes from the Straus family line. Minnie married Dr. Richard Weil in 1905 and their son, Richard Weil, Jr. served as president of Macy’s New York. Dr. Richard Weil III, was Wendy Rush’s father. 

Wendy Rush serves as the company’s corporate communications director, and a longtime board member of the company’s charitable foundation. She herself has participated in three dives to the RMS Titanic for the last two years. She has yet to comment on the situation, according to the New York Times report.