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Rogue/Freak Waves

MNTornadoGuy

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I find rogue waves to personally be one of the scariest phenomenon the ocean can unleash. Walls of water that appear out of nowhere and can sink large and small ships. There are numerous photographs of <65 ft rogue waves but photographs of truly monster 66+ ft rogue waves are incredibly rare. I’ll post all the known photos of these monster rogue waves.
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MNTornadoGuy

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Interestingly enough, TWC actually just did a report this week on research into the meteotsunami on Lake Michigan in 2018. Obviously not the same phenomenon, but still interesting for the subject of maritime navigation.
Meteotsunamis like regular tsunamis really don't affect maritime navigation much unless if you are right next to land.
 

Peter Griffin

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I find rogue waves fascinating as well. There was an episode of 'deadliest catch' where an apparent rouge wave hit a boat and they caught it on video. I believe they said it was around 60 feet tall on the show but I'm not sure they give the most accurate estimates sometimes. Laid the boat over on its side but they were very fortunate that it eventually self-righted. If they would have went in that freezing Bearing Sea water it was game over.
 

TH2002

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A rogue wave was also the likely cause of the chain of events that eventually led to the sinking of the Ocean Ranger drilling rig.

Rogue waves really must be a sailor's worst nightmare; they're unpredictable, appear out of nowhere and are extremely strong, meaning that if your vessel does get damaged by one it will likely sink so quickly that there's basically no time to evacuate. You're either going down with the ship or succumbing to the sea even if you do manage to escape the ship.

Horrifying stuff for sure.
 

locomusic01

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I read a book on rogue waves a number of years ago that was absolutely fascinating, but for the life of me, I can't remember the title anymore. Really interesting subject, though. I'm constantly amazed at what the atmosphere (and, in this case, the ocean) is capable of doing under just the right conditions.
 

MNTornadoGuy

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I read a book on rogue waves a number of years ago that was absolutely fascinating, but for the life of me, I can't remember the title anymore. Really interesting subject, though. I'm constantly amazed at what the atmosphere (and, in this case, the ocean) is capable of doing under just the right conditions.
I believe the book you are talking about is called

The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean​

 

MNTornadoGuy

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A rogue wave was also the likely cause of the chain of events that eventually led to the sinking of the Ocean Ranger drilling rig.

Rogue waves really must be a sailor's worst nightmare; they're unpredictable, appear out of nowhere and are extremely strong, meaning that if your vessel does get damaged by one it will likely sink so quickly that there's basically no time to evacuate. You're either going down with the ship or succumbing to the sea even if you do manage to escape the ship.

Horrifying stuff for sure.
There is one eyewitness account of a rogue wave by British polar explorer Ernest Shackleton during the 1916 James Caird voyage in the Southern Ocean that perfectly describes the terror of encountering a rogue wave. "On the eleventh day (May 5), a tremendous cross-sea developed and at midnight, while Shackleton was at the tiller, a line of clear sky was spotted between the south and south-west. Shackleton wrote, "I called to the other men that the sky was clearing, and then a moment later I realized that what I had seen was not a rift in the clouds but the white crest of an enormous wave. During twenty-six years' experience of the ocean in all its moods I had not encountered a wave so gigantic. It was a mighty upheaval of the ocean, a thing quite apart from the big white-capped seas that had been our tireless enemies for many days. I shouted For God's sake, hold on! it's got us.' Then came a moment of suspense that seemed drawn out into hours. White surged the foam of the breaking sea around us. We felt our boat lifted and flung forward like a cork in breaking surf. We were in a seething chaos of tortured water; but somehow the boat lived through it, half full of water, sagging to the dead weight and shuddering under the blow. We bailed with the energy of men fighting for life, flinging the water over the sides with every receptacle that came to our hands, and after ten minutes of uncertainty we felt the boat renew her life beneath us." The cooking stove was floating around in the bottom of the boat and portions of their last rations seemed to soak everything. It was 3 a.m. before the stove was finally functional again."
 

MNTornadoGuy

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Other photographs of rogue waves:
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