I went through one hurricane in the Atlantic in December 1975-76 .I was working on a supply boat [183ft long] for the North Sea Rigs out of Holland ,The company got a new contract for Trinidad and we took the ship
There was an inexperienced mate just running into the waves and the
Captain saved all our dozen lives that night. He went running from his cabin to the bridge ,and swung the ship 180 degrees at just the correct moment, to run before the waves. How he did it I don't know and we spend the next day running before the storm
Skipper asked me how high the waves were and I said 50 ft.He said no wait until the ship drops to the bottom of the wave. He reckoned they'd be 70-80 ft, this was after a few of us had had to go out on deck and re chain and dog the extra 44 gallon fuel drums we were carrying. .We had to stop at the Azores for repairs .I never want another night like that.I'm actually getting wound up a bit thinking of it. I hope all the sailors are safe.As you say I doubt we'll ever really find out what happened