Muirfield Seamount
The Muirfield Seamount was discovered accidentally in 1973 when the cargo ship MV Muirfield (a merchant vessel named after Muirfield, Scotland) was underway in waters charted at a depth of greater than 5,000 metres (16,000 ft), when she suddenly struck an unknown object, resulting in extensive damage to her keel. In 1983, HMAS Moresby, a Royal Australian Navy survey ship, surveyed the area where Muirfield was damaged, and charted in detail this previously unsuspected hazard to navigation.
The dramatic accidental discovery of the Muirfield Seamount is often cited as an example of limitations in the vertical datum accuracy of some offshore areas as represented on nautical chart especially on small-scale charts. More recently, in 2005 the submarine USS San Francisco (SSN-711) ran into an uncharted seamount about 560 kilometers (350 statute miles) south of Guam at a speed of 35 knots (40.3 mph; 64.8 km/h), sustaining serious damage and killing one seaman.
See also
- Graveyard Seamounts
- Jasper Seamount
- Muirfield Reef
- Mud volcano
- Sedlo Seamount
- South Chamorro Seamount
References
- ^ Calder, Nigel. How to Read a Navigational Chart: A Complete Guide to the Symbols, Abbreviations, and Data Displayed on Nautical Charts. International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press, 2002.
External links
- "Franklin Voyage Summary No. FR07/99". CSIRO. 2003.