A Pipe In the Ocean?

My Dad told me a story from the time he was in the US Navy. He was aboard the USS Peoria in the early 70's (70 or 71). He seems to think they were traveling from Hawaii to the Philippines.

Somewhere in route and not close to any land they came across a rusted 24" pipe sticking up from the ocean surface. He can't remember what the depth of the ocean was, but the pipe was above the surface about 12-14' with the first couple of feet encrusted with Barnacles.

The pipe was not shown on any of their charts. The Peoria was the first to chart this pipe for the US Navy.

Does anyone have any idea what this was or could have been? I'm sorry that I don't have any more details, that's all he could remember from so many years ago. He said that no one on board had any idea what it was for and why it was not on their charts.

I was just wondering if anyone may know something specific about it.

Could be the remains of an ocean bouy. They sometimes breal loose and get destroyed. Pipe shaped ones usually make a sound as the ride the waves like a automatic fog horn.

mikell

reply to post by mikellmikell


I don't know much about an ocean buoy. Do they have a pipe that is embedded into the ocean floor? The pipe they came across was immobile.

Could it have been an abandoned pipeline or oil rig? Just a thought.

Not one line.

It could be a big pipe that rolled off a ship and landed perpendicular to the seabed and after some time worked its way in nice and tight. I would assume trash before anything else.

I want to clarify my position. I also think that it is some mundane object. I was just trying to see if anyone had any type of similar experience. I just found the story to be odd. My thought process was, why would a pipe that could cause damage to passing ships not be on the sea charts?

My first reaction was a pipe left from a drilling rig. Does anyone know if offshore drilling takes place between Hawaii and the Philippines? If it is a case of someone leaving something behind, shouldn't they chart it somehow?

I don't know enough about sailing the oceans. Anyone with experience know how things are charted, and what would be the consequences of leaving something behind that could damage passing ships?