HMS Despatch met a full westerly gale about 400 miles west of Ushant and hove to for nearly two days while heavy seas repeatedly swept her upper deck. The weight of water made the lightly built forecastle subside, requiring shores from the keel upward, while the stern flexed by about four feet. A second gale smashed or swept away fittings from the upper deck. When violent vibration forced the engines to stop, the cruiser continued toward Bermuda on the starboard engine alone. Dockyard inspection suggested that a steel wash-deck locker had washed overboard, jammed against the port propeller, flattened the inner edges of its blades, and later shaken free.
Notable Point · 2:30:09-2:31:56
HMS Despatch survives two Atlantic gales and a damaged propeller
Two Atlantic gales damaged Despatch, and inspection later suggested that a washed-overboard locker had jammed against the port propeller.