Why Do Fat Ships Wobble?

-------------------ABOUT THIS VIDEO-------------------
In this video, we investigate why fatter ships appear to "wobble" while thinner ships tend to go in a straight line. It's a concept known as Directional Stability and is really interesting once you start looking into it.

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[johnstobie]

i didnt come to Casual Navigation to feel personally attacked lmfao

[arthanor]

I'm a huge fan of your videos and how informative they normally are. This one, however, is the first one that leaves me with an unanswered question. Why do fat ships wobble? Because their LB ratio is low...? That's kinda just saying a fat ship is a ship with a low LB ratio, which is pretty obvious. But how does a low LB ratio make a ship less stable? Something to do with water pressure on sides of the hull?
An explanation as complete as in your ship speed and efficiency video would be quite welcome!

[Daniel]

Its the same thing with old tanks, the length to width ratio determines how hard it is to turn and also how sensitive it is to do smal corrections while driving in a straight line.

[PianoKwanMan]

I cannot unsee the surprised face, with a pink hairdo, on the bow of the Great Laker at 4:20

[ejaurand]

I always appreciate that you include the occasional nod to the great lakes ships. I would love to see something on our thousand footers. And the old whalebacks are my favorite.

[pennycarvalho]

That’s why battlecruisers (a lighter but faster battleship) we’re typically longer than their battleship counterparts yet still lighter, bc they were a lot longer but thinner, therefore making them able to achieve greater speeds but it did cost in agility as trying to turn a long plank of metal half submerged can be kinda hard

[PauxloE]

For a cruise ship, having a larger length-beam ratio also helps to have a greater ratio of passenger cabins with windows.

[tarekihaddaden]

You can experience this effect really well in a kayak. Those long skinny kayaks are really easy to cruise with and keep straight. The more stout and wide kayaks, while better in rough waters because of their lateral stability, they are constantly moving left and right as you paddle along. And if you try to go really fast in a stout and wide kayak it has a tendency to turn so much that you lose control and spin out, which can cause you to capsize.

[Avrwaka]

Great video! This is similar to aviation in that dihedral wings (curving upward) like you find on airlines require more effort to turn, whereas andihedral wings (curving downward) like found on large military aircraft want to turn, thus being more maneuverable.

[samuelmerrill]

is that why I can't walk in a straight line?!?

love the content! always love the detail, keep it up!

[wreilly]

Maybe I missed something, but this didn’t seem to answer the question of why they wobble. Why do they continue to “steer” even after the rudder has been recentered?

[UstedTubo]

I feel like I missed the reason why "fat" ships wobble. I know he mentioned how the different shapes of ships act differently, but I don't recall hearing why a fat ship wobbles and why a skinny ship doesn't.

[TheRalliowiec]

Most "Lakers" don't traverse the St. Lawrence locks as that would make them "Salties". But they do traverse the Wellad Canal and the "Soo" locks so the constraint still applies.

[cosmoelpresidente]

As someone who lives on Lake Superior, it’s always nice seeing some Laker appreciation

[daftbence]

Having the QM2 in a vid of yours always makes my day! I loved working on that ship :)

[Eulemunin]

Having grown up on Superior, seeing Lakers used was fun. But the block coefficient and L-to-B make an interesting set of parameters to design around.

[nadavm.]

There are even larger ships on the Great Lakes that are designed to the limits of the Soo Locks. But those can't operate out of the lakes because they can't make it out.

[derHutschi]

great video
during my time in subscripted military service I spent a lot of time on the wheel (vessel was 50 metres long) it was mostly thinking 5 seconds ahead to keep it on course :D

[mellissadalby]

While you are right about the Great Lakes Lakeboat bulk carriers that can go through the Saint Lawerence seaway, there are a number of "footers", which ar 1000+ feet long and hence "lake bound". Just adding detail to your story, not trying to argue.

[USAltefore]

Now I'm imagining a tuba player on a tug boat playing background music for a wobbly fat ship.