One of Osborne’s favorite descriptions of a rogue wave is from Virgil’s Aeneid: “A squall came howling from the north-east, catching the sail full on, raising the waves to the stars, breaking the oars in a single blow, wrenching the boat around to offer its flank to the waves as a mountain of water rose above them, immense and immeasurable. Some of the ships rocked on the crests of the waves; the other ships watched in the troughs as the sea parted, exposing the sands on the bottom as they whirled in the furious winds.”

NOTORIOUS ROGUES

1883: An enormous wave sweeps over the 320-foot Glamorgan, sinking the ship.


1933: A 112-foot wave strikes the Navy tanker Ramapo in the North Pacific. The wave is so tall that it lines up with the ship’s crow’s nest.

1942: The ocean liner Queen Mary is hit by a 75-foot wave 700 miles west of Scotland while carrying 15,000 troops.

1973: A rogue wave off the coast of Durban, South Africa, strikes the 12,000-ton cargo ship Bencrauchan. The ship is towed into port, barely floating.

1976: The oil tanker Cretan Star radios for help: “Vessel was struck by a huge wave that went over the deck.” The ship is never heard from again.

2000: A 70-foot wave hits the cruise ship Oriana, smashing windows. That same month, a freak wave strikes a trawler off Ireland, killing eight men.