Hello Robert

I saw the "Perfect Storm" last night. The scene where the small fishing boat is rising on the face of a giant on-coming wave until she topples over backwards is realistic and not movie hokum. While I can not offer any comment on how a submarine reacts in such seas I can relate how an 11,000 ton escort carrier reacts. In Oct 1944 we were at approximately Latitude 55N, Longitude 30W and entered a storm which trapped us for 3 days. Winds measured at 70kts - wave heights estimated 65-70 ft. The Quartermasters were holding 20-30 degress of rudder trying to maintain base course. Quartering into the oncoming seas, the ship would rise up on the face of a wave and slide backward completely submerging the fantail and 5" gunmount. The vibration set up by the ship sliding backward against the thrust of the propellors shook the hull like a dog with a bone in its teeth. The doors to the fantail from the hangar deck finally gave way and water poured onto the hangar deck flooding the aft elevator pit. Cracks developed in the hull, admitting sea water to the boiler feedwater tanks which became a major problem. The structures supporting the forward part of the flight deck gave way and the flight deck was bent up somewhat resembling the jump ramp on a British carrier. The 5" gunmount was damaged and a lot of topside structure, including life rafts, was swept away. I remember being on the flight deck doubling up on the aircraft tie down lines and seeing nothing but green water above us whenever we dropped into a trough; that flight deck was 60 ft above the waterline. That storm put us in drydock for a month.

The Destroyer Escorts seemed to fare a little better. The long slender bows tended to penetrate into the oncoming waves and the wave would rise until all we could see from the carrier was the top of the radar mast and stack sticking up. Talking to DE crewmen later, they said it was a little rough but they were battened down and riding it out pretty well. None of the DE's sustained severe damage. They also told us they had been instructed to stay in close to the carrier and be prepared to pick-up survivors. I am glad we didn't know that at the time.

Don B