Maiden voyage as "middy" on board POLYDORUS
/ Hong Kong / Sept 1962.
We were told about a typhoon making its way across the China Sea
to Mainland China. Nothing-new there, but what did make a difference
was that it decided to change course and make for Hong Kong. So now
typhoon "Wanda" was being monitored closely and the forecast
did not look good. Some further 24 hours passed and the picture was
beginning to show ominous. Decision time.
Head Office must have been consulted and decided to stop discharging
and loading procedures and to leave Kowloon wharf altogether. Some
Navy ships were there too and decided to get going and ride the storm
out at sea.
Whatever the reason, Polydorus did not go for the typhoon buoys, but
instead we sailed on towards some sheltered bay further down. The
barometer had gone down to 985 MB and dropping.
Polydorus swung into a large spacious sheltered area - quite a number
of miles across - and I had the privilege to experience first hand
how to prepare lying behind two anchors.
Both ships' anchors and a substantial length of chain running away
at 45º angles from the true line, Polydorus was ready to face
the music.
The engine room was running at full sea going stations. And then the
music came.
I remembered thinking - professionals built the Titanic and amateurs
built the Arc.
Typhoon "Wanda". I occasionally checked the barometer and
it kept on dropping. By now the reading showed 975 MB. Even in hefty
storms in Europe, I couldn't remember too many readings of 980 MB
and I realised I was beginning to see history in the making.
The wind was now clearly showing its hand. In spite of the spacious
water inlet all around us and sheltering mountain peaks, the waves
started coming in, higher and whiter by the hour. We kept vigil on
the bridge with the engines running. A good twelve hours after preparing
at anchor, the sea around us had turned into a boiling inferno. If
you ventured on deck you had to be extremely careful.
Water was now swept up into the air and so was the salt - you could
taste it in the air!
You could even feel it in your eyes! Everything hitting you came in
horizontally.
Anything that could have potentially been shifting had been battened
down. Nothing was left to chance. Eventually going outside would have
been madness! Polydorus was riding the huge waves and at times we
could not even see the front of the ship.
In spite of lying behind two long anchor chains out there, the ship
was dipping and shuddering with all of its 8.000 tonnes, whilst being
battered by huge walls of water.
Visibility was now practically non-existent as the air was full of
salt, chipping away.
The only eyes we got were radar and as the crescendo seemed to have
no let up, the radar packed up as well! Everybody had to wear life
belts.
And then all at once, without any warning, the wind quickly dropped
in minutes, the air starting to clear. I looked at the barometer again
- 952 MB!
The eye of "Wanda" had arrived immediately overhead.
Polydorus found itself basking in sunshine as the large blue circle
above us let plenty of light and sun through. It was uncanny; an almost
weary silence fell upon us.
The barometer did not move anymore.
As visibility gradually started to improve, we still could not make
out the land around us. Tranquillity did not last long, perhaps some
30 minutes, if that.
As the eye had shifted further, the instant full impact of the blast
hit us and hit us with vengeance. If we had survived the build up
for hours on end leading into a crescendo, it was now hitting us head
on. No build up, just sudden impact with wind blasts in minutes -
very awesome and very disconcerting.
One just simply does not mess with typhoons and underestimating these
is done at ones peril. That much is clear and the experience never
leaves you.
The skies literally opened again and thankfully washed all the salt
of the upper structure.
Hours later the worst passed and we assessed the damage.
Not a pretty picture, but thankfully no structural damage, however………..
The front of the ships' upper structure had been sandblasted with
the airborne salt.
The masts and derricks were thoroughly cleaned and bare, just amazing.
Polydorus had drifted 3.5 nautical miles behind both anchors. Considering
the total weight of the shackles plus anchors, it was absolutely impressive.
Early the following morning Polydorus heaved both anchors, shackle
by shackle. As middy at the forecastle I watched every shackle back
on board. As both anchors had been dragged over 3 miles, it was surprising
how clean they were when pulled up into the anchor housing with a
deep vibrating thud. First port, then starboard.
Slowly we started our journey back to Kowloon in order to pick up
where we left of.
Every one of us stood silently looking at the shores and the devastation
meeting us.
A few smaller ships had literally been lifted onto the lower shores
and had no hope in hell returning to service - they had to be scrapped.
There was devastation everywhere and somehow bamboo buildings seemed
to have weathered the storm better than some concrete ones.
Polydorus had already brought deep-tanks of drinking water along from
Singapore and discharged only days before. Hong Kong had plenty of
drinking water now.
The pictures are engraved in the back of your mind. To be able to
see with your own eyes the power of destruction that Mother Nature
sometimes has in store for us -
It makes you realise your own vulnerability.
Even in Hong Kong terms, typhoon Wanda must have gained a special
place in HK history and having been witness to this makes you realise
how much misery others might have suffered, whilst you got through
safely.
Since those days I returned to the area on a number of occasions,
but never come across another typhoon. Just as well - beginners luck?
Peter Mathot
