10 Ship Launches That Went Horribly Wrong

10 Ship Launches That Went Horribly Wrong

► Music Licensed From SoundStripe/Envato Elements

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[DumpTruck]

Better learn the difference between the BOW (front) and the STERN (rear) of a ship.

[keithnaylor]

Thanks for showing them in 18 seconds. It saves people a lot of time.

[georgew.peterson]

In example 4 you describe the launch as going bow first, it was stern first. Also the ship capsized to its starboard side not port side.

[davesmith]

Um ... hate to burst your bubble, but look up "bow" and "stern". By 7:30, twice you say "the bow" plunged into the water, when it was clearly the stern.

[itsamemario]

The ship: capsizes to starboard
Underworld: THE SHIP CAPSIZES TO THE PORT SIDE

[BNuts]

One of my favourite failed launches has to be the Sept 1907 launch of the Italian ocean liner _Principessa Jolanda_ . In those days it was apparently common to launch ships fully equipped and completed, however someone must have misjudged her balance and how she would sit on the water once she came, too quickly, off the slipway, because she began to slow list to her port side side. And kept going. And going. Until she was resting, completely submerged, on her side. It can't have helped if there were loose fittings and furniture, which would have all slid to the same side, as well as open or incomplete portholes. She also didn't have any coal aboard or ballast to balance out being top-heavy. The ship was scrapped from right where it was, and her sister ship was redesigned to be less top-heavy. She was gone in about 20 minutes, and never actually sailed. The sister lasted about three days before being sunk.

When you look at the way liners were built, at least by the more famous British shipwrights, the hull and main boat decks would be completed, as well as at least some of the superstructure, however a significant portion of the ship would be completed after it was solidly in the water, tied again to a special portion of the dock while everything was finished. This way you knew how the ship would sit on the water.

[InfiniteEchos]

That crane driver lifting the container on to the diesel laiden boat. He was literally hanging out the top of the upturned cabins' roof. Must've been scared absolutely shit-less

[guidoz]

Launch 5, in South Africa - this is actually a very common launch method in that part of South Africa. There is a lack of slipways along the coast, so beach surf launches (of both hard boats and RIB's) are the only way. The method used is also correct - speed up so when the car brakes the boat is pushed off the trailer because of its momentum and into the sea - the outboards are lifted up at that stage. Slow and steady actually doesn't work at all in this kind of launch - you need that speed and sudden stop. What went wrong here is that there must have been a shallow ridge just beyond the shore line which the stern of the boat hit. Most of the time such a shallow ridge is not present, so most launches like this actually work really well. Once the boat is afloat the outboards are lowered and the boat is turned towards the sea. Getting from there through the waves is where the real fun begins, and skippers must be experienced and knowledgeable to dodge the waves as they slowly weave through them to open sea. Recovery is usually by driving the boat up the beach and using a break-neck trailer. The 4x4 is a version of the original Toyota Land Cruiser - a real capable work-horse.

[alexanderSydneyOz]

Re #8. I don't think the boat was too heavy for the cranes. Problem is that one of the straps broke, putting all the mass of the boat onto the one remaining crane. In fact, either the straps were overloaded, or imperfect due to wear.

[Sagart]

#6 (Sarawak) has the appearance of the ship being launched with insufficient equipment or dead weight low in the hull, so it was top-heavy.

[WilliamRWarrenJr]

The one @7:40 ... The *STERN* (the back end) plunged into the water (the *BOW* ... the front end ... followed later) AND you say she capsized "port-side" (port = left) when she is clearly on her starboard side (starboard = right). Or didn't you know she was launched stern-first?

[bradjames]

The container is a Caterpillar generator set with a locomotive sized diesel engine which is why it was so heavy, given the loss of the crane, generator and ship I'm guessing it was a huge insurance claim

[cathyvickers]

When that one ship launched backwards & promptly rolled starboard, I thought: "OK, who installed all the equipment on that side of the ship?"

[davidjones]

The moral in most of these cases seems to be 1) always check your cables and fittings for wear and corrosion, and 2) if in doubt, use a stronger cable!

[dentatusdentatus]

Q: What did the owner say when the boat launch failed?
A: AWW SHIP!

[phhdvm]

showing 4 in the first 10 seconds was a real time saver!

[Boostinpulsar]

Number 3 was a generator being put on the boat. Not a barge full of diesel. You dont usually transport them full of diesel

[blackseabrew]

As for that lifeboat, the rear cable latch failed. It was obvious. Shouldn't have happened. I work on an offshore platform where we used to practice lowering down to the water with a small crew in the lifeboats. Unfortunately, several years ago, a similar lifeboat incident occured where several crew members died. Now we don't do live practice runs. And lowering the boats for drills happens very rarely.

[fjb]

There's a mighty thin line between those who launch boats, and those who jaunty slap on a captain's cap and proceed towards mayhem. . . .

[teasyames]

Biggest issue with most of these situations is based on their country. Rules like chain grade and how that relates to static vs dynamic weight is huge in all these situations. Maybe the tug boat was 5000lbs lighter than the static weight limit of the chain, but it was probably 2-3x too heavy if you calculated the dynamic weight, since it was swinging.
And #1, the yacht, all they needed was a docking pole. One of the most overlooked but incredibly important personal boating accessories. Being able to stop yourself in flowing water is super simple but this guy must've bought it from someone who'd never sailed before.