28. How high is the highest wave? 



An American tanker, the USS RAMAPO, reported the highest wave 

 that has been measured with any degree of certainty. In 1933, while 

 proceeding from Manila to San Diego, she reported a wave 112 feet 

 high; it was produced by winds of 60-68 knots operating over a fetch of 

 several thousand miles. 



Most ocean waves are less than 12 feet high. Waves more than 25 

 feet high are rare, and waves in excess of 50 feet develop only during 

 very severe storms. 



It is very difficult to measure wave height from a ship. Height can 

 often be estimated with reasonable accuracy by comparison with the 

 freeboard of the ship, but accuracy decreases as wave height and ship 

 motion increase. 



USN 



Tanker Ramapo - Feb. 7, X'^Vi 



Carson, R. L. 



The Sea Around Us, Oxford University Press, 1951; Mentor Books 



(Paperback), 1954. 

 Miller, Robert C. 



The Sea, Random House, 1966. 

 Stewart, Harris B., Jr. 



Deep Challenge, Van Nostrand, 1966. 



29 



