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Originally Posted by CCIP
The running might have happened, but it really does seem like a superficial procedure at best. Considering the massive weight of the boat, and the volume of the ballast - even all 50 of the crew would make precious little difference. Even if they did do it, the actual effects of it were probably very minor, and the accounts of it seem to be conflicting. My bet is that it was probably rarely done in reality.
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You have to remember that you are shifting weight that is distributed fairly evenly throughout the boat (and, by the way, compensated for using the trim tanks. That is the LI's job) to one end of the boat. You get thirty guys that each weigh about 160 lbs, that is 4,800 lbs. Think of it as almost 2.5 tons.
Then there is the leverage factor. Think of the boat as a see-saw, with the fulcrum in the middle. You move 2.5 tons to one end or the other, and something is going to happen.
Just finished reading Iron Coffins by Herbert Werner recently, and he describes the crew of his boat running from one end to the other to free it up from the bottom. So, this was apparently a well known technique.