Ever wonder what it would be like on a sinking ship?

[Ducimus]

So its late at night, and your sleeping soundly in your bunk, when the entire ship is shaken violently, and a tremendous, deafing explosion that throws you out of your bunk and you hit your head on the bunk rack on the way to the floor. Perhaps a little dazed, or disoriented, with horror, you realize that your ship has been torpedo'ed, and you make your way topside. As you do so, you feel the ship start to list. When you finally make it topside, your greeted with the approaching water as the ship starts to list over.

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Not seeing any lifeboats readily available , you run up to the bridge ladder to get a better assesment of the situation, and hopefully spot a lifeboat before the ship goes under.

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Your initial view from the bridge.

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The list is getting worse!

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Looking aft, you see your shipmates have already unlimbered the lifeboats and are paddeling away, and your still on board!

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With a eery groan, you feel the list of the ship increasing, and you hear the hissing sound of air escaping from below decks.

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She's going down with a violently alarming speed!

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Your last view of the world as your sucked down with the ship.

[Digital_Trucker]

now I'm gonna have a tough time sleeping:cry:

Nice tale. Well told and documented!:up:

[Sniper297]

Yep, great shots! Curious, my external cam view bounces off ships and the sub when I get close, is there a camcfg hack for those kind of close-ups?

[Reece]

Watching the Titanic go down is probably the most horrific sight of all IMO, I can't remember the version (not the last) made in the 60's or 70's, the scene of the ship going down bow first, could see the people on the stern of the ship holding on and the wind blowing their hair back as it plumited down, gives me chills!!:yep:
People still trying to get out while it is already submerged heading for the depths below, bulkheads breaking, to me the most horrific of all ways to die!:cry: Brrrrr!:dead:

[Ducimus]

Yep, great shots! Curious, my external cam view bounces off ships and the sub when I get close, is there a camcfg hack for those kind of close-ups?

Get the ROW camera mod! :up:

[Melonfish]

Get the ROW camera mod! :up:

can you link pls? for the life of me i can't find this.
pete

[maerean_m]

follow the first link found here (http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q=download+sh4+row+mod&go=C%C4%83utare&mkt=ro-ro&scope=&FORM=LIVSOP)

[U49]

Great screenshots :up:... If I'm not to busy with surviving, I wil try this with my next cap ship :D

[Von Hinten]

Aw ... That's a new angle on things ... :cry: Brrr, I'm glad I'm the one doing the torpedoing in this ...

Any plans on doing a similar story from the sub crew point of view?

[the_belgian]

Aw ... That's a new angle on things ... :cry: Brrr, I'm glad I'm the one doing the torpedoing in this ...

Any plans on doing a similar story from the sub crew point of view?

When your sub goes down open all boozebottles and get drunk together with the crew!...at least...that's what i would do when notting can be done when lying on the bottom of the ocean...:dead: :rotfl: :dead:

[capt_frank]

When on a sinking ship, drink heavily...

Titanic Chief Baker Charles John Joughin

After the collision Joughin fortified himself with a quantity of alcohol before throwing deckchairs into the ocean for people to hold on to. As the ship neared its final moments Joughin climbed over the stern rails and 'rode' the ship into the ocean. He managed to reach collapsible B and because there was no more room to climb on, spent several hours in the freezing water. Joughin survived and was rescued by the Carpathia.

AND:

The following excerpt is from Walter Lord's A Night to Remember (1955, Bantam Books, pp. 132-35):

"The sea was silent too. No one saw a trace of life in the waves that rippled the smooth Atlantic as the first light of dawn streaked the sky.

"But one man still lived--thanks to a remarkable combination of initiative, luck and alcohol. Four hours earlier, Chief Baker Charles Joughin was awakened, like so many on the Titanic, by that strange grinding jar. And like many others he heard the call to general quarters a little after midnight.

"But Joughin didn't merely report to the Boat Deck. He reasoned that if boats were needed, provisions were needed too; so on his own initiative he mustered his staff of 13 bakers and ransacked the Titanic's larder of all spare bread. The bakers then trooped topside carrying four loaves apiece.

"This done, Joughin retired to his cabin on E Deck port side, for a nip of whiskey.
"About 12:30 he felt sufficiently fortified to re-ascend the stairs to his Boat, No. 10. At this stage it was still difficult to persuade the women to go; so Joughin resorted to stronger methods. He went down to the Promenade Deck and hauled some up by force. Then, to use his own word, he 'threw' them into the boat. Rough but effective.

"Joughin was assigned to No. 10 as skipper, but he thought there were enough men to handle the boat; so he jumped out and helped launch it instead. To go with it, he explained, 'would have set a bad example.'

"It was now 1:20. He scampered down the slanting stairs again to his cabin on E Deck and poured himself another drink. He sat down on his bunk and nursed it along--aware but not particularly caring that the water now rippled through the cabin doorway, swilled across the checkered linoleum, and rose to the top of his shoes.

"About 1:45 he saw, of all people, gentle old Dr. O'Loughlin poking around. It never occurred to Joughin to wonder what the old gentleman was doing way down here, but the proximity of the pantry suggested that Joughin and the doctor were thinking along similar lines.

"In any case, Joughin greeted him briefly, then went back up to the Boat Deck. None too soon, for the Titanic was listing heavily now, and the slant was much steeper. Any longer, and the stairs might have been impossible.

"Though all the boats were gone, Joughin was anything but discouraged. He went down to B Deck and began throwing deck chairs through the windows of the enclosed promenade. Others watched him, but they didn't help. Altogether he pitched about 50 chairs overboard.

"It was tiring work; so after he lugged the last chair to the edge and squeezed it through the window (it was a little like threading a needle), Joughin retired to the pantry on the starboard side of A Deck. It was 2:10.

"As he quenched his thirst--this time it was water--he heard a kind of crash, as though something had buckled. The pantry cups and saucers flew about him, the lights glowed red, and overhead he heard the pounding of feet running aft.
"He bolted out of the pantry toward the stern end of A Deck, just behind a swarm of people, running the same way and clambering down from the Boat Deck above. He kept out of the crush as much as possible and ran along in the rear of the crowd. He vaulted down the steps to B Deck, then to the well deck. Just as he got there, the Titanic gave a sickening twist to port, throwing most of the people into a huge heap along the port rail.

"Only Joughin kept his balance. Alert but relaxed, his equilibrium was marvelous, as the stern rose higher and corkscrewed to port. The deck was now listing too steeply to stand on, and Joughin slipped over the starboard rail and stood on the actual side of the ship. He worked his way up the side, still holding onto the rail--but from the outside--until he reached the white-painted steel plates of the poop deck. He now stood on the rounded stern end of the ship, which had swung high in the air some 150 feet above the water.

"Joughin casually tightened his lifebelt. Then he glanced at his watch--it said 2:15. As an afterthought, he took it off and stuck it into his hip pocket. He was beginning to puzzle over his position when he felt the stern beginning to drop under his feet--it was like taking an elevator. As the sea closed over the stern, Joughin stepped off into the water. He didn't even get his head wet.
"He paddled off into the night, little bothered by the freezing water. It was four o'clock when he saw what he thought was wreckage in the first gray light of day. He swam over and discovered it was the upturned Collapsible B.
"The keel was crowded and he couldn't climb on, so he hung around for a while until he spied an old friend from the kitchen--entrée chef John Maynard. Blood proved thicker than water, Maynard held out his hand and Joughin hung on, treading water, still thoroughly insulated."



In Joughin's own words, at the British inquiry:
"I got on to the starboard side of the poop; found myself in the water. I do not believe my head went under the water at all. I thought I saw some wreckage. Swam towards it and found collapsible boat ("B") with Lightoller and about twenty-five men on it. There was no room for me. I tried to get on, but was pushed off, but I hung around. I got around to the opposite side and cook Maynard, who recognized me, helped me and held on to me." (Gracie, p. 221)

Eventually, two other boats, Nos. 4 and 12, came to the assistance of Collapsible B and Joughin finally came out of the water.

[Excalibur Bane]

I can't say I've put my thought in what it would be like on a sinking ship. I imagine it would be fairly unpleasant. All those flames, dead bodies and explosions and what not. Assuming we're talking about ship that's been torpedoed, of course. Food for thought I suppose. :hmm:

[Von Hinten]

When your sub goes down open all boozebottles and get drunk together with the crew!...at least...that's what i would do when notting can be done when lying on the bottom of the ocean...:dead: :rotfl: :dead:
So true ... :shifty:

[Sailor Steve]

I've read a couple of accounts by crewmembers on warships that sank, and Ducimus, yours is pretty darned accurate! Good job!:sunny:

[GoldenRivet]

would be a frightening experience, sharks or freeze to death? :hmm:

[Kaleun Klink]

From all the posts above, one Golden Rule emerges: When your ship starts to go down, first, have a drink!
:yep:

[SteminDemon13]

Well, Being we never got served any alchahol on the US ships....EXCEPT BEER DAY!!!:()1: , if, god forbid, she was going down we would have to raid the ships fridge (huge fridge, real cold) where they store the beer for those wonderful BEEEEER DAYS:D. They are few and far in between though:roll: . The first place I would hit up while everyone was raiding the big ole fridge is the captains booze cabinet. I'm guessing cause it's reserved for those foreign dignitary types there's gotta be some good stuff in there.

[Hawk U-375]

Great Screen Shots!!!!!!!!:cool: :cool: :rock:

[CptWilkins]

That was a really interesting story about Charles Joughin Frank, good work!

[swdw]

would be a frightening experience, sharks or freeze to death? :hmm:
Nah, in most of the Pacific it was usually exposure, sharks, or storms. Freezing to death was in the Northern Pacific.

Steve, my father was on the Astoria at the battle of Savo Island. The stories from the survivors from the ships that sank in that battle are pretty grim. (He was also on her at Coral Sea and Midway).

[capt_frank]

That was a really interesting story about Charles Joughin Frank, good work!

I have been fascinated by his story ever since I read about it. If you watched "Titanic", his character is standing on the rear of the ship along with "Leo and Kate" as the ship begins it's slide. And, I believe the film "A Night to Remember" features quite a bit of his story inclusive of the drinking and the dispersing of the deck chairs. Amazing to have been in those water for close to two hours without freezing, good "antifreeze" he had there...

Quite the heroic guy in what was a little-way-to win situation. :up:

[momo55]

It always surprised me how many senior college's on board the ships i served on couldn't swim at al in the 70's.

[Melonfish]

wait? isn't being able to swim like an entry level requirement of the navy?
pete

[Major Johnson]

Wow! That was quite some story! I've never seen any of the Titianic movies but I just might watch one now. And not that there is a pleasant way to die, but I think one of the more horrific would be going down in a sub, where you know there is no way out. That in minutes the hull is going to be crushed like a tin can and not a thing you can do about it. The week following the Kursk disaster had me praying for those poor guys.