Despite the knowledge that the sub had imploded, the US Coast Guard persisted with the search and rescue mission of the Titan submersible, which had embarked on a mission to explore the remnants of the RMS Titanic.
An expert has now come forward to shed light on the reasoning behind this decision.
The US Navy's acoustic system detected an 'anomaly' in the area where the sub had dived shortly after losing contact with its mothership.
The US Navy says it recorded the sound “consistent with an implosion” just after the Titan was reported to have lost communications with its support ship on Monday.
The navy passed this information onto the Coast Guard which continued the search because it did not consider the information to be “definitive”.
As the information was not conclusive and recognising the gravity of the situation, a determination was made to spare no effort in attempting to save the lives on board.
Rear Adm. John Mauger of the US Coast Guard appeared on the Today Show and offered insight into the decision to continue the search despite knowing about the sub's implosion.
He emphasized the importance of considering "people's will to live" during complex search and rescue missions, highlighting the unwavering commitment to preserving human life.
The global audience clung to a glimmer of hope when reports emerged on Tuesday of Canadian maritime and surveillance, along with a patrol aircraft, detecting a "banging" noise every 30 minutes.
This development provided a ray of hope that the five men on board the sub might still be alive.
In response, additional vessels, including the John Cabot, Skandi Vinland, Atlantic Merlin, and a French ship with remotely operated vehicle capability, joined the search efforts.
Unfortunately, these hopes were dashed when these hopes were later predicted be merely background ocean noise, such as other vessels operating in the area.
Later, debris from the submersible was found on the ocean floor, confirming the devastating fate of the Titan and its crew.
The sub had suffered a catastrophic implosion during its descent into the depths of the ocean on Sunday.
The debris was discovered a mere 1,600 feet away from the resting place of the RMS Titanic, adding a poignant connection to the tragic incident.
James Cameron, the acclaimed filmmaker of 'Titanic' and deep-sea explorer, expressed his disillusionment with the rescue effort.
In an interview with the BBC, Cameron called it a "nightmarish charade" and voiced his awareness of the sub's fate early on.
"For the sub's electronics to fail and its communication system to fail, and its tracking transponder to fail simultaneously—sub's gone.
“We got confirmation within an hour that there had been a loud bang at the same time that the sub comms were lost. A loud bang on the hydrophone. Loss of transponder. Loss of comms. I knew what happened. The sub imploded,” Cameron said.