PING
A young officer was on the bridge scanning the horizon with binocculars.......I asked what he was looking for as we were 100's, if not 1000's of miles from nothing in the central Pacific. The radar techs in CiC would alert us to any approaching vessels.
And he told me about the "great waves" that have been dismissed by science throughout the modern era. Enormous, fast moving and not necessarily parallel to the surrounding seas. They sometimes appear suddenly. Sailors have known of them for ever. This statement received concurrance from the XO who was also on the bridge and it started me looking into it.
About 3-4 years later, on another ship (USS Benjamin Stoddert) we just skirted (about 60 deg vs 90) an 80 foot wave in stormy seas in the NW Pacific. The surrounding sea-state averaged 20-25 feet. I saw BLUE WATER smash over the bow and into the bridge before it broke white. That white water splashed us on the signal bridge.
Of course that DDG just sliced on through..........minus many antenae, a boat and most of everything else not below decks. It's an amazing sight if you live to tell about it:)