COLLISIONS— 1969 



A freighter limps back to port after receiving collision damage on the starboard side, amidships. 



they were looking at the port bow. Although 

 neither officer saw a red side light, both felt that 

 a port-to-port passing situation still existed. At 

 2135, Shif A passed Buoy 2CB abeam to port. A 

 half minute later, the watch officer shouted that 

 he saw Ship B's green side light. Convinced that 

 Ship B had come left while he had been observing 

 the radar screen, the master immediately respond- 

 ed by ordering Right Full Rudder and Full Speed 

 Astern. Whistle signals for each of these maneu- 

 vers were sounded. At 2139, Ship A was presumed 

 dead in the water and All Stop was ordered. 

 During the ensuing minute the distance between 

 the two ships closed rapidly. At 2140, Ship A's 

 master realized that a collision was imminent and 

 decided to turn his vessel more to starboard to 

 possibly limit the expected contact to a glancing 

 blow. With the rudder still hard right, Half Speed 

 Ahead was ordered. Collision occurred seconds 

 later. 



SHIP B 



Ship B was approaching Chesapeake Bay En- 

 trance on the last leg of a voyage from Hamburg, 

 Germany, to Norfolk, Virginia. At 2105, with the 

 ship about 3 miles southwest of Chesapeake Light, 

 the course was changed to 260°T. The master 

 intended to take the ship to a point about V2 mile 

 south of Chesapeake Bay Entrance Buoy 2CB 

 before shaping a course for the pilot station. 

 Bridge personnel consisted of the master, watch 

 officer, and helmsman, and a lookout was posted 

 on the bow. At 2119 speed was reduced to slow 

 ahead due to low visibility. The engineroom was 

 on standby. Visibility was between zero and 75 

 yards in patchy fog. About 2126 speed was 

 increased to half-ahead (approximately 8 knots) 

 because steering had become sluggish. Both the 

 master and watch officer intermittently checked 

 the radar screen which was showing a relative 

 presentation on a 12-mile scale. 



As Ship B approached Buoy 2CB, several 

 radar contacts were observed bearing 045° relative 

 at a distance of about 7 miles. These contacts 



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