Silly question - has anyone ever seen the stabilizers?

[jbobst]

You know those big stabilizer fins that get deployed underwater on the sides of the ships to help keep the ship stable in rough water? Has anyone ever looked down in the water and seen them through the waves? Every time I go on a cruise ship, I go out to the lowest outside deck and try to look for them down through the water. On all the ship models I've seen, the stabilizers look pretty large and they don't appear to be that deep from the surface. Open ocean water is usually pretty clear, and I am always surprised I never see them through the water. Has anyone ever seen these through the water? I think it would be pretty cool to see them as the ship is traveling, but again, kind of a silly and pointless question! Maybe they are rarely deployed? Or maybe it's just that the water is so foamy from the waves breaking over the bow of the ship that is hides them from view.

 

Thanks!

[shof515]

Its hard to see them in the water due to the wave foam and they are usually where the ship hull curves

[Keith1010]

Here they are.

 

http://sonnyv.smugmug.com/photos/194290773_6o3Lu-M.jpg

 

Keith

[mizLORInj]

YES! It was Carnival Miracle in in dead calm seas coming back to NY from the Caribbean. You could clearly see the stabilizers about mid-ship. It was the first and only time I've seen them. Pretty cool.

[Keepercruiser]

Not a silly question at all - something I have always wondered about as well. I was delighted to see a photo of what they looked like. So thanks, Keith!

[navybankerteacher]

The stabilizers are retractable and are generally only deployed when they are needed - in fairly rough seas, which is when the foam and spreading bow wave would make it very difficult to see anything right next to the hull. When the ship is moving slowly in calm water, you would be able to see then - IF they were deployed, but they wouldn't be because the unnecessary drag they would cause would waste fuel.

[chengkp75]

The stabilizers are retractable and are generally only deployed when they are needed - in fairly rough seas, which is when the foam and spreading bow wave would make it very difficult to see anything right next to the hull. When the ship is moving slowly in calm water, you would be able to see then - IF they were deployed, but they wouldn't be because the unnecessary drag they would cause would waste fuel.

 

I don't know, we used to deploy the stabilizers every time we left port. We would retract them at arrival, and they automatically retract when the ship speed is less than 10 knots. They help with wind induced heel as well as sea induced rolling. They are actually about 20 feet down, and ocean water, while apparently clear is not as clear as some beach areas, due to the plankton. There is some distortion due to the wake as well. Due to the aerodynamic shape of the fin, there isn't a lot of drag, compared to moving that floating city through the water.

[mizLORInj]

I saw them out in very calm water. I'm sure we were going faster than 10 knots too.

[Seago2]

Absolutely I have seen them- look carefully in calm water on a sunny day and you will see one on the right light.

[chengkp75]

I saw them out in very calm water. I'm sure we were going faster than 10 knots too.

 

The 10 knot limit is designed to assist absent minded Captains who forget to retract them, and then tear them off against the dock!:o

[Capt_BJ]

Discussions I've had with cruise ship Masters did mention the drag issue and given that one of the factors they tend to be rated on is fuel consumption, the stab's tended to stay housed unless conditions warranted.

 

They also tend to be prone to failure . . . IME it is not unusual for only one side to be deployed because the other side is not working . . .

[MedicKen]

I was on a bridge tour a few cruises back and noticed the indicator light for the starboard stabilizer was lit but not the port side. The Second Officer noted that that was not an unusual occurrence and left it at that.

[LandlockedCruiser01]

Oh cool. I always wondered what those things looked like, although they look different that how I imagined them to look (something like the underwater foils on some yachts, or like pigeons' wings, only longer and flatter). I tried looking over the side of the ship, and didn't see anything either; the water around the ship had too many waves. Plus, I don't think they extended them at all on my last cruise, because the motion was strong enough to knock a tray of silverware off a waiter's cart. Either way, I learned something, so it's all good. Kudos to Keith1010 for posting a link to a photo.

[Capt_BJ]

There are many different designs ...

 

see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_stabilizer

 

or go to You Tube and search on Ship Stabilizer

 

Also a point to keep in mind, stabilizers like these dampen ROLL - the side to side motion of a ship - but have virtually no impact on pitch - the up and down motion of the bow and stern

 

Trivia point - because few of us have experience on larger ships under sail but - even in rough seas a ship under sail does not roll much as compared to a modern vessel under power. Why? Hint this ship is not rolling very much:

 

 

USCGC EAGLE

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have sailed over 120 cruises and I can say that we have never seen the stabilizers.

Some of our early ships did not even have them.

I have seen pictures of them.