Completely awesome waves!
From memory, the bow of the ship had about 35 feet of free board, and waves were breaking 10 feet over the bow rail, and washing almost half way across the deck to the pilot house, which was at the extreme rear of the vessel.
The ship was unbelievably stable, but that experience had to be really unnerving for the crew.
My step-brother flew off the Eisenhower for 12 years and told me a story about catching a wave broadside in the Atlantic that tipped the ship so far to one side it actually hung there for about 5 seconds before it began to right itself. He said it was the quietest 5 seconds he ever experienced on the ship, followed immediately by the noisiest 60 seconds of whoops and cheering and shouting that he had ever heard.
Nature is flat out awesome in its power. I can’t even begin to imagine the power it takes to roll a ship that massive to equilibrium where it is balancing right on the edge of capsizing. That is insane. That would be one heck of a thing to see, from high up safely in a chopper or an airplane.
I can say with 100% certainty, had I seen it at its apex of rolling, I would have been flat out certain it was going all the way over. It must have been showing a lot of hull sticking out of the water.