The Largest Peacetime Disaster in American Naval History

October 28, 2023 1:45 AM

Calhoun knew that not everyone from his ship had made it. He wondered how many still flailed in the oil-coated water. And the engine- and fire-room crews deep inside the ship: had they been trapped down below, or were they pulled out by the undertow as the ship rolled? Those men—his men—had been 150 yards from shore with no way out of the ship. On shore, when Herzinger mentioned to Calhoun that the losses were great, as many as 20 or 30 sailors, the young captain’s response was grave: “My God, I know—but we will not discuss it now.” from Dead Reckoning
posted by chavenet (14 comments total)

My first real big boy job was as an oiler on a U.S.-flagged spill response vessel. I had just kind of fallen into offshore work, via a combination of dating an officer candidate who was going to SUNY-Maritime, and being out of options on shoreside work in my given trade (being a barfly, at that time, with random periods of being out of town following various jam bands, selling brownies and burritos to make ends meet, and being a local handy person when at home, fixing appliances and doing basic to intermediate plumbing fixes for people too broke to spend top dollar on a “name brand” company to come do repairs, interspersed, just to pay the rent.)

Anyways, I got me a z card and a passport, and off to sea I went.

I spent my first couple years on the pond as an oiler, changing air filters, oiling EVERYTHING (there are a laughably infinite amount of zerk fittings to grease on a ship. Literally everywhere.)I learned a lot, put in my time on miserable watches, 12-00, 7 days a week, my first hitch was scheduled to be 60 days on, 30 off, but due to scheduling issues, and I later found out, because our captain and chief engineer liked me, I had to do my 60 day hitch, my 30 days off, as on instead, since the vessel I was assigned to didn’t have a permanent oiler to relieve me, and then another regular 60 day hitch. I was young and the day rate was really good. And also, I was told I’d be doing one (1) 30 day trial hitch. It just kinda worked out that way that I spent almost 6 months out there.

Anyways, part of my job was standing fire watch during bunkering-taking on or pumping off fuel. Bunkering could very well be a 16-20 hour affair. We took it very seriously; you did not spill a drop. Any sheen on the water was a GIANT deal, and an instant mountain of paperwork and inquests at best, and a career wrecking ball at worst. This was not all that long after Valdez. Despite all the jokes, the maritime industry took that very seriously. You just didn’t let that happen.

Anyways, I’m like day 139 or something into my career as a sailor, and then I got the work order to assist as we bunkered off all fuel until we only had a draft of 6-8 feet or so.

That was astounding. We usually drew between 18-26 feet.

We bunkered all that fuel off, and then got towed through south Louisiana canals and bayous. And the thing I remember the most was the sound we made as we went. The scraping of hull against soft bayou bottom for about 2 days, crawling along at between .25-.5 kts.

I learned during that hitch that “scraping” is an ok sound. “Crunching” is not.

We made it to Houma, and my hitch ended, finally. I went back to Ohio, 150 days richer, and then spent my shoreside time from that hitch following Phish and various Grateful Dead related bands around and then subsequently conceiving my first daughter.

I spent a few hitches at sea, I got pretty good at my job, I got moved up to qmed, and then got my license. My first hitch out as a licensed engineering officer I got moved from the Royal Dutch Shell division, working the Thunder Horse formation, to working the Macondo formation. This was in early 2010. It was a weirdly mild year, the seas tended to be glass.

My first hitch as a licensed guy, we get mayday calls. Deepwater Horizon. 33 nm east. Mayday.

I can’t stress enough, how bad a real life mayday call is. It’s one of those things. You think you’re ready for it, but no. At sea, it’s real.

We did what we could, as fire relief.

A few hitches later, the whole Aivik thing happened.

I guess all this is to say, this article hit home.
posted by HVACDC_Bag at 3:56 AM on October 28, 2023 [123 favorites]

Well, HVACDC_Bag, that comment was absolutely riveting.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:30 AM on October 28, 2023 [5 favorites]

HVACDC_Bag, your story's worth its own post!
posted by chavenet at 4:35 AM on October 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

I kinda got into it, but I really can’t stress enough how your life changes when you get a for-real mayday call. I have two daughters. My life didn’t really change a ton when they came around. All of a sudden I was “Dad” to a new person. People told me that things would immediately be different when they were born. Like it would be an immediate life changing event.

No. The only immediate life hanging event I’ve ever experienced, was getting that Mayday call. It just happened that quickly. I went from someone for whom things wEre all hunky dory, to someone on whom lives depended for me to do my job perfectly.

Everything changed that day. I went from a happy-go-lucky hippie stoner guy to someone who helped to Yeet people out of the toxic oil fires. I never wanted to be that. I hope I’m never in that position again.

Every possible horror is magnified like 3-4 orders of magnitude when you’re at sea. You’re an enemy in hostile terrain. And every mistake you make is not only wrong, but the cascading failures from it can ruin you.

I can’t imagine how it must feel to watch a vessel under your command, to not only sink, but take that many other vessels with you.

Sometimes you do everything right, and still the worst happens. That’s heartbreaking.
posted by HVACDC_Bag at 6:16 AM on October 28, 2023 [43 favorites]

HVACDC_Bag thank you for sharing the very fascinating account of your experiences. I'm sorry for the trauma you felt. I cannot imagine a more horrific death than those people (and the sailors in the OP) must have had.
posted by supermedusa at 8:17 AM on October 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

Excellent find, Chavenet.
posted by doctornemo at 9:49 AM on October 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

A friend shared this video of the disaster, which has useful maps and distressing photos.
posted by doctornemo at 9:51 AM on October 28, 2023 [4 favorites]

It should be noted that by "largest" disaster, the article means ships, not human lives.

If you want to read about an even more horrific U.S. Naval peacetime disaster in terms of loss of life, check out A Glimpse of Hell, about the explosion of a 16-inch gun turret on the USS Iowa, which killed 47 sailors, and the Navy's attempt to scapegoat a gay sailor for it. It's an absolutely gripping read that will also make you absolutely furious.
posted by mikeand1 at 1:25 PM on October 28, 2023 [8 favorites]

I had assumed that they had run aground on a hidden shoal, but looking at the lead picture in the Wikipedia article, they ran head-on into the rocks, barely offshore. The Navy court-martials seem to have gone remarkably easy on the officers, compared to some later ones I can think of, WWII or later the Navy seems to have made their very best efforts to blame any disaster on the officer or crew ("failure to zigzag in moonlight") and punish accordingly.
posted by tavella at 3:20 PM on October 28, 2023 [3 favorites]

Running aground at full speed is it? My father drove MTB 34 up Dover Beach in 1942. Big red face but nobody died. cw: Scharnhorst.
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:30 AM on October 29, 2023 [2 favorites]

There is a noise that, for a Navy captain, may well be the worst sound imaginable—worse than the boom of cannon fire, the whistle of a missile, or the whoosh of a torpedo. That noise is the long, piercing scrape of metal against rock. It’s the sound, quite simply, of everything going wrong.

...and that's just the first paragraph!
posted by fairmettle at 3:21 AM on October 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

The Ocean is kind of a badass. The Ocean don't care. The Ocean don't give a fuck...

When folks forget this well, FAFO.

Big guns also don't care.

And cool story BobTheScientist.
posted by Windopaene at 8:55 AM on October 29, 2023

"The ocean don't give a shit. The Ocean just takes what s(he) wants.

Sorry for the mistake.
posted by Windopaene at 12:14 PM on October 29, 2023

Mod note: [btw, HVACDC_Bag's comment and this post have been added to the sidebar and the Best Of blog]
posted by taz (staff) at 3:00 AM on October 31, 2023 [1 favorite]