Ship-Sinking Monster Waves Revealed 72
vinlud writes "Once dismissed as a nautical myth, freakish ocean waves that rise as tall as ten-storey apartment blocks have been accepted as a leading cause of large ship sinkings. Results from ESA's ERS satellites helped establish the widespread existence of these 'rogue' waves and are now being used to study their origins. ESA writes about it in a story. More information about this phenomena at the website of Karsten Trulsen, Associate Professor at the University of Oslo."
Clive Cussler... (Score:4, Interesting)
Only 30m? (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm surprised this is news (Score:3, Interesting)
Small swells can make a surfaced submarine dive (Score:5, Interesting)
There were no deaths, but a few people in various instances got hurt. I recall one person suffering very serious injuries when the submarine went down over 100 feet pretty much instantly.
The cause was finally determined to be that the period of the swells near the Golden Gate bridge caused the distance between the swells to be just less than the submarines total length.
The wave swells would lift the sub up, and then 'drop' the sub as it passed over the wave. Inertia would keep the sub 'dropping' and an un-intentional dive occured.
Since they were rigged for surface operations, they quickly popped back up to the surface.
We had revised operating procedures for transiting near San Francisco after this was discovered.
However, newer submarines are larger, and the period of the swells doesn't match up as nicely with the dimensions of the sub, so it is less of a hazard than it used to be.
bermuda triangle (Score:2, Interesting)
Superior 1, Fitz 0 (Score:5, Interesting)
FWIW I was travelling recently and saw some posters which appeared to be made from underwater photos of the resting place of the Fitz. Sobering.
Other Space Technology Helps Save Lives (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Only 30m? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:I'm surprised this is news (Score:2, Interesting)
Perfect Storm (Score:2, Interesting)