Josh Gates, host of Discovery Channel’s Expedition Unknown, is no stranger to danger. Since its premiere in 2015 on the Travel Channel, Gates has been traversing the planet, exploring remote jungles, ancient ruins, and yes, deep-sea wrecks. Some of the most dangerous places he’s ventured include the hazardous waters of Myanmar's Irrawaddy River and surviving fields of landmines in Cambodia.
However, one of his most harrowing experiences remained unseen until just weeks ago. In the HBO documentary Implosion: The Titanic Sub Disaster, Gates visited OceanGate’s testing facilities in Washington state to take a test dive on the Titan in Puget Sound with the intent of filming a second segment on another dive down to the Titanic wreckage site. But everything went wrong on that visit. As Rush walked Gates through OceanGate’s hangar, Gates described him in the present day interview as a “car salesman,” remarking that he had a rehearsed answer for everything.
But that wasn’t the case when they were underwater. Even though the submersible didn’t even go more than a few feet under Puget Sound, accompanied by a diver equipped with full scuba apparatus, Rush lost control of the submersible’s computers, and he struggled to provide any concrete answers to either Gates or his team members, instead just scribbling around on a piece of paper. And for anyone who has watched years and years of Expedition Unknown, viewers saw something they had never seen before: Gates’s face looked ashen. “Stockton seemed completely unaware of how bad this dive had gone from our perspective,” he says.
The submersible returned to the surface within a few minutes, but Gates appeared to have made up his mind about the entire venture already. Before the dive, Gates made an offhand comment to Rush about how being sealed into the submersible from the outside was a bit concerning, delivering the line with a nervous laugh that seemed meant to lighten the mood. Rush laughed too and replied, “Yes, you’re my prisoner.” In that moment, during the 2021 recording, Gates glanced toward the camera, his expression uneasy. “Stockton just didn’t see, even psychologically, the need for a way out of this sub,” Gates says.
Longtime viewers of Expedition Unknown watching the documentary were likely wondering why they didn’t remember this episode or immediately trying to find it online. There’s a reason why they didn’t remember it: The episode never aired. Gates says he recognized the implications of making a promotional documentary about Rush and OceanGate.
“So I made the really difficult decision to call up the president of the network and to fall on my sword and say, ‘I’m really sorry. I know that money’s been spent here. I know that this is something that was a big deal for you to sign off on, and I appreciate the opportunity, but we shouldn’t do this. This is a mistake, something bad is going to happen here,’” Gates says.
On June 18, 2023, the Titan submersible, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, imploded during a dive to the Titanic wreck site in the North Atlantic, killing all five aboard, including Rush. The vessel lost communication approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes into its descent. After a five-day international search, debris was found about 1,600 feet from the Titanic's bow, confirming the implosion. Investigations revealed that Titan's unconventional carbon-fiber hull had faced prior safety concerns, and the submersible lacked independent certification. The U.S. Coast Guard continues to investigate the incident.
Rachel King (she/her) is a news writer at Town & Country. Before joining T&C, she spent nearly a decade as an editor at Fortune. Her work covering travel and lifestyle has appeared in Forbes, Observer, Robb Report, Cruise Critic, and Cool Hunting, among others. Originally from San Francisco, she lives in New York with her wife, their daughter, and a precocious labradoodle. Follow her on Instagram at @rk.passport.
