MV Derbyshire
{{short description|British oil combination carrier}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2018}}
| {{Infobox ship begin
}} {{Infobox ship image | Ship image = Model of the M.V. English Bridge.jpg | Ship caption = Model of Derbyshire{{'s}} sister ship, English Bridge }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = | Ship flag = | Ship name = *Liverpool Bridge (1975–1978)
| Ship namesake = | Ship owner = Bibby Line | Ship operator = | Ship registry = {{flagicon|United Kingdom|civil}} Liverpool | Ship route = | Ship ordered = | Ship awarded = | Ship builder = Swan Hunter | Ship original cost = | Ship yard number = 57{{csr |register=MSI |id=7343085 |accessdate=18 December 2009}} | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = 5 December 1975 | Ship sponsor = | Ship christened = | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = | Ship recommissioned = | Ship decommissioned = | Ship maiden voyage = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship renamed = | Ship reclassified = | Ship refit = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship homeport = | Ship identification = {{IMO Number|7343805}} Call sign: GULK | Ship motto = | Ship nickname = | Ship honours = | Ship honors = | Ship captured = | Ship fate = *Lost with all hands on 9 September 1980 during Typhoon Orchid. | Ship notes = Largest British ship ever lost at sea | Ship badge = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = {{sclass2|Bridge|OBO carrier|0}} combination carrier | Ship type = | Ship tonnage = *{{GRT|91,655}} | Ship displacement = | Ship length = {{cvt|294.2|m|ftin}} | Ship beam = {{cvt|44.3|m|ftin}} | Ship height = | Ship draught = | Ship draft = {{cvt|18.44|m|ftin}} | Ship depth = | Ship hold depth = | Ship decks = | Ship deck clearance = | Ship ramps = | Ship ice class = A1 | Ship power = B&W 8K98FF | Ship propulsion = 1 × propeller | Ship sail plan = | Ship speed = {{convert|15.5|kn}} | Ship range = | Ship endurance = | Ship test depth = | Ship boats = | Ship capacity = ~160,000 tonnes of cargo | Ship troops = | Ship complement = | Ship crew = 42 | Ship time to activate = | Ship sensors = | Ship EW = | Ship armament = | Ship armour = | Ship armor = | Ship aircraft = | Ship aircraft facilities = | Ship notes = }} |
MV Derbyshire, originally named Liverpool Bridge, was a British ore-bulk-oil combination carrier built in 1976 by Swan Hunter, as the last in the series of the {{sclass2|Bridge|OBO carrier|0}} sextet. She was registered at Liverpool and owned by Bibby Line.{{cite web|title=MV Derbyshire - HC Deb vol 280 cc883-904|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1996/jul/03/mv-derbyshire|website=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)|publisher=Hansard / House of Commons proceedings|date=3 July 1996|access-date=18 July 2017}}
Derbyshire was lost on 9 September 1980 during Typhoon Orchid, south of Japan. All 42 crew members and 2 of their wives were killed in the sinking. At 91,655 gross register tons, she is the largest British ship ever to have been lost at sea.{{cite web|title=List of websites and links of the enquiries of Derbyshire sinking|url=http://c4tx.org/ctx/job/cdb/cas_list/precis.php?id=19800909_001|website=www.c4tx.org|access-date=27 July 2017|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112015421/http://c4tx.org/ctx/job/cdb/cas_list/precis.php?id=19800909_001|url-status=usurped}}
History
MV Derbyshire was launched in late 1975 and entered service in June 1976, as the last ship of the Bridge-class combination carrier, originally named Liverpool Bridge. She and English Bridge (later Worcestershire and Kowloon Bridge) were built by the Seabridge Shipping Ltd. consortium for Bibby Line. The ship was laid up for two of its four years of service life.{{cite web |title= What really happened to the Derbyshire |url= http://www.bsnet.co.uk/derbyshire/ |access-date=17 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110917114552/http://www.bsnet.co.uk/derbyshire/ |archive-date=17 September 2011}}
In 1978, Liverpool Bridge was renamed Derbyshire, the fourth ship to carry the name in the company's fleet. On 11 July 1980, on what turned out to be the ship's final voyage, Derbyshire left Sept-Îles, Quebec, Canada, her destination being Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, though she foundered near Okinawa, in southern Japan. Derbyshire was carrying a cargo of 157,446 tonnes of iron ore.{{cite web |title=The final voyage of MV Derbyshire |url= http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/exhibitions/derbyshire/final_voyage.aspx |publisher=Liverpool Museums |access-date=27 July 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131111041832/http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/exhibitions/derbyshire/final_voyage.aspx |archive-date=11 November 2013 |url-status=dead}}
On 9 September 1980, Derbyshire hove-to in Typhoon Orchid, some {{convert|230|mi}} from Okinawa, and was overwhelmed by the tropical storm, killing all aboard. She never issued a mayday distress message. The ship had been following weather routing advice by Ocean Routes, a commercial weather routing company.{{cite news |last=Marston |first=Paul |title=Crew cleared over sinking of Derbyshire |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1373769/Crew-cleared-over-sinking-of-Derbyshire.html |access-date=27 July 2017 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=9 November 2000}}
The search for Derbyshire began on 15 September 1980 and was called off six days later. When no trace of the vessel was found, it was declared lost. Six weeks after Derbyshire sank, one of the vessel's lifeboats was sighted by a Japanese tanker.{{cite web|last=Mearns |first=David |title=Searching for the Derbyshire |url=http://www.north-country.co.uk/derbyshire.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20010813033209/http://www.north-country.co.uk/Derbyshire.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 August 2001 |access-date=17 February 2012 }}
Derbyshire{{'}}s sister ship Kowloon Bridge was lost off the coast of Ireland in 1986, following the observation of deck cracking, first discovered after an Atlantic crossing.{{cite news |last1=Cowton |first1=Rodney |title=Public inquiry into Derbyshire sinking ordered by minister |work=The Times |issue=62640 |date=13 December 1986 |page=3|issn=0140-0460}} In the wake of this second disaster, Nautilus International, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers and the International Transport Workers' Federation funded a new investigation, sought by relatives of the Derbyshire victims.{{cite web |url= https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/rmt-mourns-loss-of-crew-and-safety-rights-on-40th9920/ |title=RMT mourns loss of crew and safety rights on 40th anniversary of MV Derbyshire tragedy |publisher=RMT |date=9 September 2020 |access-date=14 October 2020}}
Further investigation
In 1994, a deep-water search began. In June 1994, the wreck of Derbyshire was found at a depth of {{convert|4|km}}, spread over {{convert|1.3|km}}.{{cite news |title=Conclusions |url= http://www.bsnet.co.uk/derbyshire/conclusion.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20000408225347/http://www.bsnet.co.uk/derbyshire/conclusion.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 April 2000 |access-date=17 February 2012 }} A subsequent expedition spent over 40 days photographing and examining the debris field, looking for evidence of what sank the ship. Ultimately, it was determined that waves crashing over the bow of the ship had earlier sheared off the covers of small ventilation pipes near the bow. Over the next two days, seawater had entered through the exposed pipes into the forward section of the ship, causing the bow to slowly ride lower and lower in the water.[https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/merseyside-maritime-museum/mv-derbyshire The sinking of MV Derbyshire]National Museums Liverpool 3 July 2023 Eventually, the bow was made vulnerable to the full force of the rough waves, which caused the massive hatch on the first cargo hold to buckle inward, allowing hundreds of tons of water to enter within seconds. As the ship started to sink, the second, then third hatches also failed, dragging the ship underwater. As the ship sank, the increasing water pressure caused the ship to be twisted and torn apart by implosion/explosion, a property of double-hulled ships in which the compression of the air between the hulls causes a secondary explosive decompression.[http://themarineexpress.com/the-mystery-of-mv-derbyshire/ THE MYSTERY OF MV DERBYSHIRE] The Marine Express 10 May 2019
The formal forensic investigation concluded that the ship sank because of structural failure and absolved the crew of any responsibility. Most notably, the report determined the detailed sequence of events that led to the structural failure of the vessel. A third comprehensive analysis was subsequently done by Douglas Faulkner, professor of marine architecture and ocean engineering at the University of Glasgow. His 2001 report linked the loss of the Derbyshire with the emerging science on freak waves, concluding that the Derbyshire was almost certainly destroyed by a rogue wave.{{cite conference
|url = http://www.ifremer.fr/web-com/molagnon/bv/Faulkner_w.pdf
|title = Rogue Waves – Defining Their Characteristics for Marine Design
|first = Douglas
|last = Faulkner
|year = 2000
|conference = Rogue Waves 2000 Workshop
|publisher = French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea
|location = Brest
|pages = 16
|access-date = 15 January 2016
|quote = This paper introduces the need for a paradigm shift in thinking for the design of ships and offshore installations to include a Survival Design approach additional to current design requirements.
|archive-date = 15 February 2018
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180215024344/http://www.ifremer.fr/web-com/molagnon/bv/Faulkner_w.pdf
|url-status = dead
| url = http://www.worldnavalships.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13867
| title = The Loss of the 'DERBYSHIRE'
| last1 = Brown
| first1 = David
| year = 1998
| publisher = Crown
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130322054007/http://www.worldnavalships.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13867
| archive-date = 2013-03-22
{{Cite Hansard
| house = House of Commons
| title = Ships and Seafarers (Safety)
| url = https://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?id=2002-06-25.193.1
| date = 25 June 2002
| column_start= 193WH
| column_end = 215WH
| quote = The MV Derbyshire was registered at Liverpool and, at the time, was the largest ship ever built: it was twice the size of the Titanic. }}{{cite web
| url = http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA370001
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170204151313/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA370001
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = 4 February 2017
| title = Navigation for the Derbyshire Phase2 Survey
| last1 = Lerner
| first1 = S.
| last2 = Yoerger
| first2 = D.
| last3 = Crook
| first3 = T.
| date = May 1999
| publisher = Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution MA
| pages = 28
| type = Technical Report
| id = WHOI-99-11
| quote =In 1997, the Deep Submergence Operations Group of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution conducted an underwater forensic survey of the UK bulk carrier MV Derbyshire with a suite of underwater vehicles. This report describes the navigation systems and methodologies used to precisely position the vessel and vehicles. Precise navigation permits the survey team to control the path of the subsea vehicle in order to execute the survey plan, provides the ability to return to specific targets, and allows the assessment team to correlate observations made at different times from different vehicles. In this report, we summarize the techniques used to locate Argo as well as the repeatability of those navigation fixes. To determine repeatability, we selected a number of instances where the vehicle lines crossed. By registering two images from overlapping areas on different tracklines, we can determine the true position offset. By comparing the position offset derived from the images to the offsets obtained from navigation, we can determine the navigation error. The average error for 123 points across a single tie line was 3.1 meters, the average error for a more scattered selection of 18 points was 1.9 meters.
| ref = WHOI-99-11}}
Work by sailor and author Craig B. Smith in 2007 confirmed prior forensic work by Faulkner in 1998 and determined that the Derbyshire was exposed to a hydrostatic pressure of a "static head" of water of about {{convert|20|m|ft}} with a resultant static pressure of {{convert|201|kPa|psi}}.{{efn|Equivalent to {{nowrap|20,500 kgf/m2}} or {{nowrap|20.5 t/m2}}.}} This is in effect {{convert|20|m||||}} of seawater (possibly a super rogue wave){{efn|The term super rogue wave had not yet been coined by ANU researchers at that time.}} flowing over the vessel. The deck cargo hatches on the Derbyshire were determined to be the key point of failure when the rogue wave washed over the ship. The design of the hatches only allowed for a static pressure of less than {{convert|2|m|ft|||}} of water or {{convert|17.1|kPa|psi}},{{efn|Equivalent to {{nowrap|1,744 kgf/m2}} or {{nowrap|1.7 t/m2}}.}} meaning that the typhoon load on the hatches was more than ten times the design load.{{cite conference
| url = http://www.shipstructure.org/pdf/2007symp09.pdf
| title = Extreme Waves and Ship Design
| first = Craig
| last = Smith
| year = 2007
| conference = 10th International Symposium on Practical Design of Ships and Other Floating Structures
| publisher = American Bureau of Shipping
| location = Houston
| pages = 8
| access-date= 13 January 2016
| quote = Recent research has demonstrated that extreme waves, waves with crest to trough heights of 20 to 30 meters, occur more frequently than previously thought. }}{{unreliablesourceinline|Non-peer reviewed article that doesn't appear to meet WP:SPS|date=May 2025}} The forensic structural analysis of the wreck of the Derbyshire is now widely regarded as irrefutable.{{cn|date=May 2025}}
Fast-moving waves are now known to also exert extremely high dynamic pressure. It is known that plunging or breaking waves can cause short-lived impulse pressure spikes called "Gifle peaks". These can reach pressures of {{convert|200|kPa|psi}} (or more) for milliseconds, which is sufficient pressure to lead to brittle fracture of mild steel. Evidence of failure by this mechanism was also found on the Derbyshire.{{cite book
|last = Faulkner
|first = Douglas
|date = 1998
|title = An Independent Assessment of the Sinking of the M.V. Derbyshire
|url = http://www.sname.org/HigherLogic/System/DownloadDocumentFile.ashx?DocumentFileKey=df0dc59b-5d4e-43a2-9c97-f2a031de8ca6
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160418161247/http://www.sname.org/HigherLogic/System/DownloadDocumentFile.ashx?DocumentFileKey=df0dc59b-5d4e-43a2-9c97-f2a031de8ca6
|url-status = dead
|archive-date = 2016-04-18
|publisher = SNAME Transactions, Royal Institution of Naval Architects
|pages = 59–103
|quote = The author's starting point therefore was to look for an extraordinary cause. He reasoned that nothing could be more extraordinary than the violence of a fully arisen and chaotic storm tossed sea. He therefore studied the meteorology of revolving tropical storms and freak waves and found that steep elevated waves of 25 m to 30 m or more were quite likely to have occurred during typhoon Orchid.
}} Smith has documented scenarios where hydrodynamic pressure of up to {{convert|5650|kPa|psi}} or over 500 metric tonnes per square metre could occur.{{efn|Equivalent to {{nowrap|576,100 kgf/m2}} or {{nowrap|576.1 t/m2}}.}}
Memorials
File:MV Derbyshire memorial 2.jpg
A bronze plaque was placed on the wreckage as a memorial to those who were lost.
On 21 September 1980, the Bibby Line vessel Cambridgeshire held a memorial service for Derbyshire in the area the vessel was lost.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}
The 20th anniversary of the vessel's loss was marked by a memorial service in Liverpool, England, which was attended by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, himself a former merchant seaman.{{cite news|title=Prescott remembers Derbyshire victims|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/917209.stm|publisher=BBC News | date=9 September 2000}} Ten years later a memorial service was held in the vessel's home port of Liverpool on the 30th anniversary of Derbyshire{{'}}s loss.{{cite web |last=Stewart |first=Gary |title=Memorial service to remember loss of MV Derbyshire |url= http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/09/13/memorial-service-to-remember-loss-of-mv-derbyshire-92534-27255388/ |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120906203603/http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/09/13/memorial-service-to-remember-loss-of-mv-derbyshire-92534-27255388/ |url-status= dead |archive-date= 6 September 2012 |newspaper=Liverpool Daily Post |publisher=Trinity Mirror |access-date=17 February 2012}}
A permanent monument was dedicated on 15 September 2018 in the garden of the Church of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas, Liverpool.{{cite web |url= https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/rmt-supports-mv-derbyshire-families-association/ |title=RMT supports MV Derbyshire Families Association |publisher=RMT |date=13 September 2018 |access-date=14 October 2020}}
See also
- List of ship launches in 1976
- List of shipwrecks in 1980
- List of maritime disasters
- {{SS|Edmund Fitzgerald||2}}, an American bulk carrier lost in 1975 under similar circumstances
Notes
{{Notelist}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/uk/917209.stm |title=Prescott remembers Derbyshire victims |publisher=BBC News |date=9 September 2000}}
- {{cite web |url= http://www.shipstructure.org/case_studies/derbyshire/ |last1=Tarman |first1=Daniel |last2=Heitmann |first2=Edgar |title=Case Study II, Derbyshire, Loss of a Bulk Carrier |publisher=Ship Structure Committee }}
- {{cite web |url= http://mv-derbyshire.blogspot.com |author=Gadfly |title=Means, Ends and Dirty Hands |date=7 December 2019}} – essay criticising the 2000 formal investigation
- {{cite web |url= http://www.mv-derbyshire.org.uk/ |archive-url= http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20101013092053/http://www.mv-derbyshire.org.uk/ |url-status= dead |archive-date= 2010-10-13 |title=Public Information regarding the Inquiry into the MV-Derbyshire |publisher=The National Archives}} – archived version of official inquiry website
{{Bridge class OBO carrier}}
{{1980 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Derbyshire}}
Category:Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean
Category:Maritime incidents in 1980
Category:Maritime incidents involving engineering failures
Category:Merchant ships of the United Kingdom
Category:Ore-bulk-oil carriers
Category:Ships built by Swan Hunter
Category:Ships built on the River Tees