Missing Titanic submersible: Wife of Titan's pilot a descendant of couple who died in ill-fated ship

In 1986, Wendy Rush married Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate, a company running the Titanic tourist submersible that lost contact on Sunday (June 18) and attracted people's attention all over the world. Additionally, he was operating Titan, the submarine that was transporting visitors to the Titanic.

Team Newsable

First Published Jun 22, 2023, 4:55 PM IST | Last Updated Jun 22, 2023, 4:55 PM IST

Wendy Rush, the wife of the missing Titanic tourist submarine pilot, is a descendant of a US couple who died when the gigantic ship hit the sea floor in the Atlantic Ocean in 1912. It is reportedly said that the couple have been immortalised in James Cameron's Hollywood movie 'Titanic' as well.

According to reports, Wendy Rush is the great-great-granddaughter of the retailing magnate Isidor Straus and his wife, Ida, who were travelling as first-class passengers on the Titanic when it hit an iceberg and sank in April 1912. Born in 1845, Straus was a co-owner of Macy's department store.

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It can be seen that Stockton Rush is among the five on the missing submarine with rescuers racing against time to find the vessel by intensifying their search with just hours of oxygen support remaining. Wendy Rush is the OceanGate communications director and has participated in the company's three expeditions to the Titanic.

According to various reports, Isidor Straus did not take a seat on a lifeboat as a large number of women and children were still aboard the Titanic that was sinking after hitting an iceberg. He was joined by his wife and remained together, standing arm-in-arm till the ship sank.

Missing Titanic submersible: Chilling video of OceanGate vessel starting doomed voyage goes viral (WATCH)

Some reports say that Ida Straus handed her mink jacket to her maid as she was being rescued in a lifeboat. While Straus's remains were found at sea several weeks after Titanic's sinking, his wife's body was never found.

The fictionalised version of the pair first appeared in James Cameron's 1997 Hollywood film Titanic. while an elderly couple, Straus and his wife were seen cuddling in bed while the chilly Atlantic seas flooded their cottage.

The Titan submarine, which set out for the Titanic disaster site in the Atlantic Ocean at a depth of 12,500 feet, lost contact after nearly two hours on Sunday. Emergency oxygen supplies for four days are available on the submarine.

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