…. or has anyone ever seen a freak wave whilst out at sea!

This is probably the oddest question I've read on here. 😯

'tidal' waves (nothing to do with the tide) are actually only a few cm away from shorelines.

I'd be more worried about the 50m waves possible in big storms.

Tidal waves are irrelevant out at sea.

Freak waves are quite a different thing, caused by constructive interference, and the answer is yes.

look up rogue waves. Theyre more interesting.

Tsunami waves are naff all out at sea.

I think one of the Cunard Queens went through a 100' wave once – read that a long time ago.

The Poseidon? 😀
or

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7533945/

I think one of the Cunard Queens went through a 100' wave once – read that a long time ago.

QE2, 1995, North Atlantic, during a hurricane.
My dad was on board, said it was the worst voyage he'd ever had, LOADS of people were seasick, couldn't go on deck. Then the whole ship reverberated with a massive crash and shudder.

😯

A friend of ours does photo work for Greenpeace and was out at Brent Spar when all that fuss was going on. He said that, in high seas, when the rig was in a trough and they were on a crest in their rib they were looking down on the helipad! The sea is a bad mofo all said!

Rogue waves do indeed exist – in fact, the strange prow on the Queen Mary 2 is specifically designed to resist them.

no worries for these badboys.

"QE2, 1995, North Atlantic, during a hurricane." blimey, i'm looking that up. sorry for the wierdness of the question. giant waves fascinate me….infact i have recurring dreams about them.

u are one strange mofo……but i like it 😯

no worries for these badboys.

The newer inverted bows certainly make for efficient boats with a reduced bow wave but the containers would still all be washed off the back.

no worries for these badboys.

You sure ? …………. one big wave, and it looks as if all those boxes would topple over 😯

Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_8hOai9hGQ

Guy who I know was working on this platform at the very moment when this wave hit.

😯

This is probably one of the closest on film?

I was on Invincible in the mid atlantic 1986, severe gale force 10, a wave broke over our forward 909 radar, thats about 80ft high, just under the bridge, that was an uncomfortable night. Had to go in for emergency repairs after that storm, lot of damage.

Bit unrelated but saw this while in venice, what a name "COSTA FORTUNA", and so apt.

that oil rig footage just makes me feel tingly inside! thanks for the vids and pictures they're ace…

The Perfect Storm is a good read for wave-related mishaps on the high seas. It lists a few eye witness accounts of gargantuan waves – also explains stuff like how a trawler trying to crest a massive wave that is bigger than the length of the boat can run the risk of getting 'pitch-poled', literally falling backwards arse over tit. Or how 'coming about' in a high sea, turning around broadside onto the waves, is risky even for a very large vessel like an aircraft carrier. Not sure on the accuracy of it all but it's a great read.

Went through a couple of hurricanes on Maersk Line container ships when I was a kid in the 70s and 80s. Very f*****g scary.

My Grandfather was in the Navy during the war and he told a story of a ship nearly driving itself under.
Caught on the downside of a huge wave the ship was pointing downwards at some wildly improbable angle, sliding down the front of the wave with the propellers still in the crest of the wave and powering the ship into the trough. This was a fairly hefty battleship but the impact into the trough ripped off one of the minor gun turrets.

A quick Google fails to find any more info on this and my Grandpa is dead so I doubt I'll ever get anywhere near verifying it though…

LOL at the google ad on the youtube link that coffeeking posted. nice work…

There was something in the press several years ago about 'super waves'. Long believed to be just tall tales, or just very rare, satellite photo's have shown huge waves out in open ocean, between 50-100' high. There were photos of large ships with container-sized holes punched straight through the entire ship. Probably explain lots of previously unexplained shipping losses. Truly scary stuff, as these waves are not storm waves, so they come totally unexpected.

Just had a look on Wiki under rogue waves. Here's one entry:

In 1942 while carrying 15,000 American troops 608 nautical miles (700 mi; 1,126 km) from Scotland during a gale, RMS Queen Mary was broadsided by a 92-foot (28 m) wave and nearly capsized. Queen Mary listed briefly about 52 degrees before the ship slowly righted herself.

there's plenty more on there.

I was on a seismic boat in the N sea that got thoroughly nailed by a rogue wave. I honestly don't know how big it was but the hardened sea farers were guessing in the region of 20m or more. We got absolutely nailed and spent a day going round picking up all the gear we had to machete off the back deck, including 6 3km streamers 😕 I can safely state that i was absolutely bricking it, you know its bad when the back deck boys are worried !

there was an horizon/equinox or similar programme a few years ago about rogue waves. i dont like the sea even more now.

Check this out

Brown trouser moment for a carrier pilot

Am I right in thinking that the pilot of that plane flew _THROUGH_ a **** wave???

Mental.

He didn't have much choice, it was a cat shot and it seems the shooter fired the cat at the wrong time (they're supposed to judge it so the catapult fires when the bow is going upwards).

those bulk carrier ship photo's from 'berm bandit….is that normal?? for a ship to almost vanish underwater, amazing pics. i would love and hate to see a 20m wave coming at me all at the same time. giant waves are the most exciting thing on the planet. more exciting than receiving a vanilla bicycle in a big parcel for christmas..

Kitesurfing in big waves that are WAY over your head is great fun, but only because you know you're likely to pop out the other side. In a boat even waves the height of the boat are a bit scary!

I was on the Jack bates semi submersible drill rig off Shetland during some rough weather in 97 or 98, we were all confined to the accommodation for two days. Windows on the forward side of the accommodation that had storm shutters dogged closed were blown in and half the handrails around the drill floor ripped out by a wave. The rig floor was 90 feet above the sea…… Large containers on the deck were toppled over and moved around like toys. I spent the whole time bricking myself as the rig was heaving about 30 to 40 feet. It took about a week to get everything sorted out and back to work.

giant waves fascinate me….infact i have recurring dreams about them.

Do you wake up with wet underpants after these dreams?