GIANT WAVE - The Lighthouse - page 85

with thirteen aircraft and almost eighty ships, was then called off on the evening of 20
December 1978. The West German government and the München 's owners continued
the search for a further two days along with support from US and British forces. Noth-
ing further was found, however, and the search was completely called off.
Two months later, on 16 February 1979, a highly significant find was made by car
transporter Don Carlos. The Don Carlos came across a lifeboat from the starboard side
ofthe München, andthislifeboatwastoplayacentralpartintheinvestigationintowhat
had happened to the ship.
What was deduced was that the pins in the forward block from which the starboard
lifeboat hung had been bent back from fore to aft, when they should have been vertical.
This implied that the lifeboat itself had been hit by a massive force which appeared to
have run from fore to aft of the ship and torn the lifeboat away. The lifeboat was 66ft
above the waterline. At this time the existence of such giant or rogue waves in deep
water was considered to be almost statistically impossible. Nevertheless, what had hit
the lifeboat could only have been such a wave, and the conclusion was drawn that the
severe weather had somehow created an unusual event or phenomenon that had led to
the sinking of the München.
Astime passed andresearch continued into the formation andcharacteristics ofgiant
waves, it was accepted that the München must have been hit by such a wave. Investig-
atorsdrewtheconclusionsthatastheshipmadeherwaythroughthestormonthenight
of 12 December 1978, she came up against a giant wall of water which must have been
between 80 to 100ft high. It would have been a terrifying sight. The ship would have
first gone into the trough of the wave and not had time to rise out of the trough before
the immense weight of the wave crashed down on to the ship. The force of the wave
would have torn the starboard lifeboat away, smashed the bridge and broken windows
and flooded the vessel. In the storm, this would have been the beginning of the end for
the ship. With the loss of the bridge and steering, her engines would have been inca-
pacitated and she would have drifted broadside into the waves. From the distress sig-
nals being sent out, the ship seems to have stayed afloat for some hours and it seems
likely that she was then hit by another giant wave which would have either capsized or
flooded her to such an extent that she sank within a very short period of time. 18
Anotherwell-knowncaseworthlookingatasoneofthetheoriesregardingitssinking
involves the phenomenon of large waves known as the 'Three Sisters'.
The system of Great Lakes in North America is large enough to sustain its own reg-
ular fleets and passages of large freighters, known as Great Lakes Freighters. These
freighters were used to mainly carry various types of iron ore around the various ports
of the Great Lakes. One of these freighters, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald , was the largest
of its kind when it was launched on 8 June 1958 and held the title of 'Queen of the