Titan Unfinished: An Untold Story of Exploration, Innovation, and the OceanGate Tragedy

by Guillermo A. M. Söhnlein

A firsthand, never-before-told account of the creation of OceanGate, the heartbreaking Titan tragedy and the supposed villain behind it all, Stockton Rush, as told by the only person who his cofounder and friend.

In the summer of 2023, the entire world fixated on a single news story that captured every headline on every media the search and rescue operation for OceanGate’s Titan research submersible, and the ultimate tragic fate of its five crew members. The media frenzy was fueled by many captivating storylines, but its primary focus was the villain at the center of it all, Stockton cofounder and CEO of OceanGate, and the ill-fated vessel’s pilot and designer.

But was Stockton Rush truly the arrogant, rule-breaking, risk-taking con man the media insisted he was? Or was he a visionary altruistic technologist, philanthropist, and investor, someone willing to put his own personal wealth and life on the line in the name of exploring our planet’s deep oceans?

Titan Unfinished is more than a recounting of the events that led to the tragedy—it’s an up-close, personal account of Stockton’s journey, from the conception of OceanGate to his sudden death, told by one of the few people who was with Rush from the very start. Fellow cofounder Guillermo Sohnlein examines the full humanity of the man behind OceanGate’s ambitious mission and offers insights extending far beyond the attention-grabbing headlines, detailing Rush’s temperament, motivations, and tendencies, as well as the technology, operations, and key events at play in a story that has thus far been massively oversimplified.

Told by an insider with the deepest knowledge, and honoring the legacies of all those involved in the fatal accident, Titan Unfinished paints the full picture of an important but deeply misunderstood story.

A portion of author proceeds will be donated to charitable organizations.

280 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 18, 2025

Reviews

[Jessica Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not sure why the Titan story captured my attention so much, but I did watch the Netflix documentary. In that, Stockton Rush was very much painted like a Victor Frankenstein...a man whose ambitions led him to ultimate destruction. This story, from an insider, gives a better informed perspective of the entire story...from the beginnings of OceanGate to after the tragedy. I found this to be an interesting listen!

[Katie G · Rating 2 out of 5]

Before you even start reading this, just know that the author left OceanGate ten years before the submersible imploded in the Atlantic, and his only real authority to speak on it is he still held stock in the company.

Sorry, dude. I've watched the docs and interviews with people who worked at OceanGate leading up to this disastrous event. Being a Stockton Rush apologist when he silenced or fired dissenters/whistleblowers is a take I can't get behind. You can't blame the media for Rush being an egotistical person and refusing to listen to ACTUAL engineers or accept that he was wrong about anything.

[Julie Hudson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to LibroFm for the advanced reading copy.

I found this book a bit tedious with lots of reimagined historic conversations and although I found out a fair bit about the world of submersibles, in retrospect I don't know that I needed to.

It also didn't really come up with much explanation as to why it imploded as I think the book was published before the inquiry was concluded.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating.