24 WAVE DIMENSIONS 



Waves of about 40 feet encountered by the Egypt and measured by 

 Cornish off the Bay of Biscay in December 1911. 



A colossal sea apparently with wave heights of at least 60 feet, as 

 calculated by Cornish from data supplied by the ship's officers, en- 

 countered by the Majestic southwest of Ireland on February 20, 1923. 



A wave of very irregular shape with multiple peaks rising a little 

 above 36 feet, as calculated from stereophotograms taken from the 

 liner Deutschland, south of Newfoundland on March 15, 1929 (Schu- 

 macher, 1939, atlas, insert chart 29). 



North Pacific: 



A single wave of at least 57 feet, as calculated from a photograph 

 taken from the United States Fisheries' steamer Albatross, off the 

 northwest coast of the United States. 



Waves estimated by the commanding officer to be at least 70 feet 

 high, encountered during a prolonged gale of hurricane force by the 

 S. S. Ascanius on the run from Yokohama to Puget Sound. 



An enormous wave, the highest that has ever been reliably reported, 

 with an estimated height of about 112 feet, encountered during a 

 prolonged period of stormy weather by the U. S. S. Rwtnapo in the 

 central part of the North Pacific on February 7, 1933. 5 



Southern Ocean — West Wind Belt: 



Waves of about 30 feet encountered by the Novara expedition in the 

 southern Indian Ocean in November 1857. 



Waves commonly 30 feet high, with a maximum of 42 feet, near 

 Cape Horn in 1880. 



Heights of 21 to 46 feet encountered on the run from New Zealand 

 to Cape Horn in 1885. 



A miximum of 37.5 feet reported by Lieutenant Paris in the south- 

 ern Indian Ocean, between the Cape of Good Hope and St. Paul Is- 

 land, in 1891. 



Waves up to 39.4 feet measured by Dr. G. Schott from a sailing ship 

 in the South Atlantic, also in 1891. 



Waves 33 to 36 feet high measured by Captain Chiiden in the South 

 Pacific. 



Heights of 38 to 45 feet, measured from the Gorinthic in the south- 

 ern Indian Ocean in August 1907. 



Waves at least 45 feet high, measured from the Owestry Grange 

 between St. Paul Island and Kerguelen, also in August, 1907. 



Additional instances of very high breakers on one coast or another 

 are given on page 119. 



1 Whltemarsh, R. P. 1934. Great sea waves. Proc. nav. inst. vol. 60, p. 1100. As 

 this is the highest wave on record, we should point out that the method by which it was 

 measured appears to have been reliable, and that the observer discusses the possibilities 

 of error. 



