Rogue waves

[Keith Tindell]

I did,nt leave the house yesterday, but i did check on the AIS , and normally there are 5-6 ships anchored in the bay , waiting for a berth, but they quickly shifted into the Solent. One of the Isle of Wight ferries had to anchor out in the Solent yesterday, loaded with cars and passengers, the skipper decided it was too dangerous to try to enter Portsmouth in the extreme winds, . I find watching that His system fascinating , only wish we had ships out there among it. kt

[Bill Morrison]

Hi Keith. I was thinking about you yesterday, when reports of wind speed of 122mph. on the isle. If you had been flying a kite I had visions of the Russians going mental as you passed over the Ukraine.
Bill.

[Richard Keith Roberts]

The Irish Sea. Sailing from Belfast to Holyhead on the Rhodri Mawr. I went up to the galley from the engine room to make a cup of tea at 8am. On the port bow was the Chicken Rock Lighthouse at the southern tip of the Isle of Man.I went back to the galley at 11.30 for another cuppa and there was the lighthouse abaft the beam. That was some trip!!!!

[j.sabourn]

From a book source ...During a hurricane on 6 - 7 Feb.1933, a 34 metre or 112 feet sea wave was measured between Manila and California.
The highest instrumental wave was 26 metres , recorded by the British ship Weather Reporter in the North Atlantic on the 30 December 1972.
Highest Tsunami on 9 July 1958 , a landslide caused a wave moving at 100 mph to wash a record 1,720 ft. Along the fiord like Lithuania Bay in Alaska.
As said if anyone knows the true way to measure the true height of a wave should say so, is it measured from the bottom or the.top of a swell , or the mean of the Swell height ?

[Graham Shaw]

Rogue (or Freak) Waves.....The ss BENCRUACHAN 1973.

Whilst there have been well documented instances before and after (Queen Elizabeth,Michaelangelo,Wilstar,World Glory,Neptune Sapphire) most of us will remember the ss BENCRUACHAN which happily survived what could have been a disaster.
BENCRUACHAN -Bow severely damaged.Durban 5-73.jpg

ss BENCRUACHAN AT DURBAN,3rd May,1973
Photo courtesy Chris Howell Coll'n. /Jones


The Event

2nd May,1973 ,The fast 12,092 gross tonnes , 5 year old cargo liner ss Bencruachan was struck by a very large wave when 74 miles S. E. of Durban resulting in severe hull fracturing. Diverted to S. Africa for temporary repair before proceeding to Rotterdam at slow speed for permanent repairs. On arrival at Rotterdam the true vision of damage became apparent (the forward part of hull was like Concorde’s drooped nose). Repaired by the Rotterdam Drydock Company and returned to service. She eventually went on,after several subsequent owners to being scrapped in 2011.


Some Comments from the Web

My wife (16 weeks pregnant) and I were passengeres on "Bencruachan" from Singapore when it was hit by the rogue wave off Durban on 2 May 1973. Capt Sinclair was on his last voyage before retiring and the ship was delayed because we had to drop off a sick crew man with appendicitis in Medan, Sumatra. Suez was still closed at this time so we should have called at Durban for bunkers but due to congestion were diverted to Cape Town which we never of course reached. We remember the episode well since we were helicoptered off and then spent 10 days in Durban before being flown home.It was some wave, some bang I can tell you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------





Is there anybody on board who sailed on the ss Benchruachan in 1973 when she "broke her back " in heavy seas off Durban? I was 4th engineer on the ore/oil tanker MV Flowergate (Turnbull Scott Sg.Co.) at the time and we went to her assistance. We prepared to take people off but it turned out it wasn't necessary, however we stayed close by until the weather eased and tugs came out from Durban to take her in. We passed the Bencruachan some months later as we were heading south in the Atlantic and she was heading north for Rotterdam after having some temporary repairs done in S.Africa.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Graham Shaw]

ss WARATAH

Whilst with any unexplained happening of a vessel ,or aircraft,going missing,the various conjecture and theories of the event are numerous,but it is quite possible that the passenger liner could have been a casualty of a rogue wave,given the area of her last sighting.This was off the south eastern coast of South Africa ,which over the years has seen a fair number of such ship casualties.These giant rogue waves happen where strong winds meet the fast flowing Agulhas Current flowing in the opposite direction,the resulting preceding deep trough of the wave crashing over the bows of a ship with often devastating consequences.The likelihood of these rogue waves is these days monitored and promulgated in warnings to shipping in these areas by the Met.Office and Coast Guard.

[happy daze john in oz]

In the Great Australian Bight way back in the early days of steam a P&O ship was hit by one and now lies at the bottom.

[j.sabourn]

Thinking back to various lectures years ok , seem to remember that the picture shown #35 , a similar outline of a ship was shown with a broken back , and if remember this was blamed on the hogging and sagging which every ship does it , in excessive wave heights the stresses on certain Hull parts were extreme. If the ship got into a situation which I believe was called synchronisation where the same parts of the hull were receiving repetitions of these stresses , was to break that synchronisation , and the only way to do this was to reduce the speed of the ship through the water and small if necessary changes of course. How a ship was loaded was a great attribute to it’s not breaking as well as the most important one of all. How many have stood aft on a large after housing vessel and watch the whole length of the ship bending and waving to them ? Apart from the continuous hogging and sagging in any seaway a ship is continuously wracking as well , this is not so visual but audible with the creaks and groans. Cheers JS.

[happy daze john in oz]

Remember on the Windsor there were expansion joints on several decks.
One on the boat deck was brass and had to be regularly polished.

Ginger got the job of looking after this task, fine until one day in some rough weather he had a bit taken off his finger as the plate opened a bit and caught the flesh.
Refused to polish it after that.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Wasn't it the Whauirta can't remember the name, that sunk off the south African coast after hitting a big wave?
Des