# The Mexican Navy rams the Brooklyn Bridge {Tall Ship that lost power} **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 18, 2025, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494 "2025-05-18T05:16:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494/21 "2025-05-18T13:09:58Z")
Maybe. I’d think there would be some shipyards in the US that could make the necessary repairs and avoid the cost of a very long tow back to Mexico. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494/22 "2025-05-18T13:18:25Z")
There are a few, possibly as close as Mystic Sea Port for repairs that would let the Cuauhtémoc get home at least. But mast repairs can take a lot of time as generally the entire mast needs to be replaced. This would be 3 masts. I think Bayonne, NJ can do the repairs and there was a place up in Maine that The Clearwater used for hull repairs. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494/23 "2025-05-18T13:41:30Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > But mast repairs can take a lot of time as generally the entire mast needs to be replaced. This would be 3 masts It only needs its engine to get home. Granted, it was probably an engine failure that caused the accident. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494/24 "2025-05-18T13:48:08Z")
That is very true, but at least partial sail capability would be safer. But, I was overthinking it. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494/25 "2025-05-18T14:02:52Z")
Making mast and rigging repairs at sea while motoring to a friendly port would be an interesting training exercise in old school maritime skills. I’m not sure if that would be mentally helpful or not to the crew after losing shipmates. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494/26 "2025-05-18T14:11:02Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I’m not sure if that would be mentally helpful or not to the crew after losing shipmates. I’m puzzled about the two who were killed in this. Were they standing on the yards high-up on the masts? If so, how did they not see this coming? Surely they saw the looming danger as it was not an accident that happened in an instant. Of course, I do not know. Not sure how it happened. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494/27 "2025-05-18T14:12:30Z")
If rigging is falling neither the deck nor aloft is a safe place to be. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494/28 "2025-05-18T14:31:07Z")
It takes a good deal of time to clamber up and man the yards. It also takes a good deal of time to get everyone back down. And as said, when that much rigging and mast comes down, nowhere on deck is safe from falling debris. When the engine first fails, they’ve got a decision to make: leave the sailors up there and try to rig sail to avoid a collision with [something], or get everyone down ASAP before the ship drifts into [something] and the abrupt stop knocks somebody off a yard. Depending on where/how the engine quit, They might have had 5 minutes but needed 10. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494/29 "2025-05-18T15:43:26Z")
Some did go into the water… between the collision and going into the water, deaths are not unexpected. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494/30 "2025-05-18T15:55:35Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Making mast and rigging repairs at sea while motoring to a friendly port would be an interesting training exercise in old school maritime skills. Hornblower could do it. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494/31 "2025-05-18T16:06:52Z")
He’d have to learn how a motor works, first. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494/32 "2025-05-18T18:08:51Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > By the way, if you look at old maps, you might see on the west side of Manhattan, the North River listed, a no longer used name for the Hudson River. > > The Harlem river is the third piece that makes Manhattan an Island. It is also a strait. So you have the East River, which is an estuary, the North River to the Wes, and the Harlem River, that is a strait? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/F4ya8Jx577o/hqdefault.jpg "Community - Most Confusing Battlefields at Greendale") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4ya8Jx577o) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494/33 "2025-05-18T18:09:51Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > He’d have to learn how a motor works, first. That’s what Lt Bush is for. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494/34 "2025-05-18T18:14:16Z")
The East river is a strait or tidal estuary. I believe Spuyten Duyvil Creek also gets involved. An old Dutch name corrupted by the English. And I loved that clip for Community. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494/35 "2025-05-18T18:33:55Z")
In _The Happy Return_, Hornblower was denied access to Spanish ports to make needed repairs, so he sailed _Lydia_ to an isolated island and careened her there to make the repairs. I think that was the one where he delegated to Bush the task of transporting several cannon to high points to defend the ship while repairs were under way. ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494/36 "2025-05-18T19:05:55Z")
I cringed this morning while [reading this story](https://abcnews.go.com/US/mexican-navy-sailboat-crashes-brooklyn-bridge-multiple-injuries/story?id=121916044). Apparently, the reporter from ABC News doesn’t know what a mast is, or needs their hearing checked. > "The captain, who was maneuvering the ship, lost power and mechanical function, and the current “caused the ship to go right into the pillar of the bridge, hitting the mass of the ship where there was a couple of sailors,” NYPD Chief Wilson Aramboles said during a press briefing. > > The sailors were injured as a result of the mass striking the bridge, according to Aramboles." ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494/37 "2025-05-18T19:07:30Z")
Or is the reporter accurately reporting what NYPD Chief Wilson Aramboles said? ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494/38 "2025-05-18T19:12:45Z")
I suppose that’s a possibility as well. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494/39 "2025-05-18T19:29:06Z")
plus, never rule out spell-check/AI deciding it knows best. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494/40 "2025-05-18T19:51:06Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > Some did go into the water… between the collision and going into the water, deaths are not unexpected. The [Wiki article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuauht%C3%A9moc_Brooklyn_Bridge_collision) on the incident (That was quick) says no one wound up in the water. She was built in the Celaya shipyard, Bilbao, Spain in 1982 so I imagine the masts and yards are both steel. A [CNN article](https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/17/us/manhattan-brooklyn-bridge-ship) has a track showing she continued up the river, passing under the Manhattan Bridge before docking at pier 36. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-navy-rams-the-brooklyn-bridge-tall-ship-that-lost-power/1018494.md?page=3)