Is it possible to capsize an aircraft carrier? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board

## post by Morgyn on Sep 2, 2016 []( Random question thrown up from my mind’s murky depths while reading a former Navy person’s Facebook page where he commented that he’d spent a lot of time at sea and hurricanes were nothing new to him. So suddenly I wondered if it were possible to capsize an aircraft carrier. I mean, big, big, BIG ship, but still a speck as far as the oceans are concerned. And if it IS possible, what would it take to do so? Broadsided by a freak big wave? Cat 8 hurricane winds[sup]1[/sup]? Temperamental kraken? For the sake of the argument, we’re talking a ship the size of the [USS Enterprise]( length 1,123 ft, beam 132.8 ft (at the waterline) or 257.2 ft (widest), and displacing 93,284 long tons. [sup]1[/sup]Yes, I know the scale only goes to 5. I’m exaggerating for effect. read 13 min ## post by Oddball_92 on Sep 2, 2016 []( I was on the FORRESTAL and was in some really, really rough weather, but capsizing was never an issue that I was aware of. I doubt a carrier would ever capsize. Too many ways to take on counterweights. I am not an expert though. ## post by Xema on Sep 2, 2016 []( Possible? Yes. Here’s a Wiki article that describes the [Hilina Slump]( a 5000-cubic-mile portion of the island of Hawaii that could slide into the ocean. Even at a fraction of that height, such a wave when it approaches shore and breaks would have no trouble capsizing any ship. ## post by Shagnasty on Sep 2, 2016 []( Not really in the real world for Nimitz Class aircraft carriers outside of extreme hull damage caused by an outside attack or an internal explosion. It is perfectly possible to debilitate one through an attack which is one reason they always travel with a convoy of protective battleships, submarines and other support ships but the aircraft carriers themselves can survive all types of high seas caused by hurricanes, typhoons and rogue waves just fine. It would take an extremely unusual event to capsize one. We are talking hand-of-God type events, not just a regular storms no matter how strong nor rogue waves. They sometimes lose aircraft and people over the side because of extreme weather and it may not be that comfortable to the thousands of people on it but the carrier isn’t in danger due to any seas normally found on Earth. It takes a tremendous amount of energy to roll one past 7 degrees and that isn’t remotely close to capsizing. [Here is an example of what unusually huge waves look like when they hit a carrier.]( doesn’t look that bad because the carrier is so big itself but I can promise you that the support ships escorting it are having a much harder time. Fun Fact: Nimitz class carriers are among the fastest, if not the fastest, ships in the Navy. They can move faster than most storms when they need to (it is classified but likely about 50 mph) so there is no need for them to face the worst of the vast majority of storms as long as the weather forecasters are paying attention (it is the military so plenty will be). ## post by Morgyn on Sep 2, 2016 []( Yeah, I probably should have said I was thinking of “natural” causes, not man-made ones. <snip> I don’t know why, but I find the idea of windshield wipers on an aircraft carrier hysterical. That said, thanks. The information is interesting. From the video, it appears that the ship is pointed into the waves, but from your first paragraph it sounds as if even a rogue wave hitting it along the side wouldn’t be able to tip it much, much less capsize it. Do I interpret correctly? I guess the question now moves into IMHO territory; in real world conditions, it can’t be capsized (by natural forces). How outré would the natural forces have to be on the open sea (not close to shore) to capsize an aircraft carrier? ## post by Shagnasty on Sep 2, 2016 ## post by Leo_Bloom on Sep 2, 2016 ## post by Velocity on Sep 2, 2016 ## post by FoieGrasIsEvil on Sep 2, 2016 ## post by slash2k on Sep 2, 2016 ## post by UncleBill on Sep 2, 2016 ## post by Pantastic on Sep 2, 2016 ## post by Chronos on Sep 2, 2016 ## post by Princhester on Sep 2, 2016 ## post by Machine_Elf on Sep 2, 2016 ## post by Boyo_Jim on Sep 2, 2016 ## post by Machine_Elf on Sep 2, 2016 ## post by LSLGuy on Sep 2, 2016 ## post by Really_Not_All_That_Bright on Sep 2, 2016 ## post by Chronos on Sep 2, 2016 ## Load more posts below