The University of Washington, which last year denied involvement in the Titan submersible that imploded and killed five people on a deep-water plunge to the Titanic, had a role in the early stages of the vessel’s development and its design, university records show. A KING 5 review of hundreds of UW records reveals the school had a deeper relationship with OceanGate, the Everett company that manufactured the carbon-fiber sub, than it originally told the public in the wake of the Titan disaster. The records, which include emails, documents, 3D drawings and photographs, shed new light on the school’s years-long collaboration with the company and its CEO, which ranged from cozy to contentious amid disagreements over safety and the Titan’s design. The documents show UW staff had a relationship with OceanGate years before the university said its formal partnership began, and at least one UW engineer kept in touch with the company leader, Stockton Rush, as the Titan completed its first Titanic dives.

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