Francis Craven V
My time with OceanGate
Oceangate: 2016-2021
When I found out there was a company in my hometown that was building a submersible to go the Titanic, I immediately went to their shop to introduce myself in 2017. When I was young, I was obsessed with the Titanic. I studied everything about it and memorized all of it’s statistics. I was deeply involved with scuba diving and submersibles by the time when I joined OceanGate and was super keen to assist them in their endeavors and to work my way into getting aboard their submersible to see the Titanic myself.
Everett, WA
OceanGate’s Everett, WA SHOp
While I was working on my own company part time, I was a paid employee and then a paid contractor for low wages at OceanGate’s Everett Shop.
I really wanted to ingratiate myself with the crew and get some experience with their operations to get the opportunity to join them on their Titanic expeditions.
Bahamas
BAhama’s Trips
I had the pleasure and opportunity to join OceanGate on their shakedown tests in Marsh Harbor, Bahamas. We used a monofilament on Hull 1 to bring the Cyclops, it’s name at the time, to 4000M. We did multiple dives and weeks of exercises, including dead sub recovery. We spent plenty of nights at the coolest bar ever too.
Titanic Trip; Mission 1
TItanic Expedition; Mission #1
I saw Stockton on the dock in Everett several weeks before they were scheduled to leave for the Titanic and I reminded him how bad I wanted to go and that I knew their operations well. He said can you leave with short notice, I said absolutely. 3 weeks before they left I got notified I was going.
This all happened during the height of Covid and was a logistical nightmare, but was the opportunity of a lifetime and something I had always wanted to experience. I was operations tech and rescue diver along side some very cool people.
After the dome fell off, I spoke my mind openly about the safety hazards caused by the dome’s hinge. Later that day, the operations director told me I was going home. When we got back to port, I was put on a plane and that was the extent of my time with OceanGate.
About Francis Craven V
I’m a certified PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer and instructor with over 2500+ dives and over 100 certified students. Scuba diving has been a pivotal aspect of my life since 2009, having been taught while living in Thailand for a year. I did the majority of my professional diving in Hawaii. I’m also an experienced submariner, having completed hundreds of sub dives as copilot in Hawaii. My time with OceanGate was as a rescue diver contractor.