Wave wailing.

[ReallyDedPoet]

Originally Posted by Navigator857

On all 4 of my patrols in the North Atlantic on the Iowa we ran into seas equal to and worse than those shown in the photos. I remember during our task forces' mock invasion cruise of Norway we had one DDG loose two watchmen overboard and four FFG's had to turn around due to almost floundering. I was on the 04 level bridge and watch wave after wave crash over turrets 1 and 2, then smash into the front viewing ports of the bridge. One of our liberty boats was washed overboard and the other one, along with the Captain's Gig where totally thrashed.

There were a few times the entire bow up to turret 1 would submerge, only to slowly rock back up. At 19 years of age I was scared to death. I just knew the ship was gonna break in two, or over-turn. But, we made it. But I can attest that those pictures, specially the last one, do occur regularly.

Interesting to hear from somebody who has been in through this, thanks for sharing.
A relative of my wife's is retired from the Canadian Navy, it was something to hear him speak about what it was like in heavier waters.

Thanks again.

RDP