A collision at sea can ruin your whole day.

It's hard to figure out from this video just what happened here. The tug obviously did not steer clear of the sub's stern, but the sub didn't seem to even try and slow down when it was clear an accident was about to happen, or even after it was well underway. I would think someone on the sub's sail would have hollered "all engines stop". Instead, the sub continued to churn away, dragging the tug with it.

My ship almost had a terrible accident at Midway, too. A sudden squall kicked up just as we were trying to dock, blowing us away from the pier before the dock lines could be doubled up and secured. The ship pulled on the wet hawsers which were stretched so tight that mist was issuing like steam from the coils. A nylon dock line can stretch like a rubber band, good for absorbing shock, but when it parts it can sweep a foc'sle, leaving a trail of death and injury. (They were about 6" in diameter on our ship.) I've heard of men losing legs, or being cut in half by a snapped mooring line.

The lines miraculously held, and the tugs pushing at flank speed against our outboard side managed to keep us fairly near the dock until the squall blew over. The score or so men on the foredeck stayed at their posts, fighting the line by using bollards, a display of skill, courage, teamwork and discipline that filled me with awe (I was relatively safe on the signal bridge wing, 4 decks above the main deck).

Even in peacetime, this is very dangerous work. Although we had no casualties on the year I was aboard, I was told one or two men were usually killed in accidents during that length of time. And just a few months after I left my ship, a half-dozen men died in a boiler room explosion while she was making steam to get underway from a dock in France. Only quick work by the local fire department was able to save the ship from the resulting blaze.