NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Frank Reed
Date: 2025 May 18, 07:35 -0700
How did this happen?
Last night the Mexican sail-training vessel Cuauhtemoc crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge spanning the East River in New York City. The ship has severe damage to all three masts. Two sailors were killed and many injured, some apparently when they fell over 100 feet from the rigging.
This vessel was built in 1982 (details from Wikipedia) and is similar in design to the US Coast Guard sail-training vessel Eagle. In online video the ship is moving at a speed of a few knots (I didn't measure anything in the videos... anyone up for that?). Does this match the tidal current on the East River at the time? Would the crash be consistent with loss of engine power? Or were they under power, perhaps somehow stuck in reverse, maybe after departing from the pier at South Street Seaport? And did they attempt to drop anchor?
As for emergency navigation, I have to wonder if there was time to formulate a plan. The bridge is relatively low, and they would have struck at any point along it, but it appears in the video that they were aiming for shore --maybe a last-minute attempt to miss the bridge-- but that could be an illusion.
Frank Reed
