[Venturer]

There is absolutely no excuse for that ship to have been in those Sea’s.

[LukeL]

I was just thinking even if this ship had a steel hull, modern bulkheads, top of the line pumps, and an engine and modern navigation equipment it would still be suicidial to take on a cat 1 hurricane.

The Edmund Fitzgerald a 700 foot plus modern ore carrier sunk in a weaker storm, and ironically right around the same time of the year.

[ThunderSleeps]

The rule of thumb with larger craft is they are safer out at sea than they are in port, even a very well protected port. Wind and wave can batter them against piers, surging tides make securing them to a pier problematic...

Most leave port if they are able and run away from the storm, at a right angle to its path. I'd guess that is what HMS Bounty was trying to do, but didn't leave soon enough, didn't run as fast as they predicted, or conditions even on the edges of the storm exceeded expectations.