Actually the conditions were described by the rescue team and by members of the crew:
Quote:
"We determined a safe time when we knew the ship would still be stable and we could get everyone on deck and change our focus from saving the ship to saving every life," said..first mate... Svendsen,...
But the ship's leadership lost all control once a giant wave broadsided the ship, knocking some of the crew -- already in their survival suits -- into the roiling sea....
But three days into the voyage, the crew found themselves in the middle of the ferocious storm, with heaving waves three stories high.
"The weather was so bad and we had so little control," said Douglas Faunt.
"It took every ounce of my strength to focus through to survive," said first mate Svendsen.
Winds were tearing at the crew at 70 mph, and by the fourth day the ship, which .. had been taking on water for 24 hours.
HMS Bounty Survivors: Crew of Ship Sunk During Hurricane Sandy Speak of Lost Shipmates - ABC News
Quote:
WITN-TV reporter Alize Proisy, who was at the Air Station were the survivors were brought in, reported that Coast Guard rescue swimmer Randy Haba helped remove crewmembers from a lifeboat and also helped save one crew member floating alone in the water.
Haba told WITN that that wind-driven ocean at the scene was some of the biggest seas he has ever been in.
1 dead, captain missing after 14 saved as Bounty sinks
Yes, you are right in saying that " it will be determined that she went down primarily because the pumps stopped working and she flooded" but probably the sea conditions had to do with the ingress of water that probably shorted the generators that powered the pumps:
Quote:
On Sunday evening, the Bounty's crew sent word that there was an electrical problem on board. Walbridge said the situation was under control and could wait until morning. The Coast Guard was notified and stayed in contact with the ship through the night.
But by early Monday, the Bounty was taking on water and its engines had failed.
HMS Bounty: 'We will bring our captain home' :: WRAL.com
Quote:
We received a distress call for Bounty at 1830 Sunday evening October 28th that the Ship lost power and the pumps were unable to keep up with the dewatering.
1 dead, captain missing after 14 saved as Bounty sinks
I think that there is a strong possibility that what happen and that sealed the fate of the ship was something very similar to what happened in 1998 under the command of the same Captain. This time he run out of luck.
Quote:
"The HMS Bounty, which has helped keep tourism afloat in St. Petersburg for more than 20 years, almost sank this weekend near Charleston, S.C., after three of its bilge pumps failed....
the ship began to take water around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, said Coast Guard Lt.j.g. Simone Brisco....
Investigators say the ship began taking on water after it ran into a storm and caulking between the planks was loosened.
"It was not a phenomenal storm," said Lt. Jeff Carter, a senior investigating officer with the Coast Guard. But the weather was rough enough to bang it around, he said. After the caulking loosened, water began to seep inside.
The main dewatering pump, which operates on diesel fuel and had evidence of wear, failed first, Carter said.
The two backup pumps, which operate on electricity, failed after the wires got wet."
Southpinellas: 'Bounty' nearly sinks while headed to St. Petersburg
Regards
Paulo