Mystery of monster waves solved

Electronic Telegraph ^ | January 6, 2002 | By Tony Paterson in Berlin

[tubebender]

Wish your daughter God Speed from us. Was you son-in-law from the North Coast? I think I told you we lost our friend Billy Law and three others on opening day of crab season a few years ago when the boat loaded with crab pots was swamped by a large wave in the entrance to Humboldt Bay.

[Jimmy Valentine]

Superior. She broke in two. The Coast guard said her hatches weren't properly secured, but the captain who was following in the Anderson said that he had been hit by a big wave [called "three sisters" up there] and said that might have done it when it got to the Fitzgerald.

He also said that the Fitzgerald either had a stress fracture or had bottomed on a reef earlier and that was the proximate cause of the sinking.

Regards,

[a_federalist]

I saw that too. I read in a related article that the highest wave recorded by sensing buoy was at 200 ft off of Vancouver Island. Article also mentioned scientists don't believe waves can get much higher than that due to the physics involved. Didn't go into the physics though, so don't know what that meant.

[aculeus]

Many thanks for all the personal survival stories!

And the researchers checking out the stats.

[Catspaw]

Hey everyone- Ya'll forget the Edmund Fitzgerald? Let's see if I can-she was 900' long and went down in about 300' of water when a 150' wave came up her stern. This left only 150' to the bottom and when she was lifted by the wave , she "pearled"(a surfing term?),her bow hit the bottom and she split in two. Probably only took about 15 or 20 seconds. And this happened on which Great Lake?

Lake Superior, off Whitefish Point.

Some of the Fitzgerald crew were from my area (northeast Wisconsin).

[woofer]

Ya'll forget the Edmund Fitzgerald? Let's see if I can-she was 900' long and went down in about 300' of water when a 150' wave came up her stern.

And this happened on which Great Lake?

The Fitzgerald was 675" long, no evidence exists about what sunk her, and if you know your Indian Lore, the lake was the Gitcheegoomie

It's the big lake that is superior to all others. The Fitz went down before she could reach the shelter of Whitefish Bay.

[Eaker]

The Fitzgerald weighted 13,632 tons and was 729 feet long. In 1958, when it was first launched, it was the largest carrier on the Great Lakes, and remained so until 1971. The Fitzgerald was labeled "The Pride of the American Flag". In 1964 it became the first ship on the Great Lakes to carry more than a million tons of ore through the Soo Locks. On November 9, 1975 she departed from Superior, WI with approximately 26,000 tons of ore bound for Detroit MI. Shortly after leaving, the Fitzgerald made contact with the Arthur M. Anderson bound, on a similar route, for Gary IN.

This site says it all.

Eaker

[Tijeras_Slim]

that the highest wave recorded by sensing buoy was at 200 ft off of Vancouver Island.

That's almost inconcieveable. Moving water is nothing to mess around with.

[razorback-bert]

A litte J-B Weld, a few sacks of paper and miles of duct tape and you were back to drilling in a couple of hours.

[RGSpincich]

The report linked here reports numbers to support the claims made in the article. The report's focus is the sea-worthiness of vessels and not monster waves but the statistics do coincide. Here is some info.

[Dark Wing]

Lake Superior. The Edmond Fitzgerald was an iron ore ship taking a load to Cleveland.

[boris]

I thought the name for these was "seiche" waves. I've known about them since ~1970.

"seiche
n.

From Swiss-French. A natural, standing wave in the water of a lake, bay, etc., caused by changes in atmospheric pressure, seismic disturbances, winds, waves, tides, etc.: it continues after the generating force stops."

These are different from "soliton" waves, which are another story altogether.

--Boris

[COB1]

LOL!
You forgot the soft line and the sash cord!

Yup, we got in the capsule the next morning and made a tour of the legs and the hull bottom.
One of the legs had a small crack in it, but it could have been there all the time.
We were back to drilling the same day we got back on board.

[Dark Wing]

ping

[caddie]

Where do solitons fit into all of this?

Seems to me I remember reading about Hamilton (the Irish math dude) seeing some huge wave in a canal, coming out of nowhere, not dispersing at all, passing off into the sunset, adn somebody called them solitons.

Do you guys know the reference for this German study?

I believe 'Rogue waves' have been around for a long, long, time, as a part of seagoing lore.

The sea gives me the heebie-jeebies.

[willyone]

More like 70 feet. The America CV-66 had it's starboard catwalk below the forward flight deck twisted like a pretzel by a wave like these.

[COB1]

Another time on a posted barge rig in Main Pass of Venice, LA, one of my men was trying to free a valve on a frac tank located on a barge we had tied alongside.
The seas were rough with 6-8 foot swells and a considerable chop.
As I watched him from the safety of the drilling barge, I saw a wave coming straight for us that was at least 25 feet tall.
I screamed a warning, but the noise of the rig drowned me out.
The wave took him between the barges and slammed one barge against the other crushing him to death.
Another man who tried to rescue him had both legs crushed and later amputated.
I went down to the barge when the wave hit, and I heard the man screaming between the barges.
I lived with that man's screams for many nights as I tried to sleep.

[philman_36]

What is an "LSD". I've heard of "LST's" ( Landing Ship Tank). Please advise.
Landing Ship Dock