What happens when a Sailor goes overboard??

Going overboard is a scary thing, particularly in an ocean. I can attest to this when a small 2-man sailboat I was on flipped. Both I and the other guy (a PO1) were tossed clear, then the boat righted itself, as it was made to do. We both had life jackets and were good swimmers, so we were fine. But, on larger ships, what does the crew do when someone goes over?

If someone observes the Sailor go over (the situation with the greatest odds for survival for the poor bastard) the person is to immediately shout ‘MAN OVERBOARD TO PORT (or STARBOARD)’ as loud as possible and repeatedly until s/he hears it picked up by others. The initial person is to point, AND KEEP POINTING without ever taking their eyes off the victim for the duration of the rescue, as best they can. Next, someone will immediately throw life rings overboard. These typically have dye markers and salt-water-activated chemlights (or strobe lights) attached to them. If the victim is lucky enough to be wearing a life vest, (contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of professional sailors on large ships, Military or Civilian only wear life vests for specific evolutions) nearly all of them have whistles attached. If they were that lucky, you can be sure you’ll be hearing that.

Since most modern large ships can take significant distances to stop, even with full stop (or even reverse), it’s generally not practical to simply stop and go looking for the victim. Instead, the bridge team, upon hearing the man-overboard, will maintain the speed they’re at, and put the rudder hard over IN THE DIRECTION THE PERSON FELL overboard. (Hard over means, as far as it will go, typically 35 degrees on most ships). This accomplishes two objectives -- it kicks the stern away from the person (hopefully in time on big ships), which is important in order to lessen the likelihood of the victim being sucked into the screws, and it sets up the next required evolution: a Williamson Turn, which is a maneuver named after Naval officer John Williamson, who came up with the technique. The helmsman will hold the rudder hard over until the ship is 60 degrees off the original course, and will then swing the rudder hard over to the opposite direction. When the ship is roughly 20 degrees off the reciprocal course, the rudder is put amidship (zero degrees) and the vessel will coast to the 180 reciprocal. Slight rudder adjustments will be made to ensure that the ship arrives upwind and alongside of the victim. Life boats will then be launched to recover the victim, if all goes well.

It should be noted that on most large Navy ships that have helo’s embarked, they will likely go that route, (or both. Though I doubt a Carrier would do the Williamson. Perhaps some Navy SM’s can comment).