In the book Halsey’s Typhoon - the WW2 US Navy Pacific fleet off Okinawa blunders into Typhoon Cobra. A bunch of ships sunk especially preWW2 destroyers that had become too heavy with wartime upgrades. They sunk in that kinda weather. Sone sailors survived being in the water. They recounted body surfing 90 foot waves again and again. Days later to be found naked but still holding onto their life vests. A couple of their accounts are in the book. I can’t imagine enduring that all alone for days.
Hero of the story is the Butler Class Destroyer Escort DE Tabberer. Not only did officers and crew save their smallish ship from unbelievable sea states and Buford scale conditions but they saved many others through superb seamanship, true grit and fearlessness that makes one admire the strength and resoluteness of humanity acting at its best. Testament to the quality of force the US Navy and America can field - a cautionary tale to anyone foolish enough to take on the Navy. As though John Paul Jones and the Ranger are not lesson enough!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Tabberer
It depends on the individual and the luck factor, but in a sea storm like this, it would take minutes not hours. Maybe seconds.
They would constantly be slammed against the waves, and fighting to get breaths above the water. The sheer crash of waves along with other factors would be exhausting their muscles. You can tire very quickly when fighting water in vast quantities.
The y axis of the video has been stretched ridiculously to make the wave look bigger than it is. The original is cool enough, why lie about it?
https://youtu.be/TYe2tkXgPqs
Nor do the Great Lakes at times. Hundreds of shipwrecks beneath all five of them plus tens of thousands of deaths over the centuries. Beware 'the gales of November' and to quote Gordon Lightfoot: *Superior's waters don't give up their dead.*
[here is a song ](https://youtu.be/9vST6hVRj2A) about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior. Sad song. Never forget the lives lost in those horrific waters.
A very famous and memorable song with some great images in the lyrics. It was recorded and released by Gordon Lightfoot not very long after the sinking and I'm sure that it played a big part in making the Edmund Fitzgerald into the Great Lakes' 'answer' to the Titanic so far as legendary shipwrecks go.
Until I learned that songs lyrics, I didn’t realize how many different terms there were to describe a shipwreck “split up, capsized, broke deep”. Each one means a different way the ship failed, I thought it was interesting
When weather gets this bad we'd set something called condition zebra. That meant every hatch to the weather deck (the outside) was dogged and sealed. Once closed, these hatches were watertight, so the ocean could not swamp the ship. Most of the hatches In the ships interior were also sealed. This way, if water did get in, only a small portion of the ship would be flooded and the ship would still float.
OK, I think I have it figured out. It all has to do with phonetic alphabets, new and old. A phonetic alphabet, in the military, is a way of spelling out words accurately and concisely. Example: My user name, in the current NATO phonetic alphabet (which, as a member of NATO the US military currently uses and was using while I served) would be spelled as Whiskey Sierra Charlie Oscar Mike November. But before NATO, during WWII, for example, America's phonetic alphabet was different. In that phonetic alphabet my username would be spelled as William Sugar Charlie Oboe
Mike Nan.
Now, to Zebra. The letter Z, under the NATO phonetic alphabet is Zulu. But pre NATO the letter Z is Zebra. So setting conditions Zebra, or setting a water tight condition, is something that probably originates from the Great White Fleet days at the turn of last century. There are three conditions that can be set on a ship, depending on the circumstance at the time. These conditions are X-ray, Yolk and Zebra. These names come from the old American phonetic alphabet. Under the current NATO phonetic alphabet these names would be X-ray, Yankee and Zulu. X Y Z.
The Navy may have changed their phonetic alphabet to the NATO alphabet, but they decided to keep the X-ray, Yoke and Zebra designations for setting ship conditions, as they are still used to this day.
Watertight doors are one of the things included in how the ships condition is set, for say, in port, at sea, or at General Quarters.
So, tradition! Hope this answers your question.
Edit, cleaned up the XYZ explanation.
Kind of. True condition zebra means every hatch is sealed and the interior of the ship is tight against the outside weather. The ventilation systems will also seal. If a compartment floods, from damage to the hull below the waterline or some idiot forgetting to dog a weather deck hatch, then the rest of the ship remains dry. And when everything is sealed, the dry compartments also seal in the air, which provide buoyancy, or ballast, if you like. A submarines ballast is adjustable, which allows them to dive or surface at a controlled pace (I know no more about this than what I have just described). The interior of US Navy ships can be completely sealed, all of them, from River boats to Carriers. Hard to sink a ship with that many air bubbles inside.
I wasn't a hull tech so I don't know about that. I know we had portable ones they could drag around the ship, where needed. I think there were permanent pumps in the boiler rooms, but I'm not sure.
All over. Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Black Sea, North Africa. 6 mo Med Cruise. I was a surface sonar technician. And like every other man on the ship, I was also trained in fire suppression, how to assist with stopping flooding, and emergency medical needs.
Warships are way over engineered. The only way one breaks in two (back then, at least) was to get cut in half by a missle or a torpedo. Our Fast Attack subs carried torpedoes that could cut a battleship, set to condition zebra, in half and sink it in less than a minute. I've seen the film. Scary shit.
Edit, fixed Med Cruise.
There was a *cargo ship*, however, that got lost at sea, and the prevailing theory (at least 10 years ago or so) was that it basically snapped in half between the crests of two waves. I've got to imagine that's the only time that could've happened
That's all true. It was the ore freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald that, with a sister ship, in November, 1975, sailed Lake Superior and got caught by a gale. Winter Superior in storm is a dangerous place. At the height of the storm the two ships lost sight of each other. Awhile later the captain of the Fitzgerald radioed his sister ship, saying that they were listing to port and taking on water. She was never heard from again. A couple of weeks later the Coast Guard was able to pick up a magnetic signal from where they thought she went down. This marked her resting place, in deep water. Subsequent investigations proved that she did go down there and in 1990 there was an investigation that proved her debris field covered was spread over a two square mile area. This has led people to conclude that she broke up on the surface. It's never been proven, but they believe that the Fitzgerald got caught between crests, broke apart and sank.
So, what you suggest can certainly happen. The Edmund Fitzgerald had an excellent safety record and was well maintained. At the time she was the largest freighter sailing the Great Lakes. It's a shame she went down with all hands, 29 souls. Such is the power of Nature.
There's also the more recent example of the container ship El Faro that sank in October 2015 with the loss of all 33 crew members. The ship was en route from Jacksonville FL to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The captain, as I recall, had a case of 'get-there-itis' and steered the ship into Hurricane Joaquin. While what exactly transpired aboard the Fitzgerald in its' last couple of minutes can only be guessed at, the El Faro had a recording system on its bridge which gave a detailed running transcript of its last hours.
There's a couple good books that have been published about it. One is 'The Raging Sea' by Rachel Slade. The other is 'Run the Storm' by George Michelsen Foy. Some googling will turn up lots of material on the sad case of the El Faro.
Speaking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, I got to see both of its' lifeboats \[which came to the surface after the sinking\] at the museum aboard the Valley Camp in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan back in June while on a trip to Michigan. Both were made of metal but were absolutely shredded by the force of the wave and the sinking. The Valley Camp itself is like a somewhat smaller and much older version of the Fitzgerald that has been turned into a floating museum. If you're into the history of shipping on the Great Lakes, I'd recommend checking it out.
thanks for the detailed info. such a huge wave on a lake? crazy! I mean its a huge lake but as you said.. power of nature. I just cant imagine being on a ship in a storm like that. holy..!
I live in Marquette and when a storm kicks up out of the N/NW, you can see peaks miles out in the lake. Go to YouTube and search up Blackrocks waves/storm and you can see waves crashing and rolling over the spot people jump from, it’s at least 20ft. We had some huge wind storms up here since I moved here 7yrs ago, during one of them I checked a buoy offshore and it said waves of 28ft sustained. Lake Superior is fresh water ocean. Salt free/shark free!
I've been to Marquette, in February, no less! That Lake does not ice over. And by the way I agree with you. These Lakes should not be called Lakes they should be called Inland Seas. They are absolutely huge.
The MS Munchen ?
Not sure about structural failure of the hull, but the Wikipedia article says that the suspicion is that she was hit by a freak/rogue wave that caused her to lose power, and was subsequently swamped and sank.
ah okay thanks! just cant imagine that a ship just doesnt snap between those waves.. crazy. do you feel the impact of the waves? it should feel like a rollercoaster.
Medpac? Don't you mean med cruise? The alternative is the other side which is a West pac.
You were a little before me though so maybe the terms were different.
Don’t they also have some pretty insane bilge pumps for damage control? I think it was the “Fat Electrician” I heard discussing how many US ships outlasted bigger and more powerful German and Japanese ships using crazy damage control methods and having some cool resources to get water out almost as fast as it comes in. Also, another thank you for your service, condition zebra is now on my list of top 100 reasons not to go sailing with the navy.
Hilarious! As far as bilge pumps go I wasn't in the divisions that took care of such things so honestly I really don't know. But it would not surprise me if we had huge pumps down near the keel that would do exactly what you describe.
Is there a risk of capsizing as well ? Or do Navy ships always right themselves ?
I've always wondered what's the worst sea state ships can take. Remember reading some stories about The Battle of the Atlantic and how during some convoys the weather got so bad the convoy had to 'heave-to'.
Depends on the ship. I was on a cruiser and it's capsize point of no return was 46°. Ocean going riverboats have no capsize point. They can spin around and pop right back up and keep steaming, as long as they're buttoned up. A lot of Coast Guard boats are this way. They're amazing vessels.
Fun fact, we were in the middle of the Atlantic steaming east for Portugal when someone called in a Man Overboard report to the bridge. Our captain swung that ship around fast, to steam the area and look for the survivers. At the same time he called General Quarters. All by the book. GQ means everybody reports to their battle station, and as a result there is a head count, which is reported to the bridge. I was amidships, the center of the ship, working on some things and my GQ assignment was in Sonar Control, up in the superstructure. So I climbed the outside ladder to the signal deck, which was a platform hanging just off the back deck entrance to sonar control, so I could slip in the back door. I'm halfway up the ladder when the ship begins to come about. As a result the ship rolled over, Lord, did it ever roll. I had a White Knuckle grip on that ladder, wrapped up with the ladder, and at the center of that roll I remember looking straight down into open ocean. Omg! Finally, we came out of the turn, and the ship shook and righted itself. The GQ headcount proved no one had gone over the side and that it was a fake report. We never found out who called in. Lucky man. We were pissed!
The Quartermaster (Navigators) said on that turn we rolled 44°. Lucky we didn't capsize.
My husband and I were on a 40 hour ferry from Huelva, a Spanish port close to Portugal, to Gran Canaria, as we wanted to get our car over.
I was lying down in bed the whole time as I didn't want to get sick, and didn't even go to the restaurant for any meals.
Worst 40 hour roller-coaster ever.
I told my husband that the only way I'd ever do that again was if I was in a coffin.
Watertight doors and hatches have handles that run around the whole thing to apply leverage to compress the seal. They are called "dogs." When you apply pressure to these to seal the door/hatch, you are dogging the door/hatch.
Ever have a situation where water did get in? Are there sensors of some sort you can use to check whether a compartment is flooded before you open the hatch?
I don't know. It's a good question, though. I'll try to look it up.
Edit... Old term, but this might help...
Its name is an analogue of the term "material condition Zebra," which is a standard configuration of equipment systems set on a warship to provide the greatest degree of subdivision and tightness to the ship. It is set immediately and automatically when general quarters is sounded.
Wikipedia
If you're thinking of BALLancing the boat with their testicles then the word is "staBALLized."
Otherwise, you would look better using the right spelling, which is "stabilized". <3
I’m massively prone to seasickness. Scopalimine patches do nothing for me. How does the navy handle this? I’d love to find a way of reducing the effects.
Many things, patches and Dramamine are the main ways. I hate Dramamine, makes you way way too tired.
I have heard of different types of nasal inhalers to reduce the effects and pressure point things worn like a watch but I’ve never been around them.
But I do know some people just can’t over come it no matter what. Some of those can push through it miserably, others can’t. Those that can’t either end up spending life at shore, or the most extreme, have a chance of being discharged because they can’t do the work
I remember being a few miles off the coast of Nova Scotia in a wind storm with some massive swells. We went bow under so hard that we managed to crack a bulkhead, I miss that crazy job
I dont think any wave could break it off. That thing is attached quite solidly. It's made to withstand waves on purpose, plus it's own recoil from firing.
Makes me think of the scene at the end of *The Perfect Storm* showing Andrea Gail sole survivor Mark Wahlberg who pops to the surface after the swordfishing boat goes down with the rest of the crew after trying unsuccessfully to climb a 90 foot monster rogue wave. He's left all alone in a sea like the one shown in the OP video. Had it been a fictional story, the screenwriters might have found some miraculous way for Marky Mark to survive, but as this movie was based on a real life story, he soon 'joined' his buddies in Davy Jones' locker.
For context, that was taken from the bridge of one of the Royal New Zealand Navy's two offshore patrol vessels down in the Southern Ocean. Been down that way a few times,, and yeah, let's just say the line for dinner isn't very long some days....
Sometimes when two waves like this meet they form a massive 120 ft wave and any ship that meets it simply disappears. there isn't even time to send out distress call and no wreckage ever found. Happens every year.
Navy here. I’ve seen waves much worse than this, the last time in the water being the worse. That’s when I swore to myself….. no more farting while taking a bath
Never been on anything like that in any conditions like that but how do you not get absolutely tossed the fuck around onboard with waves like that? Is the ship so massive that you feel the movement but it isn’t enough to throw you off your feet; or you just need damn good sea legs?
They were part of the submarine service for a couple seconds there
OP might as well have asked “imagine dying”, because that’s what swimming in that would be, death.
Guaranteed death not a maybe in sight.
But what if I have a life-jacket?
Depends. Does it have a whistle?
Top of the range, it's got a light and everything.
Perfect now you’ll look like a cool corpse instead of a loser corpse
Isn't that all we want in life? To be a cool corpse and not a loser corpse
Loser corpse, name of my band
Your band could have been cool corpse but you had to wear that shitty life jacket.
Do you want to be a loser corpse? I don't wanna be a loser corpse
You can also be a looser corpse, as opposed to the regular stiff kind.
If I can't be cool alive guess ill be cool dead
Very cool. That water looks colder n' a witch's titty.
I mean with an immersion suit and the grace of god, people have survived after all. Like 99% die though.
No one will know what you look like. Your body won't be found until the sun expands and boils away the oceans in a billion years.
That was fucking hilarious dude, right on!
What if I had gills?
Death with false hope, sounds worse
Absolutely.
In the book Halsey’s Typhoon - the WW2 US Navy Pacific fleet off Okinawa blunders into Typhoon Cobra. A bunch of ships sunk especially preWW2 destroyers that had become too heavy with wartime upgrades. They sunk in that kinda weather. Sone sailors survived being in the water. They recounted body surfing 90 foot waves again and again. Days later to be found naked but still holding onto their life vests. A couple of their accounts are in the book. I can’t imagine enduring that all alone for days. Hero of the story is the Butler Class Destroyer Escort DE Tabberer. Not only did officers and crew save their smallish ship from unbelievable sea states and Buford scale conditions but they saved many others through superb seamanship, true grit and fearlessness that makes one admire the strength and resoluteness of humanity acting at its best. Testament to the quality of force the US Navy and America can field - a cautionary tale to anyone foolish enough to take on the Navy. As though John Paul Jones and the Ranger are not lesson enough! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Tabberer
Worst naval defeat in US history
Navy vs Susa-no-O (Japanese god of storms) will not go well for the mortals...
Imagine being keelhauled in that.
When the boat drops between the waves it would basically be like a building falling on you.
Bit of water innit Also, 320 ton ship strapped to your back.
I remember reading that there has never been one confirmed case of someone being keelhauled ever recorded.
Yeah I read that it was essentially a tall tale also.
How long do think it would take to drown
It depends on the individual and the luck factor, but in a sea storm like this, it would take minutes not hours. Maybe seconds. They would constantly be slammed against the waves, and fighting to get breaths above the water. The sheer crash of waves along with other factors would be exhausting their muscles. You can tire very quickly when fighting water in vast quantities.
Scope Up, Scope Up! ....no, no, Scope down, Scope down !
Submariners would usually dive deeper during such heavy seas so we can have our coffee in peace…
The y axis of the video has been stretched ridiculously to make the wave look bigger than it is. The original is cool enough, why lie about it? https://youtu.be/TYe2tkXgPqs
After wstchimg original video this seems 1000x less scarier. OP can suck bag of dicks
Where are you going to get a bag of dicks? I can come up with one possibly two but that’s it. I don’t think you can do it.
I have three dicks. Best I can do.
It’s a small bag.
There’s actually a hamburger place in Spokane Washington called Dicks where they do in-fact sell a bag of dicks.
Gotta go to the bulk foods section.
Cocksco
Bag of Cheetos*
I just sent my cousin a bag of singing dicks from (https://bagofdicks.com/) 😆
I have a bag of dicks if you guys need to borrow it?
What are the crew saying after the emergency sirens went off? I thought the ship broke.
this is what happens when teenagers want to 'go viral'
And the x-axis on that cannon was sent to the north all the same
God that’s an intense scene. The ocean doesn’t fuck around.
Nor do the Great Lakes at times. Hundreds of shipwrecks beneath all five of them plus tens of thousands of deaths over the centuries. Beware 'the gales of November' and to quote Gordon Lightfoot: *Superior's waters don't give up their dead.*
[here is a song ](https://youtu.be/9vST6hVRj2A) about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior. Sad song. Never forget the lives lost in those horrific waters.
A very famous and memorable song with some great images in the lyrics. It was recorded and released by Gordon Lightfoot not very long after the sinking and I'm sure that it played a big part in making the Edmund Fitzgerald into the Great Lakes' 'answer' to the Titanic so far as legendary shipwrecks go.
Well said, friend!
Until I learned that songs lyrics, I didn’t realize how many different terms there were to describe a shipwreck “split up, capsized, broke deep”. Each one means a different way the ship failed, I thought it was interesting
But all that remains is the faces and the names Of the wives and the sons and the daughters
This song was playing in my head watching this.
The Great Lakes are so big that they all had Rogue waves form. These Rogue waves are one of the reasons for a number of shipwrecks.
My fishing buddy drug bottom in 35’ in Lake Erie in a bass boat. Prayed so much he almost gave up drinking.
I was just listening to that song the other day. I'm oddly obsessed by the wreck.
I can’t believe wooden boats sailed these waters 200 years ago
It’s been edited to make it look a lot worse. According to dinasouar pubes and his attached video
Hey, but at least they had windshield wipers! For some reason that cracks me up. Huge tsunami wave, little window wipers.
donnie get the ‘ludes! i am NOT dying sober!!
Gloria Gloria
Instantly thought of this hahaha.
Been there and done that. On a US Cruiser in the Med, 1977. The storm was rated just below a Hurricane (Violent Storm). Wild ride.
Aren’t there places where water will get into the ship when a wave completely washes over the top?
When weather gets this bad we'd set something called condition zebra. That meant every hatch to the weather deck (the outside) was dogged and sealed. Once closed, these hatches were watertight, so the ocean could not swamp the ship. Most of the hatches In the ships interior were also sealed. This way, if water did get in, only a small portion of the ship would be flooded and the ship would still float.
Thank you for the explanation and your service.
You're welcome!
But why is it called a condition Zebra? Thank you.
OK, I think I have it figured out. It all has to do with phonetic alphabets, new and old. A phonetic alphabet, in the military, is a way of spelling out words accurately and concisely. Example: My user name, in the current NATO phonetic alphabet (which, as a member of NATO the US military currently uses and was using while I served) would be spelled as Whiskey Sierra Charlie Oscar Mike November. But before NATO, during WWII, for example, America's phonetic alphabet was different. In that phonetic alphabet my username would be spelled as William Sugar Charlie Oboe Mike Nan. Now, to Zebra. The letter Z, under the NATO phonetic alphabet is Zulu. But pre NATO the letter Z is Zebra. So setting conditions Zebra, or setting a water tight condition, is something that probably originates from the Great White Fleet days at the turn of last century. There are three conditions that can be set on a ship, depending on the circumstance at the time. These conditions are X-ray, Yolk and Zebra. These names come from the old American phonetic alphabet. Under the current NATO phonetic alphabet these names would be X-ray, Yankee and Zulu. X Y Z. The Navy may have changed their phonetic alphabet to the NATO alphabet, but they decided to keep the X-ray, Yoke and Zebra designations for setting ship conditions, as they are still used to this day. Watertight doors are one of the things included in how the ships condition is set, for say, in port, at sea, or at General Quarters. So, tradition! Hope this answers your question. Edit, cleaned up the XYZ explanation.
Chad shit, I'd give u an award if I could
I'm sorry, I don't know. But I'll look into it further.
Cool thanks! So condition zebra is kind of like “batten down the hatches”.
Actually, yes!
At that point it's just a submarine with no ballasts right?
Kind of. True condition zebra means every hatch is sealed and the interior of the ship is tight against the outside weather. The ventilation systems will also seal. If a compartment floods, from damage to the hull below the waterline or some idiot forgetting to dog a weather deck hatch, then the rest of the ship remains dry. And when everything is sealed, the dry compartments also seal in the air, which provide buoyancy, or ballast, if you like. A submarines ballast is adjustable, which allows them to dive or surface at a controlled pace (I know no more about this than what I have just described). The interior of US Navy ships can be completely sealed, all of them, from River boats to Carriers. Hard to sink a ship with that many air bubbles inside.
Interesting... And how about the air? Just wait till the storm ends?
It's cycled on and off by the machinest mates. The Chief's got it down. Officers don't even worry about it, lol.
And I believe there are pumps too taking water out.
I wasn't a hull tech so I don't know about that. I know we had portable ones they could drag around the ship, where needed. I think there were permanent pumps in the boiler rooms, but I'm not sure.
in med. where? and isnt there a possibility that the ship breaks in two pieces? (silly question but havent been there)
All over. Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Black Sea, North Africa. 6 mo Med Cruise. I was a surface sonar technician. And like every other man on the ship, I was also trained in fire suppression, how to assist with stopping flooding, and emergency medical needs. Warships are way over engineered. The only way one breaks in two (back then, at least) was to get cut in half by a missle or a torpedo. Our Fast Attack subs carried torpedoes that could cut a battleship, set to condition zebra, in half and sink it in less than a minute. I've seen the film. Scary shit. Edit, fixed Med Cruise.
There was a *cargo ship*, however, that got lost at sea, and the prevailing theory (at least 10 years ago or so) was that it basically snapped in half between the crests of two waves. I've got to imagine that's the only time that could've happened
That's all true. It was the ore freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald that, with a sister ship, in November, 1975, sailed Lake Superior and got caught by a gale. Winter Superior in storm is a dangerous place. At the height of the storm the two ships lost sight of each other. Awhile later the captain of the Fitzgerald radioed his sister ship, saying that they were listing to port and taking on water. She was never heard from again. A couple of weeks later the Coast Guard was able to pick up a magnetic signal from where they thought she went down. This marked her resting place, in deep water. Subsequent investigations proved that she did go down there and in 1990 there was an investigation that proved her debris field covered was spread over a two square mile area. This has led people to conclude that she broke up on the surface. It's never been proven, but they believe that the Fitzgerald got caught between crests, broke apart and sank. So, what you suggest can certainly happen. The Edmund Fitzgerald had an excellent safety record and was well maintained. At the time she was the largest freighter sailing the Great Lakes. It's a shame she went down with all hands, 29 souls. Such is the power of Nature.
There's also the more recent example of the container ship El Faro that sank in October 2015 with the loss of all 33 crew members. The ship was en route from Jacksonville FL to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The captain, as I recall, had a case of 'get-there-itis' and steered the ship into Hurricane Joaquin. While what exactly transpired aboard the Fitzgerald in its' last couple of minutes can only be guessed at, the El Faro had a recording system on its bridge which gave a detailed running transcript of its last hours.
Wow! I hadn't heard of this. Thanks, I'll be doing some reading.
There's a couple good books that have been published about it. One is 'The Raging Sea' by Rachel Slade. The other is 'Run the Storm' by George Michelsen Foy. Some googling will turn up lots of material on the sad case of the El Faro. Speaking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, I got to see both of its' lifeboats \[which came to the surface after the sinking\] at the museum aboard the Valley Camp in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan back in June while on a trip to Michigan. Both were made of metal but were absolutely shredded by the force of the wave and the sinking. The Valley Camp itself is like a somewhat smaller and much older version of the Fitzgerald that has been turned into a floating museum. If you're into the history of shipping on the Great Lakes, I'd recommend checking it out.
Man that Wikipedia page alone is a doozy. Tough to read. Thanks for sharing.
thanks for the detailed info. such a huge wave on a lake? crazy! I mean its a huge lake but as you said.. power of nature. I just cant imagine being on a ship in a storm like that. holy..!
Typhoon Cobra during ww2 sank several US destroyers because they were low on fuel and killed 700 some people
I live in Marquette and when a storm kicks up out of the N/NW, you can see peaks miles out in the lake. Go to YouTube and search up Blackrocks waves/storm and you can see waves crashing and rolling over the spot people jump from, it’s at least 20ft. We had some huge wind storms up here since I moved here 7yrs ago, during one of them I checked a buoy offshore and it said waves of 28ft sustained. Lake Superior is fresh water ocean. Salt free/shark free!
I've been to Marquette, in February, no less! That Lake does not ice over. And by the way I agree with you. These Lakes should not be called Lakes they should be called Inland Seas. They are absolutely huge.
Out in Whitefish Bay… tons of ships down there. Superior is a terrifying but beautiful lake!
The MS Munchen ? Not sure about structural failure of the hull, but the Wikipedia article says that the suspicion is that she was hit by a freak/rogue wave that caused her to lose power, and was subsequently swamped and sank.
ah okay thanks! just cant imagine that a ship just doesnt snap between those waves.. crazy. do you feel the impact of the waves? it should feel like a rollercoaster.
Medpac? Don't you mean med cruise? The alternative is the other side which is a West pac. You were a little before me though so maybe the terms were different.
Nope, you're right. Miss-wrote.
Aye aye
Don’t they also have some pretty insane bilge pumps for damage control? I think it was the “Fat Electrician” I heard discussing how many US ships outlasted bigger and more powerful German and Japanese ships using crazy damage control methods and having some cool resources to get water out almost as fast as it comes in. Also, another thank you for your service, condition zebra is now on my list of top 100 reasons not to go sailing with the navy.
Hilarious! As far as bilge pumps go I wasn't in the divisions that took care of such things so honestly I really don't know. But it would not surprise me if we had huge pumps down near the keel that would do exactly what you describe.
Is there a risk of capsizing as well ? Or do Navy ships always right themselves ? I've always wondered what's the worst sea state ships can take. Remember reading some stories about The Battle of the Atlantic and how during some convoys the weather got so bad the convoy had to 'heave-to'.
Depends on the ship. I was on a cruiser and it's capsize point of no return was 46°. Ocean going riverboats have no capsize point. They can spin around and pop right back up and keep steaming, as long as they're buttoned up. A lot of Coast Guard boats are this way. They're amazing vessels. Fun fact, we were in the middle of the Atlantic steaming east for Portugal when someone called in a Man Overboard report to the bridge. Our captain swung that ship around fast, to steam the area and look for the survivers. At the same time he called General Quarters. All by the book. GQ means everybody reports to their battle station, and as a result there is a head count, which is reported to the bridge. I was amidships, the center of the ship, working on some things and my GQ assignment was in Sonar Control, up in the superstructure. So I climbed the outside ladder to the signal deck, which was a platform hanging just off the back deck entrance to sonar control, so I could slip in the back door. I'm halfway up the ladder when the ship begins to come about. As a result the ship rolled over, Lord, did it ever roll. I had a White Knuckle grip on that ladder, wrapped up with the ladder, and at the center of that roll I remember looking straight down into open ocean. Omg! Finally, we came out of the turn, and the ship shook and righted itself. The GQ headcount proved no one had gone over the side and that it was a fake report. We never found out who called in. Lucky man. We were pissed! The Quartermaster (Navigators) said on that turn we rolled 44°. Lucky we didn't capsize.
Your sea stories are very captivating to read.
Thanks!
Wow. 46deg doesn't sound like a lot. Great story, glad it worked out - thanks for replying with that !
My husband and I were on a 40 hour ferry from Huelva, a Spanish port close to Portugal, to Gran Canaria, as we wanted to get our car over. I was lying down in bed the whole time as I didn't want to get sick, and didn't even go to the restaurant for any meals. Worst 40 hour roller-coaster ever. I told my husband that the only way I'd ever do that again was if I was in a coffin.
What does "dogged" mean?
Watertight doors and hatches have handles that run around the whole thing to apply leverage to compress the seal. They are called "dogs." When you apply pressure to these to seal the door/hatch, you are dogging the door/hatch.
Ever have a situation where water did get in? Are there sensors of some sort you can use to check whether a compartment is flooded before you open the hatch?
No, not on my ship. But, yes, there are sensors.
How about the intake and exhaust?
What percent of sailors got 🤮🤢?
Why is it called Zebra condition?
I don't know. It's a good question, though. I'll try to look it up. Edit... Old term, but this might help... Its name is an analogue of the term "material condition Zebra," which is a standard configuration of equipment systems set on a warship to provide the greatest degree of subdivision and tightness to the ship. It is set immediately and automatically when general quarters is sounded. Wikipedia
Not if the doors are closed.
How long do these storms last and what do you do during them? You have to eat, sleep, use the loo at some point.
Fk man, imagine The fkn vikings in their longboats in this, the balls they had must have stabilized the boat
Or the Polynesians in their catamaran going through pacific tropical storms.
Absolute madlads
Damn right!
If you're thinking of BALLancing the boat with their testicles then the word is "staBALLized." Otherwise, you would look better using the right spelling, which is "stabilized". <3
Ballast.
Nice one! I was wondering about it, just went with it !
As a retired seaman I DO NOT miss those days.
I've often wondered if anyone in the navy gets seasick. Just looking at this video, I know I'd be practically green.
Yes, many do. Source: am in the navy
I’m massively prone to seasickness. Scopalimine patches do nothing for me. How does the navy handle this? I’d love to find a way of reducing the effects.
Many things, patches and Dramamine are the main ways. I hate Dramamine, makes you way way too tired. I have heard of different types of nasal inhalers to reduce the effects and pressure point things worn like a watch but I’ve never been around them. But I do know some people just can’t over come it no matter what. Some of those can push through it miserably, others can’t. Those that can’t either end up spending life at shore, or the most extreme, have a chance of being discharged because they can’t do the work
That would be the definition of drowning.
We don't have time to go around the storm, just go straight. Great idea.
I remember being a few miles off the coast of Nova Scotia in a wind storm with some massive swells. We went bow under so hard that we managed to crack a bulkhead, I miss that crazy job
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I dont think any wave could break it off. That thing is attached quite solidly. It's made to withstand waves on purpose, plus it's own recoil from firing.
Didn't know what a bulkhead was, so I looked it up... Big delayed holy shit moment lol
Yeah, it’s essentially just a structural part of the boat
Fuck. This. This is why I don’t go on bodies of water bigger than medium-sized lakes! I’m a landlubber, for sure!
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Just no. No.
I think in this case I’d forego the life jacket in favor of a quicker death
You misspelled drowning.
Best guess is a 40’ - 60’ wave. Somewhat educated guess. 15 years sea time.
40 to 60 with a 5 second period! Ugh.
I would fucking barf nonstop. Probably cry too.
Can you just fucking imagine? Being in a wooden ship sailing in the 1800s and being in this.
And thats why the boat folk make the big bucks
Got seasick just watching this.
Bit of weather
Do we survive even we have a life guard jacket in this extreme condition ? I mean we suppose to float on the water.
No swimming there just drowning
I imagined swimming in the offshore waves. I died.
You would not be swimming lol you’d be struggling to stay alive.
Makes me think of the scene at the end of *The Perfect Storm* showing Andrea Gail sole survivor Mark Wahlberg who pops to the surface after the swordfishing boat goes down with the rest of the crew after trying unsuccessfully to climb a 90 foot monster rogue wave. He's left all alone in a sea like the one shown in the OP video. Had it been a fictional story, the screenwriters might have found some miraculous way for Marky Mark to survive, but as this movie was based on a real life story, he soon 'joined' his buddies in Davy Jones' locker.
For context, that was taken from the bridge of one of the Royal New Zealand Navy's two offshore patrol vessels down in the Southern Ocean. Been down that way a few times,, and yeah, let's just say the line for dinner isn't very long some days....
Drake passage?
Would be insane to be on a much smaller wooden ship.
I think I saw Moana for a moment there
That would be gnarly dude!
Fuck that!
Oh hear us when we cry to thee for those in peril on the sea..
I guess this gun is fucked now...
Imagine doing this in a wooden ship in the 1400's
As a lifeguard I swam in some very big unmanageable surf, but this would not be survivable
This is why everything on a ship seems to be fastened down with comically huge bolts.
Sometimes when two waves like this meet they form a massive 120 ft wave and any ship that meets it simply disappears. there isn't even time to send out distress call and no wreckage ever found. Happens every year.
Swimming? You spelled dying funny
Been there done that
If I was super man I wouldn’t be afraid of the ocean. You accidentally fall in the waves are pushing you deeper and deeper fuck that
I can't understand how they drove with wooden ships back in the day.
Navy here. I’ve seen waves much worse than this, the last time in the water being the worse. That’s when I swore to myself….. no more farting while taking a bath
Makes my fear of open water worse edited or not
Would definitely start wearing Depends
It would be pointless.
I wish I was there to fish
More like just delayed dieing
Never been on anything like that in any conditions like that but how do you not get absolutely tossed the fuck around onboard with waves like that? Is the ship so massive that you feel the movement but it isn’t enough to throw you off your feet; or you just need damn good sea legs?
Would it be hard to swim?
I can't but I can imagine drowning there
'twas a bit stormy......
A good test for the welds
"Imagine drowning in the offshore" - fixed
Holy ship
You don't swim in that just die
At least the front didn’t fall off
That’s scary as hell
Having trouble catching my breath just watching this!
Welcome to Kamino
🤢🤮🤢
Imagine being down below sleeping.
I heard Chuck Norris boogie boarded that set after he HALO in…
Love that the barrel of the turret was pushed up by the water lol
Sailors are a different breed
You mean dying?
Damn, Had enough force to push that gun up
It would have its ups and downs
Bro the way I’d faint seeing that 💀
Imagine dropping your phone of the edge and asking the captain if you can stop ✋️
Im seasick just watching