NavList:
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QE2 grounding (was: Mercator vs. Great Circle)
From: Richard B. Emerson
Date: 2001 Aug 29, 4:06 PM
From: Richard B. Emerson
Date: 2001 Aug 29, 4:06 PM
Rodney's right, the QE2 grounding was not a GPS error or trusting to (incorrect) instruments. Also, it's the "Rude" (actually the [Given name something] Rude, pronounced "Roody" as I found when I spoke her last summer off Block Island). I think the ship's named after a geographer or oceanographer but I wouldn't care to bet on that. Rick S/V One With The Wind, Baba 35 Smith_Peter@EMC.COM writes: > Rodney Myrvaagnes [mailto:rodneym@ATTGLOBAL.NET] said: > > Please, Rick. You larger point is well taken, but you are confusing > > the QE2 with other vessels that did what you said. The QE2 was > > another problem entirely. > > > > The one that grounded off Nantucket was doing automatic ded reckoning > > almost all the way from Bermuda, because nobody looked at the computer. > > I feel pretty sure it started blinking as soon as the GPS > became > disconnected. > > Actually, I think Rodney is thinking of the _Royal Majesty_ which went > aground on the Nantucket Shoals in June 1995 due to an unnoticed GPS > failure. > > The _QE2_ nicked the ground in August 1992 near Sow and Pigs Reef at > the entrance of Vineyard Sound (west of Martha's Vineyard which is west > of Nantucket). What made it worse was that they knew exactly where > they were and overruled the local pilot. The pilot suggested a course > that kept them in deep water, but the captain was trying to make up > time and chose to cut the corner, believing the charted depth (39 feet > from the 1939 survey) to be sufficient (_QE2_ draws 32 feet). > > After the incident, the US Coast Guard dispatched the survey vessel > _RULE_ to re-survey the area. In keeping with current practice, the > rock they found (with the QE2's bottom paint on it) was provisionally > named "Rule's Ledge", but locals are lobbying to get it named "The > Queen's Bottom". > > -- Peter