Ships;
Those elegant vessels of yore, whether of the days of Tall ships or the days of Steam and Diesel. Why do those monstrous looking things called Passenger Ships today run like scalded cats when the weather gets bad?Well, there's a little tale to be told here. The best example of how NOT to in my opinion to build a ship, is like the method used in vessels today-Like the Costa Concordia and others of her ilk!
Back in the Day the Ships that carried Passengers were maybe seven or eight decks enclosed in the visible hull, then maybe four decks stacked like wedding cakes above .Ships today go straight up from a four or five deck visible hull, to eight, ten and twelve decks with Verandas on them. Water tight? Nah!
Even the Area below the waterline is less than back in the day. I have to wonder why the old formula got thrown out the PortHole! Up till the Princesses and others of today came along. There was a rule that governed width and heighth . It was called Center of Gravity. Why does a passenger car, or van, for instance lean in the curve. It's got a higher center of Gravity than a formula one car! Ships are the same.
Have you ever seen a photo of a Carrier in an All emergency turn to port or starboard? The slant of the deck( Flight Deck, that is) would astound you! Pumpers and Ballasters run from one control panel to another to shift Water, Jet Fuel and Ship Fuel around to keep her center of Gravity just so . This also applies to how the Planes and Gear are stored on the flight Deck and Yes, in the Hangar deck too.
So when you don't have Deep Draft, But you have heighth ( which means a Higher center of Gravity) and lots of sliding doors that cannot keep out the sea. What do you do? If you are out, you run like Hades to the nearest safe port and ride out the weather!. Jeez, Tankers and Container ships can't do this!
How many times have you seen container ships leaning over with part of their load spilling over the side. Happens more than you think. They have cables and stack stabilizers to keep everything in place BUT, mother Nature could care less. And her 30 and 40 and 50 foot waves pack one hades of a wallop. Don't ever forget that! How many times at the beach has an incoming wave caught you off guard and knocked you off your feet. Samo,Samo, way out at sea.