8 Funniest Moments in Ship History
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- čas přidán 4. 05. 2024
- On this channel we often look at maritime disasters like Titanic, Lusitania or the Empress of Ireland. It can get a bit taxing on the soul - so today I thought you'd lighten the mood with some funny stories from the great days of the ocean liners. From the SS Great Eastern's unintended design faults to epic beer-rescuing missions, pranks, frauds and a famous ship with a mind of its own! Here are a few of my favourite funny maritime stories.
Oceanliner Designs explores the design, construction, engineering and operation of history’s greatest vessels- from Titanic to Queen Mary and from the Empress of Ireland to the Lusitania. Join maritime researcher and illustrator Michael Brady as he tells the stories behind some of history's most famous ocean liners and machines!
#ship #history #funny #documentary #design #engineering #stories #titanic - Zábava
I still think one of the funniest ocean liner stories is when the Germans put all this effort into dolling up the Cap Trafalgar to look like RMS Carmania for commerce raiding, only for the first ship it runs into to be the real RMS Carmania, which also now has guns.
They then proceeded to shoot each other apart. It was the battle that convinced both admiralties that ocean liners made poor military craft. It took awhile, but then they realized that oh yeah, they could use these massive ships to carry people!
Mike should partner with Drachinifel to do this one! :D
Yesss! 😂
That was an absolute sh*tshow and I loved it. 🤣🤣
I remember that. It was the first ship they came upon, which probably led to a interesting radio conversation
I loved how the music cut out every time Lightollers war crimes were brought up.
For anyone wondering, he was accused of massacring survivors of the SM UB-110 while in command of HMS Garry in 1918. There would probably be enough benefit of the doubt to give him… if Lightoller didn’t admit to doing it in his memoirs.
Oh wow. I was wondering what the nature of the crime's were. Thanks for the info 😉👍. 🤘😎🖖🇨🇦
Won't paste the whole thing here and shit up the comments, but excerpts of both Lightoller's and the UBoat captain Fürbringer's accounts are on Lightoller's Wikipedia under the WWI tab.
@@stinkymart3173 It is also covered in one of his videos about recovered subs.
He let people die for being in posession of a pe*is, even though the lifeboats were half empty. I am not surprised.
Lightoller clearly a product of british propaganda
This is a great change from the screams and sinkings 🤣🤣🤣 fair seas and following winds.
Whatever cuz... the tragedy was the draw card.....
Following seas.
@@elzach0 Felt kinda like when I am in a group of IT guys that are telling work jokes
It's fair winds and following seas, just fyi.
@@elzach0 Aw honey.
The funniest story i heard from a captain was an elderly lady who marvelled at how amazing the ship was but had 1 complaint that she put forward to the captain. She said she wasnt happy about the airconditioning fans on the promeneade. The captain a bit confused asked her to show him what she was referring to. She took him to the promeneade pointed up at the lifeboat propellers and said "Look there. Those never seem to work."
who in their right mind would even think of a design for a fan on a lifeboat
This came just right out of the blue! 🤣
THAT IS KILLER!
"Of course they're not going to work ma'am, they're supposed to be in the water when they're running."
: )
Capt Smith: Runs his ships at full speed regardless of conditions. Has accident. Ship sinks.
Capt Rostrum: Runs his ships at full speed regardless of conditions. Gets wet. Retires Legend.
From too damn sad to too damn funny
The shot of the "Rostrum Express" with the car horn was my favorite bit
Mauretania truly did have a soul. Imagine being pranked by your own ship
My Navy frigate (early 1980s - Knox Class) tended to have the bow, with it's large rubber sonar dome, do a weird shaking and shimmying as it dropped into a trough. The sudden rising and dropping was dangerous when I was trying to go from one deck to another via the angled ladder. If I step out at the top as the bow drops, I am left hanging in the air! If at the bottom as it drops, I could loosely grip the railing and be sliding UP! If it is rising as I am at the bottom, increased gravity means I am planted at the bottom and cannot go up! We learned to deal with this. 😊
Mauritania said, " Got you b***h!" 😅😅😅
@@lancerevell5979 That just reminds me of Patrick O'Brian's descriptions of Stephen Maturin attempting to board HMS Sophie, before the crew knew to offer him a bosun's chair when he wanted to board. Timing is everything.
"When things go well and the ship's not sinking, there's often some really funny things that happen." Now *there's* comedy gold.
Best one I saw was a naval exercise, where 2 destroyers , 2 frigates and one tanker were firing on a target 44 gallon drum with 50 cal. The seas were a wee rough that day and hits were few and far between. When it was the tanker's turn to to fire, the OOW decided to get in real close, too close. The poor old sod ran straight over it, with CO going nuts. The senior officer of the group sent the tanker a signal by light, which was eagerly read by the other ships as well, which went as such: "confirmed kill, you are directed to paint a drum on your bridge wing."
It's a bit like the f35 with a balloon painted on the side!
But hey, if I was that pilot, I'd happily take my hilarious kill marker.
I'm a member of the Italian Navy. And I'm proud to say that I was there... It was a couple years ago. Probably few times I laughed hard as that one
I could give you hundreds of humorous stories form ships, but I'll give you a secondhand one for starters.
MY ex worked for American Hawaii cruises back in the 1980s in the Steward's department. One day while the ship was cruising around the Big Island and she was out on deck having a cigarette, a passenger asked her what time the volcano went off.
She immediately answered "Two O'Clock," and the passenger responded, "Oh good, I have time to get my nails done first.
Mauritania scooting across the ocean had me in tears 🤣🤣
6:52 I've never heard of the PASSENGERS mutinying, that absolutely killed me 😂
@kats9755 Yep, when the passengers on your CRUISE SHIP mutiny, it’s probably a good idea to reconsider your business model! 🤣🤣🤣
One funny thing I noticed from the US Navy. While doing research on the USS Alabama, I found a LOT of documents in the National Archives. One document I found was a form to be filled out after an air attack. Basically how many planes, where from, how many shot down, how much ammo spent... etc. It's actually the form that identified kamikaze when they started being used.
At the top of the page, in BIG, BOLD letters was the following warning...
"DO NOT FILL OUT THIS FORM UNTIL AFTER AIR ATTACK HAS ENDED!!"
I like to think that was the result of some random, overachiever Ensign walking around on deck during the attack asking the gun crews questions while they're shooting with the form on a clipboard.
I worked on the Carnival Miracle in 2014 as the sound tech. Got three for ya...
Staff and officers were allowed to eat in the guest areas. In Skagway, Alaska, I went up to the sandwich area on the Lido deck to get some breakfast before getting off. Next to me was a short Italian guy surrounded by a couple of other Italian guys, all dressed well. He confidently placed his order through a heavy Italian accent. When he got his food, he thanked the man behind the counter and walked away. The man then behind the counter looked at me and asked, "who WAS that guy?" I politely said, "That was the Captain."
We had the main theater shut so we could do some pre-checks before the night's show. No guests area allowed in during that time for safety reasons. Down below me, I saw two women wearing... Well... Not wearing much. I then saw a photographer instructing them what to do next. I walked down and explained that the theater was closed and guests were not permitted at this time. They explained they were doing a "photo shoot." Right... Anyway, the rules still applied. Instead of leaving, they asked if I could stand between them for a picture. In hindsight, this was a bad idea, but I took my nametag off and obliged. Now, Carnival has a VERY strict policy against being "too friendly" with guests. It's strictly prohibited, and generally leads to immediate disembarkation and termination. Regardless, I stood between them, and they proceeded to wrap their arms around me. In probably the most inopportune timing, the head of Security walks into the theater a couple doors away, and looked right at me and crossed his arms; stern look present. After breaking out into a slight sweat, the picture was over. Nothing came of it. Either he was not aware we closed the theater for pre-checks, or didn't recognize me. Either way, I finished my contract away from further photoshoots.
The last one involves the very front of the ship: where Jack and Rose embraced. While off limits to guests, this was a smoking area for the crew. This one I was not part of, but was told the story. Crews are a VERY international group. My entire tech team was from Romania except for myself and the lighting tech, and one guy from India. One of the Romanians told me a buddy of his was in the smoking area, and security walked by. He mumbled, "f*** security." Security heard, and was displeased, and took him to the security office for reprimand. When asked what happened, the Romanian said, "I was just asking what security was doing there!" "Che fache," pronounced "che f***" is basically "what are you up to?" "Che fache security... What is security doing here?" The head of security was not satisfied and brought in another Romanian. Without context, the third party confirmed that is a way to ask what security is doing there. He was released freely, with a smirk.
I'll have to remember that last one the next time I hear a stern 'mom voice' snap 'Language!"
"Romanian!"
@@cherokee43v6 Haha! Be careful!
THE ROSTREN EXPRESS HAD ME DEAD 💀
As much as I love the 4K CGI footage of the ships in recent videos, I prefer the editing of the RMS Mauretania speeding around like a skidoo. Hope to see more footage like that in future videos!
I second this HEARTILY
There needs to be 4k CGI footage of the Mauretania doing this with Captain Rostron at the helm, sunglasses and all exclaiming "I don't give a ship" 😂😂
@@JPSRCE1987 Rostron was a dang legend ✌️
I loved the sound effects incorporated with the "Rostron Express". 🤣🤣🤣
The Rostrum story’s editing literally had me howling with laughter, imagining this ship speeding along like a street racer with cops on their ass.
I would have to say, that the "Garden between the funnels" was probably the most hilarious. So innocent and wholesome.
I am pretty sure that something like that was attempted for real at least once.
Since it got memed by the crew, I can imagine a conversation like "I'm just going to take a walk in the garden"
The editing for the mauretania and lusitania section is hilarious😂😂😂
Yup. I had to pause at the speedboat joke, and that's rare ^^
I recall one funny story about the queen Mary and it was recalled by a historian on the abc tv series “the liners “, he said that the radio operator rushed to the bridge telling the captain that German radio has announced that we have just been sunk and seven thousand people have drowned , to which the captain replied don’t tell the crew as it would make them upset
"Cool, now we are real ghost ship with ghost crew"
I think I've heard that story before actually. Kinda funny ngl
Love that captain's reply. British deadpan humour at its very finest!
The editing on this episode is absurd and genuinely funny. I can tell there was a lot of fun in making this one.
I do have a war story from my grandpa which I've always found amusing. He was an electrician aboard the fuel ship USS Tappahannock in Vietnam. Their captain devised a scheme to get the ship's crew a pay bonus for entering combat.
So they send an alert to the crew that they're going into an active combat zone for an emergency resupply. They meet with the friendly warship, transfer over a single case of beer, and leave. Hazard pay for everyone!
Grain of salt, what with it being from a grandparent decades after the fact, but I always found it funny
This is hilarious 😂 True or not, that's a damn good story, lmao.
@@kats9755 he had a few stories like that that were pretty amusing. It actually makes me really grateful that he served in a role that never entered genuine combat. I'm pretty certain that the overall story is true, but details had changed time to time so I wanted to cover my ass in the odd event one of his shipmates found my comment
@@DanTheManCalterthings like that do genuinely happen in wartime. The official record is usually done up a bit though so no one gets in trouble.
"When things aren't sinking, funny things happen."
Who knew? It's news to me
But, the sinking IS the funny part
@@Welv1987 Woah. That's deep man.
Just like the funny sinking ship in question.
the horn sound at 16:14 almost killed me, didn't expect that absurd humour on a oceanliner design video 😂
The intro alone made this video amazing i appreciate Mike’s sense of humor.
Story for second part:
Once, when the Polish transatlantic liner Batory was experiencing a storm, captain Eustazy Borkowski (called the Sea Shaman) learned that the weather would soon improve and decided to play the following joke on the passengers:
Together with the officer, he put on a storm jacket, ordered them to douse themselves with water (to look as if they had just been outside), went down to the passengers and told the priest who was on board that the situation was bad and only God would be able to save the ship. People began to pray, and then, as the captain predicted, the weather began to improve.
This captain was known for such jokes and I think it's really funny.
That's appalling!
I really wish I could have shared one of my stories from when I worked as a deck officer on Holland America Line for this video 😂 I hope you will read it for the future.
I was third officer, and all of us deck officers attended a burial at sea service on the aft deck of m.s Statendam (1993), and the captain performed the ceremony with about 30 or 40 people attending but there was loads of other guests watching, and sitting by the pool and having drinks.
As the family tipped the urn over the stern, due to the way the wind was blowing and flowing over the ship, The ashes were lifted up into the air, and thrown down all over the hundreds of officers and crew, into people's drinks, mouths, eyes, etc and as you can imagine, pandemonium erupted and the aft deck was hastily evacuated. Myself and my ship mates had to duck into a crew area because we were laughing so hard, I was literally crying with laughter. I really know we shouldn't have but it was just so funny.
We then had to go to the bridge to conduct the 10 o'clock bridge meeting, and the captain was SO angry with us..... I thought he was going to explode.... 😂
Wonder if the deceased was a prankster in life.
This is... this is a good illustration on why you find the lee side before you go throwing things overboard.
Hee hee 😂 whenever I think of scattering ashes I imagine it going exactly where they shouldn’t go 😂 this cracked me up 😂
“I don’t know where that idea comes from” lol when I watched this on Patreon, you achieved the goal of making people laugh. And that bit where the funnel was cut off. Mission accomplished Captain Brady
Mike, you and your team outdid yourselves on this video. Your humor is delightful but whoever edited the zoomin' Rostran Express, the yodeling beer diver, the funnel-removal horror, and the Great Eastern + a really bad recorder "My Heart Will Go On" deserves a fkn Nobel prize or something, I am SOBBING. 😂😂😂😂😂
18:51 This woman with her hands in the air thinking "why did I pay for this" is everything. Like it's midnight and my Mum's just across the hall I can't be laughing this hard, people! 🤣🤣
21:56 That yodel sound effect when the guy dives for the beer is so funny. 😂
Rostron's liner as a speedboat made me laugh so much. So unexpected. Love it!
Why do you think Mauritania has the distinction of holding on the Blue Riband the longest?
@@kristoffermangila Technically longest in active service. Otherwise longest all-time goes to Big U. :D
25 seconds in and I'm already doing the "desperately trying not to wake people up" wheeze-laugh.
Edit: 22 minutes and 45 seconds later, I've got a stitch in my side and a housemate giving me a bleary "wtf is wrong with you" look.
Gonna correct you on the SS America/Australis/Italis/American Star, because the reality is even funnier. She was due to be scrapped, and money had even already changed hands, but at the last moment, someone came up with the mad idea to turn her into a five-star floating hotel in Thailand. They felt this would work, because the hull was still pretty good. So the ship had to be towed from Greece, where she was laid up, to Thailand, but because the Egyptian government wouldn't allow her through the Suez, they had to go the long way around. But around the Canary Islands, the tug-ship combination hit bad weather, the tow cable broke, and the now American Star was beached on Fuerteventura. At first, an attempt was made to refloat the vessel, but within no time at all, she broke in half and was a complete write-off. The final remains of her hull only collapsed below the waves relatively recently, and she was a bit of an eyecatcher for 20 years or so.
He actually went into that the last time he referenced the ship's story, but probably didn't want to go over the full thing again.
She was technically scrapped, it was just the ocean that did it.
@@n8pls543 true but he shouldn't have said she was acrapped, could have just said it's another story and maybe linked it
Funniest story I know personally came from Lake Meade in 1999 or 2000. They had a Louisiana paddle wheel boat that would give tours of the lake and let you see Hoover Dam up close (since 9-11 was yet to happen) named “Desert Princess”. Apparently, the captain with a full load of passengers, let a 10 year old kid drive the ship… grabbed the wheel, swung it both ways just to see if he was being punked or not… he wasn’t, but passengers were by this. He helmed the ship for another 20 minutes, slipped it between two sandbars (which are now two hills overlooking the lake, since it’s so far down), and blew the horn while turning around at the top of Hoover Dam. I had no idea that a few people got tipped over the side and wet with my first-err, I mean-when that random kid was given the wheel until getting back to the marina. Overall, interesting day on the lake… especially for the tourist who was leaning out and got a free face wash at the cost of his Walgreens disposable camera. I deny the existence of a picture of me holding the wheel sometimes pops up on my mom’s laptop’s screensaver. It was some random kid, totally not me, I swear!
So, it was YOU!
I'm just kidding. I've never been to the Hoover Dam.
I got one now that I remember. Two actually. First one's not nearly as funny imo but the second may be up there. The first story was with me. I was a tot at the time but already a big ship geek. I loved everything that moves: trains, ships, cars, planes; you name it, I liked it. Some warship came to my harbor one day for some public tour, and I got to go on. We went up to the bridge, and as we were looking over the bow, little young me thought it was a good idea to push the throttle and see if the engines worked. Turns out they did, because in the next second we all looked back and saw a massive wake kicking up behind us. Needless to say I pulled the throttle back immediately (I was curious but I wasn't stupid) before we could take off, but still a fond memory of mine today.
The second story didn't involve me, but rather my younger brother. This one was actually crazy. So he and his class were on a field trip riding the Boston Duck Boats, and long story short he got a chance to take the wheel. From what I heard he damn near crashed the thing: I assume the captain took back command before it was too late. Luckily no one was hurt.
The editing on this one had me rolling on the floor laughing so many times lmfao
The story of the USS William D. Porter is probably my favourite ship story. Its absolutely insane
That painting of the passengers in The Great Eastern as it's rolling.... Reminds me of my Navy frigate's crews mess during lunch or dinner while cruising in rough seas. Looked like a Three Stooges movie. 😅
“PEOPLE LOOK LIKE THEY ARE NOT HAVING A GOOD TIME!” Talk about an understatement. LOVE IT!
As a Canadian, I understand heroically diving in to save the beer! 🤣🤣. 🖖😎🤘🇨🇦🍻
It's Canadian instinct. Never mind the women and children, save the beer!
It's a good thing the Titanic's crew weren't Canadian, otherwise Cameron would have had one hell of a time making his movie.
@@thing_under_the_stairs 🤣🤣🤣, true eh?! 🤣
@@user-xu2pi6vx7o 🤣🤣. Cameron is Canadian born too! 🤣🤣🤣👍🍻
@@user-xu2pi6vx7o Did you know James Cameron is Canadian?
I used to work as an officer on a steam boat that would go around the coast of Ireland called The Princess of Munster. One day when we were sailing in rough weather the captain came onto the bridge and asked our position, I replied that we were about 18 miles of the coast of Galway. Mind you it was very cold out and all the crew were miserable and the passenges were not pleased too. he then went out onto the deck to see the situation and he saw another crew member having a drink of beer. We were not allowed to drink on the job but I kid you not all I heard him shout was "Can I have one!?"
lol 😆
In 2009 the Stena Voyager, which was sailing from Belfast to Stranraer had to come to a stop outside Loch Ryan. This was due to a heavy goods vehicle becoming free from it's shackles and crashing through the stern of the ship where it lodged half in/half out. Because the vessel could now not dock in Stranraer it was decided to return to Belfast. To placate the disappointed travellers the crew decided to make drinks at the bar free for passengers, this may have been a good idea in a different cultural setting. With Scots and Irish folks it meant they had to close the bar after an hour or so because too many people were going to be too drunk to disembark.
never tell an Irishman or a Scot "Free Drinks!" that's asking for trouble 😂
0:17 "I don't know where that comes from" Ah Mike I just love your Australian talent for tack and subtlety.
Gotta love how the Australian term for fraud is "hilarious pranks"
The Aussies are simply built different
I've not been one of those asking for a change from the doom and gloom that many of your videos center around, but this was a truly delightful switch up. My favorite tales had to be the garden story and diving for the beer case. Just harmless good fun. The garden one in particular reminds me of my grandfather telling tourists to look for a "current bush" when campers would ask him where they could plug in their TVs and phones.
He should have been more specific. Blackcurrant or redcurrant?!
"For the life of me, I don't know where that idea comes from."
😂😂😂 Best laugh of the day, I'll be rewatching this one just for the comic value!
Keep the tragedies coming, that's all I can say, it wouldn't be Oceanliner Designs without them.
Our friend Mike Brady coming at us with the jokes and humor! Absolutely loved this, man!
I never thought about little funny or lighthearted moments like these before, but as it happens, life is full of these kind of moments. All of your videos are fascinating, Mr. Mike Brady! Tragic, lighthearted, educational, all of them: keep them coming!
That one second of Sabaton made me wheeze out a “ha!” Into my very quiet bedroom and it made my cat fly off the bed with a very grumpy “what the hell is wrong with you??” look, gonna get bit for that later, but worth it. My ears are trained to pick up the slightest hint of my favourite bands/songs. 🤘Also *crickets* from the Victorians was definitely my favourite part, and then the painting. 🫣😂😂😂😂
Waaaait, where was that sabaton second?
0:23/0:24 starts around that time, hard to be exact. It's very fast. ijustplaythatsongtoomuchokay?
😄
"Cut the forward funnel off and let's ship her off. No one will care."-goofy designer
LOL
08:15 The former SS America at this point was like "To heck with whatever these folks are going to turn me into." Before she threw herself into some rocky shore at canary isles (CMIIW) and dipped into Davy Jones' Locker.
The funniest maritime story involving one vessel that makes me laugh is the old Sydney ferry SS Curl Curl from the late-1920s. What did she do that's hilarious? Couldn't stop getting herself into a mishap. Here's a list:
-29th April 1929: Ran down the passenger launch Nimrod. No serious injures and both vessels weren't significantly damaged
-30th April 1930: Collision with K-class ferry SS Kiandra, with the wooden ferry's crew performing urgent actions to aviod sinking. Several injured.
-February 1932: Crashed into the Manly wharf and rammed the footpath and Manly pool. A rope which tangled around her forward propeller had to be untangled.
-31st March 1936: Ran aground at Bradley's Head with the 7:10am Circular Quay-Manly service with 50 passengers due to fog. Passengers were transferred to the launch Nevade while the ferry was pulled out by the tugboats St Aristel and Lindfield, with Curl Curl out of action due to damage to the rudder and propeller. Returned to service 9th April.
-16th November 1936: Suffered blistered paint after towing a police launch clear of the burning Binngarra-class MV Bellubera (I don't count this as an incident as she was doing something useful here).
-10th November 1938: Crashed into the Manly wharf, again.
-23rd September 1943: Collision with an unrecorded launch.
-12th February 1953: Crashed into the Manly wharf, again. This time causing significant damage to herself, the wharf and destroying the tourism offices.
-9th February 1954: Collision with Lady-class (III) MV Lady Scott.
Wait..... Ran down the passenger launch named.... WHAT!?
@@AutismTakesOn It's a word with many meanings. And it still makes me laugh.
The poor wharf. It must have been shivering with dread every time the SS Curl Curl got within a mile.
@newobanproductions999 - Poor seamanship on the part of the crew. Not the ship's fault.
@@wickedcabinboy In the interest of fairness, her older sister SS Dee Why also got herself into a few scrapes, having four in her service life:
-25th November 1931: Collision with K-class ferry SS Kirrule. It was found her skipper was at fault and his certificate was suspended.
-1st October 1943: Collision with unrecorded American Liberty Ship.
-25th December 1946: Ran aground at Obelisk Bay after getting lost in fog. She remained stuck for 8 hours until three unrecorded tugboats pulled her free, which her passengers being lifted off. Her rudder was missing, propeller was damaged and frame was bent, a damage bill of AU£6,500 (AU$544,837.90 in today's money)
-29th March 1957: Collision with tugboat Himma and ran aground at Kirribilli.
The last crewmate who saved the case of beer is a true hero
16:08 Rostron: "I believe in speed. Power. Power and speed solve many things."
So now anytime there's an excerpt of Rostron, it needs to be voiced by Jezza the Orangutan. 😆
Army men: YIS
Captain Rostron has the spirit... of Lightning McQueen!
@@kristoffermangila Rostron: "I am speed."
@@Kaidhicksiiwhat’s more, I think his nickname was “the Electric Spark”
The sip of a drink followed by a myriad of disasters sent me. 😂
I feel like many of these stories can be summed up by this quote from Hyce:
“So how did it go?”
“POORLY!”
Oh goodness, these sound effects had me rolling like the Queen Mary
I like Lightoller's sense of humour.
Me too. That's something I personally would have done.
@@user-mi8ef4qd2k Give me a few drinks and my old roomies from uni for backup and/or encouragement, and I'd probably do it too!
@@user-mi8ef4qd2k Seconded. We're all cheeky bastards up in here 🗣🗣🔥🤣
You had me laughing with the Dukes of Hazzard Mauritania speeding across the sea 😂🚢💦
I hadn't even noticed that most of the tales are a bit grim, but now you mention it...
Honestly I have no background in sailing, or any of the technology used but your channel is one of my top favourites. Your voice is very calming, the language is refined and the visuals are top notch. It's in my list of must-see documentary channels and I watch every time so... Keep doing what you're doing pal.
Aussie comedy. Thanks to all for your hard work shared with us.
The engineer diving after the beer is now my personal hero
My father served on the USS Fulton back in the early 80s. He told me a story of the ship being drydocked to receive an inspection, during which some new equipment was brought on board as well. Apparently, the arrangement involved some heavy machinery which would have been asymmetrically positioned, so water was pumped into the ballast tanks on one side of the ship, with Lord knows who calculating how much to take on. Lo and behold, when the dock was fully flooded again, it turned out that they'd overcorrected as the ship immediately heeled 14° over and sent my father crashing down out of his bunk.
THAT OPENING!!! CHEFS KISS COMEDY!! Well done gents!😂
The thumbnail was everything
True😂
I think my favorite story of all time is still HAPAG slapping that goofy eagle on Imperator because they were worried about Aquitania being longer, especially since they never even bothered fixing it when it got damaged and just took it off instead, and oh yeah, it wasn't even needed in the first place. Amazing. Excellent video, as usual!
A little while ago I read through the memoirs of a Swedish adventurer who had done a little bit of everything over the years, including spending his early twenties essentially hitchhiking across the world as a sailor. Here's a couple of the funniest stories he wrote about;
- Getting threatend at gunpoint by a very angry border guard after jumping ashore too early while docking in East Germany.
- Volunteering to fix an important light (can't quite remember which one) on the ship's mast in the middle of a storm while crossing the Atlantic, concluding that maybe it wasn't the best idea in the world at the moment he almost fell overboard.
- Accidentally preventing a theif from stealing the crew's valuables by looking up at the right time while holding an unloaded revolver belonging to the ship's captain, which spooked the thief enough to flee the scene.
- Diving in a harbour alongside a South Korean sailor while onboard a vessel which had sailed into North Korea on a diplomatic mission, spooking the North Korean soldiers into thinking enemy frogmen had entered the harbour.
- Getting chased by sharks while going for a relaxing swim.
- Attempting to sail from Hong Kong to Europe onboard an old sailing vessel, which led to him (kinda) getting involved in a Triad (Chinese organised crime syndicates) smuggling operation.
The memoirs in question is "Sjöman Legionär Legosoldat" by Roland Strandberg. If you can read Swedish, I highly recommend it, great fun and filled with fantastic stories.
"Bro, I'm straight up not having a good time." Passengers on the Great Eastern.
"Es ist der Strathnaver, Herr Kaleu!"... I always wondered what ship's silhouette was in your Intros.
My English Step-parents married and emigrated to Canada in 1949 aboard Aquitania. I'm sure they mentioned it was Aquitania's second-last trip west. Despite marriage, they were berthed separately due to space and sheer number of war-brides and ex-servicemen. Dad was stowed below with a seven other 'Husbands' in a third-class cabin, while Mom shared a first-class suite with three other 'Wives'. They spent their days strolling the decks and noticing most pre-war furnishings had either not been replaced or were dilapidated, and Mom mentioned the food was good but obviously not first-class dining due to the conditions and situation...
Respect to my 'good Friend' Mr. Brady, eh!
In regards to the food situation, the UK wasn't able to end wartime rationing until sometime in the early 1950s, IIRC.
Another Canadian here, eh 😆🇨🇦
Yeahhhh, I love ALL of the content on this channel, but my favorite episodes are like "Worst War Ships in History" and "Terrible Ship Makeovers" even the videos on just the way things work on a ship.
I respect the hell out of how well Mike and the team present and educate about the tradgedies, respectfully but still extremely interesting and 'entertaining' content. But I do love the lighter videos the most! 😅
What can I say, I love seeing Mike's passion coupled with his sense of humor!
Rostron Express Supremacy
Mauritania be like:gas gas gas I'm gonna step on the gas tonight.💨🚢💨
The editing in this video is as hilarious as the stories themselves 😂 Can't wait for the next installment, this was a nice reprieve from all the shipwreck tragedies and I'd love to see it become a regular series
I remember reading once that this Cunard captain in the mid-1800’s displayed some blunt sarcasm. The captain was sailing the ship through a storm and a passenger, who was terrified of the ship sinking, asked him where the closest land was.
The captain said “Two miles,” while pointing down at the deck.
16:12 Oh my god, that is so hilarious!!!
That cut during your drink got me laughing before the video even properly started, which told me everything I needed to know about how I'd feel about it.
But even in a shipwreck, there are some humorous moments to be had: Charles and Annie Stengel traveled as first class passengers aboard the _Titanic's_ maiden voyage, and when the time came to evacuate, Charles saw his wife off in Lifeboat 5. Fortunately, Mr. Stengel would not be aboard for much longer, as he was permitted to board Emergency Lifeboat 1 shortly afterwards.
For those unfamiliar with the boat deck's design, the two emergency lifeboats were typically swung out over the side for situations such as a man overboard, and were separated from the edge of the deck by a waist-high bulwark which would have to be climbed over for boarding. Unfortunately for Stengel, his build did not make this easy for him, and once he struggled onto the bulwark, he rolled over into the lifeboat, prompting First Officer Murdoch to exclaim with a hearty laugh, "That is the funniest sight I have seen tonight!" Murdoch's reaction helped reassure Stengel that perhaps the situation was not so serious after all….
My family emigrated to Australia in 1972 aboard the P&O Oronsay. The reason we did not fly was that the ship fare included a hold allowance. My father built five wooden packing crates for our household belongings which traveled with us in the hold of the ship. This allowed us to take vastly more with us than flying would have allowed. I believe the fare was about equal.
So funny! A great alternative type of package put together. I laughed but mostly i was glued to the screen learning. 10 out of 10 as always! :) Well done :)
Mike, you should see "The Mouse That Roared." The RMS Queen Elizabeth had a pair of cameo spots in the movie.
We love that movie! My now grown kids constantly reference it.
The Mauretania zipping around and the horn honking caught me a bit off guard. I laughed so hard that I think I startled my 4 year old daughter, who is sitting next to me while I watch this.
This was great fun! I like these videos where Mike is a little more laid back and just telling us all some great stories. The serious history videos are good too, and this was a nice way to mix it up.
Well done, Oceanliner Designs crew! ❤
Here's a funny (at least in my opinion) story. SS La Provence was built in built in 1905 for the French Line. In July 1913, Polaire (French actress) let her pet pig (Mr Mimi) walk out on deck with his diamond collar on board. She let him run free, and he instantly jumped overboard. She began screaming and crying and people watched her, and nobody comforted her because she was widely hated.
The beer dive and sound effect were perfect, thank you 🤣
Charles Lightholler is an absolute mad lad for that stunt. If I was him I'd be pissing myself laughing all the way to South Africa.
My late father was a supernumerary (trainee) engineer with P&O. He sailed on the Empire Fowey and the Bendigo. The Empire Fowey was a troopship. It had been the German liner Potsdam. The bannisters of the main staircase had carved swastikas on them. Anyhow, I digress. They offered to give some of the soldiers a tour of the machinery spaces. However, their sergeants made the soldiers do it in full kit. Rifles, greatcoats, packs. The engineers conducted on them tour, but took great delight in pausing the NCOs in some of the hottest areas to explain in very great detail how everything worked.
Remember when we could sneak into a fort and fire a canon just for funsies with no consequences? Those were the days.
As someone who has a playlist of your disaster videos I curate myself and was just binging it again like an hour ago… still a nice change of pace. Also your intro killed me 🤣
Funniest story I've been a part of (of which there are many), was when I was serving on a supply ship in the north sea. We had tied up in Aberdeen, with our identical sister ship tied "second off" ourselves. As we were going to be alongside for a few days some of the crew went ashore for a few wets (drinks) whilst the rest of us cracked on with the business of the ship. After about 6 hours we received an urgent call from the charterer, informing us we had to load a cargo of brine and sail urgently to a rig. Unfortunately our tanks were still half full of used drilling mud, and it would take 24hrs+ to offload it and get the tanks cleaned up to brine standard. Our sister, however, already had clean tanks.
After some back and forth, it was decided that we'd swap with our sister so she would be alongside and we'd go second off, they'd load cargo and sail the following morning. We didn't bother recalling the crew that were still ashore, as we had enough onboard to swtich places - Something that's important to remember for later...
We switched places, and our sister began to work through cargo ops etc.
At about 9pm the crew started to return onboard, all making it safely back to their cabins with the exception of our norwegian bosun.
We tried to call him numerous times and couldn't get hold of him for love nor money. I called the agent who, rolling their eyes down the phone, said they'd call some friends at the local police station to see if he'd found himself spending a night at her magistys pleasure. Nope, no sign there either.
Becoming concerned at this point that he might have fallen in on his way over a bridge or something, I was about to call the DPA and report the situation when the duty OOW burst through my cabin door, out of breath, telling me that I needed to go to our sister ship as quickly as possible as something "has happened".
After running across to our sister, I found "my" bosun about to fight their bosun on their back deck, in a VERY drunk state. After dragging him back to the ship and apologising profusely to the other ships captain and crew, and allowing the bosun to sober up overnight, I sat him down before our sister sailed and asked him what happened.
Turns out he'd come back absolutely hammered, managed to blag his way back into the harbour and walked back to the ship... He didn't bother to read the dayboard at the bottom of the gangway with the ships name on and had staggered back to his cabin and climbed into his bunk... To find another man in what he thought was his bunk - which was the other ships bosun!
The idiot hadn't realised that we'd switched places while he was ashore and had tried to go to sleep in the other guys bunk.
We called him by the other bosun's name for the rest of the trip.
Lie to the world through a postcard?
Jumping into the water *over a crate of beers?* Honestly I would've done the same if I could swim.
The story about Lightoller makes me sad that he's mostly rememered by threatening Titanic's passengers. The fact that he got away with pranking an entire city with a cannon is the icing on the cake.
You sir, have created a masterpiece of a maritime video. Bravo!
Not only are you a supreme naval expert, you are also a superb telling of stories. Love the friendly delivery and fun!
Rob
I actually sailed on the SS America in February 1953, from NYC to France. My mom and I were joining my father who was stationed with the USAF in Bordeaux. Since I was only 3 and a half, I don't have any direct memory of the trip.
Mauretania "lauthing" was the funniest thing ever🤣
Love the topics in this one and the little side-bars or tidbits you get into along the way. Another extremely informing video! Makes me think of all the renovations people do on homes here in the USA. Purchasing a house literally from the 1890s and turning it into a newly-remodeled home.... corners ALWAYS get cut nowadays ;)
"Purely cosmetic" is a term my father has used for over 30 years. Fits well with these stories. "To hell with the structural integrity, these support beams are purely cosmetic" 😅
All about money, money, money!!
The long coffee sip was spot on comedy 😂
haha thank you!
Lightoller always managed to get me into a fit of hysterics. I literally fell off my chair laughing! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
As a business move, Chandris played it well. Made a few mil on the sale of a ship, the got back, and got a free paint job out of it. And yes, beer IS important! Great episode! Nice change of pace!
This would make for a great livestream topic!
You know, just hanging out, sharing funny and interesting ship stories and just sort of having a bit of fun. Could be good to have every once in a while on the channel.
You have to do more of these. I just about died laughing at the last one.
Considering how long us sailors have been going to sea and causing shenanigans, there's no shortage of funny stories. Keep em coming, please.
8:13 I was drinking tea, and I litterly spit it all back in my cup.
Speed boat ship had me crying 😂 I could listen to your videos all day 😅
16:12 absolutely broke me