Comments | peristaltor: "We're on a collision course!"

peristaltor

"We're on a collision course!"

Oct 09, 2005 12:15

After working boats now for almost 15 years, it's time I shared one of the most spetacular near-miss accidents that I witnessed, ( involving a grain freighter and the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. )

sphincter loosening moments, marine

Comments 4

kespernorth October 10 2005, 22:46:46 UTC

Just got linked here from the Seattle community and I must say, this is one hell of a story. I'll have to tell my dad about it; he piloted ships in the Coast Guard for many years and was present for a similar screwup involving the QEII once upon a time.

ex_tawneelyn258 October 10 2005, 23:06:13 UTC

wow

johnaegard October 11 2005, 00:32:05 UTC

> "WELL I DON'T SEE HOW YOU COULD MISS ME.
> I'M DAMNED NEAR 900 FEET LONG!

> That meant the two ships, each just under a half-mile in length

Seems like there's a bit of a unit-conversion problem here. 900' is less than a fifth of a mile. The Nimitz is 1,092' long, or just over a fifth of a mile, according to her home page.

Still, awesome story, and thanks for posting it.

peristaltor October 11 2005, 03:06:21 UTC

Yeah, I get forgetful with actual figures sometimes. Here I spent hours looking for a good chart of the area to reference for folks (never found a good one), and I neglected to see how many stupid ol' feet were in a mile. D'oh!

Thanks for the correction!