Witnesses Watched Ship Launch But Ended Up Running For Their Lives!

Ship launches are a maritime tradition. People gather to see a great vessel being put in the water for its inaugural trip to sea.

There are some festivities that typically include breaking a bottle of champagne against the boat to celebrate the occasion. Obviously, a great ship being launched will cause a disturbance in the water. Some people watching a ship launch in Great Britain appeared to have forgotten this fact.

People stood a little too close to shore while the ship was meeting the sea for the first time. The dramatic splash of water looked a bit like a tidal wave while the ship was tossed in.

Even as the wave blossomed, these people didn’t seem to realize the water was coming towards them. When the water quickly approached, the witnesses finally head for dry land. There was at least one man who needed a change of clothes though because he couldn’t manage to escape the water.

Check out the video below.

Thankfully, no one got hurt from the sudden rush of water, but I can imagine these people will think twice before getting that close to a ship ever again.

Because of the way ships are designed, the vessel successfully launched, but the wave it created was not supposed to be so powerful.

Interestingly, ship launching does impose stresses on the ship not met during normal operation, creating a significant engineering challenge for the designers of a vessel.

One of the first ship launchings to officially be recorded by American media was the launching of the Continental frigate Raleigh at Portsmouth, New Hampshire in May 1776. This ship was captured by the British in 1778 and served in the Royal Navy as HBMS Raleigh.

If you enjoyed this video, check out a compilation of some more ship launches that went badly.

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