RCN ships in high sea states

[Stoker]

Of course a heavy sea state in winter is no fun at all, from a set of WUP's I did about 15 years ago. Took a day alongside to remove the ice

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

One of the pleasures (so to speak) of being stuck in local waters or too slow. Unlike the "heavies", it's more difficult in the MCDV's to deke South East quickly into the gulf Stream for about 12 hours and melt it all.

 

[Lumber]

Here was a 'little storm' we saw on MON a couple of years ago.

Not the worst I've seen.  I was holding onto the Gyro doing rounds once and read the roll angle as 42.6 degrees.

NS

Ah yes, the 24 hours of constant list to port crossing the Gulf of Maine. Great if your bunk opening faced to starboard, not so much if it opened to port (especially if you're Seat Trg...).

I remember everyone walking into the Wardroom for breakfast that day had the same look on their face when they saw all of our furniture bundled up in a pile, a look of "Wtf?" Followed immediately by, "Where am I suppose to eat my fruit loops?!".

 

[Furniture]

Our transit from Hawaii to home on WIN. The sig wave was only about 3-4m with a few 5m and 6m seas thrown in for good measure.  The winds were the real culprit, they were out of the south at 25-30kt with gusts to 35kt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd2BjPkTJ4s

 

[Halifax Tar]

Our transit from Hawaii to home on WIN. The sig wave was only about 3-4m with a few 5m and 6m seas thrown in for good measure.  The winds were the real culprit, they were out of the south at 25-30kt with gusts to 35kt

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yd2BjPkTJ4s" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Sandy bottom sailors

*said with all intended humor*

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

Yes. For landlubbers out there: When you are on a long track with strong winds on your beam, it's pretty normal for the ship to be rolled and held down at a certain angle away from the windy side, just like a sailboat. In fact, the more flat surface  on your beam exposed to the wind, the more you get leaned over and held. That "flat surface" of a ship is actually called her "sail" area.

The IRO's were particularly subject to that, as were the old minesweepers.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

MCDV, the modern "Corvette" 

 

[Baz]

Here was a 'little storm' we saw on MON a couple of years ago.

Not the worst I've seen.  I was holding onto the Gyro doing rounds once and read the roll angle as 42.6 degrees.

NS

I flew in a Sea King down from Sheartwaer and embarked on HMCS Nipigon from Patrick AFB, Florida on March 12, 1993 in order to replace aircraft 12423 which had ditched on or about the night of 26 Feb 93 (crew all went swimming but got out)... it took us 10 days to get there because we broke down in Boston for 6 nights and then had to wait 3 dats for the ship to come back around from the Gulf of Mexico at Patrick.

March 12 was significant because

The 1993 Storm of the Century (also known as the '93 Superstorm, The No Name Storm, or the Great Blizzard of 1993) was a large cyclonic storm that formed over the Gulf of Mexico on March 12, 1993. The storm was unique and notable for its intensity, massive size, and wide-reaching effects; at its height, the storm stretched from Canada to Honduras. The cyclone moved through the Gulf of Mexico and then through the eastern United States before moving on to Canada. The storm eventually dissipated in the North Atlantic Ocean on March 15, 1993.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Storm_of_the_Century.  It hit us off of Norfolk on the 13th and 14th; at one point we went over 48 degrees and all the furniture in the wardroom broke loose.  We rode it out better in an old steamer than some of the other ships in StaNavForLant did though...

There was also a case, on HMCS Fraser I think, in the early to mid '90s that the spare engine broke loose in the hangar and was sliding around and they had to lasso it.

In the steamers there was no way to the hangar except outside, so if the upper decks were out of bounds for weather you had to go out through the bridge and over the top to the hatch at the front of the hangar, which was a pain to open in heavy winds, and then down a tiny ladder with the nose of the aircraft about 15 inches away.  You told the OOW you were going and then called him so he knew you got there, and the reverse to come back.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

CCG on the Westcoast had a young seaman killed by a landing craft that came loose on the welldeck of either the Wofe or Camsaul during a storm, apparently jumped off of the hatchcover to get a line on it without orders and got caught inbetween when the landing craft shifted.

 

[jollyjacktar]

So easy to lose one's life at sea.  Sometimes I'm amazed we don't lose a guy or two like the big players do on a sort of regular basis.

 

[Furniture]

So easy to lose one's life at sea.  Sometimes I'm amazed we don't lose a guy or two like the big players do on a sort of regular basis.

Sometimes we even do big seas and other things at the same time, yet we manage through good training to get everybody home. The night PRO was burning we ended up in 3-4m swells drifting with no power. It was the hard work and training of the guys in the attack teams and section bases that got everybody through.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVeNJVbGkF8

 

[NavyShooter]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxMClWhWS2U

Here's a 'little' trip across the pond.

Back in the old days.

 

[Occam]

Beer and smoking in the AMR.  How did we ever survive?

 

[jollyjacktar]

Beer and smoking in the AMR.  How did we ever survive?

After AMR parties were always enjoyable.

 

[Eye In The Sky]

I've never sailed in a high sea state but I've spent some time skipping over them (rolling seas = rough air low level).  I've sat on EO watching Group 3s nose in hard and the screw come visible.  I always feel for the crew onboard, I know I get to climb out of the muck and RTB at some point and they've got to ride it out.

The one that sticks in my mind was a SAR re-tasking we picked up;  a Type 23 had taken a casualty onboard and a SAR helo was inbound from Stornoway.  We were IVO the Faroe gap after just getting a few barriers laid when the retasking came in.  We met up with the helo and flew a moving orbit until we got to the HMS;  it was about sea state 7, as the helo went in to lower the Doc off we did overwatch from an orbit watching everything on IR and it was something else to see hoisting happening as the stern of the frigate was coming out of the water.

I've had a tremendous amount of respect for ship and helo crews since then after watching that op go down.