Posted on 05/18/2025 6:52:02 AM PDT by Morgana
Mexican sailors were seen dangling from a navy training vessel's main mast moments after the ship smashed into the Brooklyn Bridge.
The sailors had been standing atop the Cuauhtémoc's 150-foot masts in the lead up to the ship striking the iconic structure on Saturday as part of a traditional greeting.
The massive Navy vessel, reportedly carrying nearly 300 passengers, hit the iconic New York City bridge, triggering a colossal rescue response and leaving two dead and dozens more severely injured.
In multiple eyewitness videos, the towering masts are seen snapping and partially collapsing as they crash into the bridge's deck. Sailors perched high above are thrown into chaos, with some seen clinging to the shattered beams high up in the air.
Bystanders Sydney Neidell and Lily Katz told the Associated Press they were sitting outside watching the sunset when they saw the vessel strike the bridge and one of its masts snap.
Looking closer, they said they noticed someone hanging from high on the ship.
'We saw someone dangling, and I couldn't tell if it was just blurry or my eyes, and we were able to zoom in on our phone and there was someone dangling from the harness from the top for like at least like 15 minutes before they were able to rescue them,' Katz said.
They reported seeing two people taken off the ship on stretchers and transferred to smaller boats.
The Navy personnel had been standing on the masts of the Mexican Navy ship as part of a ceremonial greeting and show of respect upon entering a port.
This tradition, known as 'manning the yards,' is a longstanding maritime custom practiced worldwide.
The sailors aboard the Cuauhtémoc appeared to have been engaged in this time-honored ritual during the harrowing crash.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
It was an accident. Accidents happen. Let’s pray for the victims and their families.
Let’s act like the bigger people we are.
Si se puede!
Thank you. A lot of fool comments regarding this and peoples lives were lost.
People should learn to keep quiet until they know the real story.
Nope, don’t imperil the ship or endanger the lives of your crew.
Especially if the truth is that it was the American towing company at fault.
My point exactly.
Anytime there’s a loss of power, immediately drop anchor. It give you time to sort the rest out. Captain lacked judgement here.
Didn’t the guys on the yard see it coming?
Nowadays most “tall ships” have power. Keep in mind they’re used mainly for ceremonial show (and some training) which means they need to be more maneuverable than traditional sailing ships, so they can easily”sail” into tighter urban spaces. When the dozens of tall ships sailed into Chicago via Lake Michigan (I forget the occasion), they all had engines and were able to scoot around one another. The Mexican ship was not “under sail,” relying only on its engine(s) — which failed. And many of the crew were “manning the yards” in ceremonial fashion; these were the ones injured and thrown into the water when the masts hit the bridge.
Yup.
The ship lost power two minutes after casting off. At that point they were just flotsam.
Yes why are they still using sail boats? is this 1825 or what?
We still have a big sailboat as well, the USS Constitution. I think the idea is to use it for training purposes to instill the need for teamwork. Also, used for ceremonial purposes, like this one from the Mexican navy.
the USS Constitution is no longer functional as a working ship. It last moved in 2012.
The Coast Guard trains on the USCGC Eagle (WIX-327), formerly Horst Wessel and also known as Barque Eagle, is a 295-foot (90 m) barque used as a training cutter for future officers of the United States Coast Guard.
I disagree. There’s a video from the rear of the ship and it is powering in reverse. The stern is making a wake as it moves faster through the water than the current couldtake it. If it was just going with the current, there would be no wave at the peak of the Stern. It was powering backwards.
We don't know what happened. The distance between the pier and the bridge is just several hundreds of yards. Hardly any time to figure anything out..
Another foreign ship crashing into our bridges.
There's another "time honored ritual" called checking the vertical clearance before sailing under bridges.
They navigated just fine to the bridge. The mast was too tall to pass under the bridge. GPS doesn’t help so much with that.
My great-grandfather walked across that bridge the day it opened, and shook hands with President Arthur - my mother’s brother was named “Chester” because the family legend of shaking President Arthur’s hand made such a big impression.
My great-grandfather’s son (my grandfather’s brother) was promoted to captain in the NY National Guard for the Mexican Punitive Expedition before he went to France to show Kaiser Bill what for.
He must be looking down on this and shaking his head.
The Brooklyn Bridge was built to stand for centuries.
There is also a time honored ritual of not fully reading the articles posted on FR or at least investigating the situation further. The sailing vessel was suppose to be be headed out to sea and not up the river...
The USS Constitution last moved under sail in May 2024.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.