With the hurricane wind blowing, those sailors wouldn’t have lasted long. That type of wind prevents you from lifting your head up, then add the waves on top of that. They went through hell.
I don’t think there was much time. If the ship was listing 15 degrees and no propulsion, shifting of the cargo would have caused the ship to capsize and sink very quickly.
These guys had a bit of luck courtesy “Big John”
http://articles.philly.com/1999-09-16/news/25488832_1_aircraft-carrier-high-seas-rescue-flight-deck