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The Ash Wednesday 1962 Storm at Sea, by Ned Mayo (105043.1646@ compuserve.com) During the Ash Wednesday Storm I was a young junior officer aboard USS Tweedy (DE 532), a Norfolk-based destroyer escort. This was the time when the Bay-Bridge Tunnel was new, having just replaced the old Kiptopeake ferry to Cape Charles. Part of the Ash Wednesday Storm's viciousness was the fact that it went largely unpredicted, giving ships little chance for evasion. (Even in 1962, a major hurricane's presence would have been well advertised.) On that day we were at sea, perhaps 75 miles off Norfolk; I recall that the seas and winds increased without apparent reason during the morning. By the end of the day, seas were better than 60 feet high with wind gusts exceeding 100 mph. Our ship was but 306 feet long, and we would certainly have capsized had we lost propulsion or steering and been unable to keep our bow heading into it. I was radio officer and will always remember the flood of distress calls we received on 500KHz, the International Distress Frequency. Being doubtful of our own survival, we were in no position to help anyone.
The storm was brutal to the coast because it occurred coincident
with a perigean
spring tide--the highest of the high. When we steamed back into Norfolk--luckily still afloat--two days later, we were amazed at the littoral damage. The Chesapeake Lightship had dragged anchor for at least a mile, while the buoys of Thimble Shoals Channel looked as if they had been laid out by a drunk. |
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