Cursed boats, naval supperstitions?

[StdDev]

How about SS-192 USS Squalus.
Sank during sea trials.. killed 26 men..(32 saved)
Salvaged and became the USS Sailfish
USS Sailfish had a fairly good war record (40K tons of Japanese ships) and survived the war!

[CCIP]

Originally Posted by StdDev

How about SS-192 USS Squalus.
Sank during sea trials.. killed 26 men..(32 saved)
Salvaged and became the USS Sailfish
USS Sailfish had a fairly good war record (40K tons of Japanese ships) and survived the war!

Funny how it was absolutely forbidden to call her "Squalus" aboard, so the crew nicknamed her "Squailfish"

[Lt West]

:rotfl: What about the titanic white star lines never christened there ships both the titanic and the britanic sank what about that?!?! :hmm:
P.S. i love emoticons!!!!

[Takao]

You gentlemen left out the "kicker" of the USS Squalus/USS Sailfish story. One of her victims was the IJN Chuyo. When she was sunk, the IJN Chuyo was carrying 21 survivors from the sunken submarine USS Sculpin. The USS Sculpin was the submarine that first located the USS Squalus lying on the seabed after her accident. Of the 21 survivors aboard the IJN Chuyo, only 1 would survive the carrier's sinking.

[Etienne]

Originally Posted by Lt West

:rotfl: What about the titanic white star lines never christened there ships both the titanic and the britanic sank what about that?!?! :hmm:
P.S. i love emoticons!!!!

Most of the White Star Line's ships didn't sink. Yeah, they lost a few. Doesn't prove anything. Superstition's just make-believe.

I'm not even sure most of the ships I was on were christened. I only know for sure about one, and that was a cruise ship, so christening = PR op. Of the others, 4 have had their names changed. There's only one of these ships I've ever called "Unlucky", but that was in jest. They fixed up the engine, and she seems to be having better luck now, from what I've heard.

I'd say most civillian ships will have their names changed during their career, as most shipowners will retain ownership of the name when they sell the vessel. Most people will also rename a ship when they buy it - OMG Shipping wouldn't want to operate the HyperGloboNet Explorer. And HyperGloboNet wouldn't want their name to be associated with the ship if they're not operating it.

It's quite amusing to walk along a wharf and notice how the names welded on a ships hull don't match the ones painted on them. A ship I worked on had markings for three or four company logos on her side plating.

As for Titanic not having a cabin 13, I'd say most hotels don't even have a room 13. Many don't even have a 13th floors! Modern cruise ships don't usually have that cabin number either, simply because their numbering scheme don't produce. (You can usually get the deck and side from the cabin number, and sometimes if it's a crew or guest cabin)

And frankly, I couldn't care less if a ship has been christened or not. As one Captain I've worked with put it, "There's no such thing as bad luck, just bad decisions."

[Lt West]

well, yes most of white star lines ships didnt sink but out of the three biggest ones 2 sank. What are you guyes standing on the bermuda triangle. I think its methane gas and magnetic rocks or aliens if you dont beleif in usos look up the U.S.S. Franklen D rossevelt.

[Lt West]

(I forgot something) you know when the titanic sank smith didnt go on the bridge and go down with the ship like in the movie which was a wonderfull movie but was very inaccurate in several areas. Smith came up to the life boat with the officers on it and said "room for one more." and they turned him away it was dark and they didnt know it was smith. but the wireless officer who knew his voice because he always gave him the messages said "We just turned away smith".
And when the iceberg was spotted mourdock ordered back emergency and full starboard rudder but that was a mistake. because the engines were in reverse they drew water away from the screws and cut her turning speed if he wouyld have ordered ahead full they might have cleared the berg.

P.S. I realize he had to think fast but still....)

[Kapitan]

Not always the case, they would have been better off to hit the berg head on, remember you cant see most of it so even if they did exactly what you said and turned faster they still may have hit the burg but a submerged part of it.

and reversing the propellors doesnt mean your throwing water away it means your changing the direction the water is coming from and going out to.

[Etienne]

Originally Posted by Lt West

(I forgot something) you know when the titanic sank smith didnt go on the bridge and go down with the ship like in the movie which was a wonderfull movie but was very inaccurate in several areas.

There are many theories as to what happened to Smith, and they all conflict. No one knows for sure what he did.

Originally Posted by Lt West

And when the iceberg was spotted mourdock ordered back emergency and full starboard rudder but that was a mistake. because the engines were in reverse they drew water away from the screws and cut her turning speed if he wouyld have ordered ahead full they might have cleared the berg.

No, what happened is that when he ordered back emergency, the engineers stopped the centerline propeller, as it couldn't be reversed. Having a propeller in front of your rudder makes manoeuvring a ship a completly different game. Having a reversed flow of water over the rudder while the ship still has headway is also a major malnus to rudder efficiency, but since Titanic didn't have a reversing center propeller, it probably didn't create a void around the rudder.

If he'd just reduced speed, it could have worked. If he'd stopped center, reversed one side prop and turned with the engines, it could have worked. Might not have, either, they were awfully close by the time they started manoeuvring.

And while I don't know how officers were trained back then, but modern day OOWs would probably do the same thing in that situation. Imminent collision = Crash astern. You don't even think about it. (The idea is to break the ship's momentum as much as possible, as it's assumed that once you get to that point, there just isn't room to get out of the way)

As for the Britannic sinking - There was a WAR, remember? Before you can say there was an higher chance of shipping casualty due to the lack of christening, you'd have to check how many unchristened ship didn't sink versus how many were unlucky. I'm pretty sure the guys in Alaung don't go "See, that boat wasn't christened!" - But the guys who make "Disaster at Sea" or whatever those shows are called sure bring it up whenever they can.

Finally, the Bermuda triangle has a higher rate of maritime occurence (Although a lot of it is just overeporting) simply due to a higher traffic level. A couple of other factors make it worst, like the weather system and the fact that all the islands look the same (Plus, the caribean sea is SHALLOW once you're west of Puerto Rico. Seriously, it amazed me), and everybody's screaming ghost.