[vhfpmr (OP)]

Having seen ships in dry dock from time to time, and been struck by how precarious the supports looked, I'm having difficulty in being surprised at the "capsize" of the Petrel.

The system I recall seeing has the keel, and I presume the majority of the weight, supported on blocks on the floor, with props at the sides holding the ship upright. With the ship balanced on the keel and minimal load on the props, since they were wedged and in compression only it would take relatively little force from a gust of wind to momentarily release the compression at the windward side, at which point all the props fall out.

It looks like there's about 900m² of windage, which would give about 20 tons at 45mph, perhaps that's enough if the props were put in carelessly, especially if there are repeated nudges from repeated gusts over a long period of time.


Petrel.png (4.86 kB . 707x677 - viewed 861 times)

[Petrochemicals]

I believe it had been in drydock for quite some time, I believe ships are usually supported on wood that goes through catastrophic compression, that is why it is used, as compressible padding. Too long on the wood, bits of movement, decomposition of the wood is my guess.