The Bay of Biscay
Whilst following the Caronia around on her travels, and especially on the more fabulous cruises, the impression might be gained that it was all accompanied by bright and sunny days along with smooth seas. Elsewhere on the Timeline I've alluded to the Southern Ocean usually giving a bumpy ride to even the largest of vessels.
Crossings of the North Atlantic could also prove to be a bit scary, especially during the hurricane season around the Caribbean. However, when it comes to rough seas, the Bay of Biscay rates as another area of the World's oceans to need some respect.
Although I was quite keen on geography at school and I'd learned where most of the better-known Seas and Oceans were situated on the globe, nothing had prepared me for my first crossing of the Bay of Biscay! I had learned that parts of the continental shelf extend far into the bay.
Why so Brutal?
What I hadn't realised was that it's when fairly shallow water meets much greater depths in very windy weather that the rough seas the region is renown for are created. I encountered the Bay on my very first trip at sea, within 24 hours of us leaving the UK!
Thankfully, I'd developed my sea legs quite quickly, and although I thought it was rough at the time, all the “old-hands” were telling me that I hadn't seen anything yet… And so it turned out.
When you're aboard a ship in rough weather, you only gain a real understanding of just what is being thrown at you when you get glimpses of another vessel steaming nearby, in the same direction. On a return trip on the Pretoria Castle in early 1964, just before I joined the Caronia, we hit an almighty gale in the Bay of Biscay.
I was working in the laundry and we had to be stood down for the afternoon because it was just too dangerous. Being right at the aft-end, the motion of the ship was such that, as the stern plunged downward, so the roller on the callender (a giant padded steam-heated rolling / ironing press) was momentarily being lifted off its support bearings. Elsewhere, heavy trolley baskets of wet laundry were refusing to be anchored!
It's a Little Sobering
Our cabin was also at the aft-end, on the deck below the laundry. From one of its portholes, (which by rights should have been covered with its deadlight - and thus obscuring the view) we could catch glimpses of the “Empress of Britain” about a mile away and also heading north.
To see a ship of roughly the same size being pounded by waves that were almost as high as the ship itself was very sobering. Realisation then dawns that the same thing is happening to our ship! It's not like either vessel, at over 25,000 tons, is that small.
The strangest part of this is a bit of a conundrum. What happens is that although your ship is being tossed about, you overlook this. Your thoughts only go out to the people aboard the other vessel and you wonder if their ride is any worse than yours.
Presumably, those aboard the other ship are wondering precisely the same thing about us. Part of the scariness is the ardent feeling in the pit of your stomach that you aren't going to witness anything really drastic happen to the other ship which is so near, yet so far away. Talk about feeling utterly helpless!
It was during this month that it was Caronia's turn to feel the wrath of the Bay of Biscay. So bad was it that many parts of the foredeck sustained some serious damage!
If you can contribute any information, do please get in touch…
