On this date in 1980

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JK
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On this date in 1980

Post by JK »

The OBO Derbyshire was lost with all hands during a typhoon. 44 crew and 2 wives who were onboard.
The ship was four years old and had an experienced Master.
She was the last of a series of ships built and until her sister ships experienced cracking around frame 65 there was no formal investigation.
After intensive study,the loss centred around the theory of the vessel breakup at frame 65 or the collapse of the cargo hold hatches.

The amazing part is that the ship was located, even though there had been no distress call, in two part. With study it was concluded that the hatches had failed from external forces and the ship broke in two on the way down. After watching the video of the loss of the Gold Bond Conveyor, I would assume the ship foundered quickly.

http://www.shipstructure.org/case_studies/derbyshire/
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