I’m watching a show that is speaking about ships sinking in storms at the Cape of Good Hope, and evacuating to lifeboats. If seas are so rough that a large ship goes down, how are lifeboats able to stay afloat? Are they able to bob in the waves easier? Or are they just a last ditch option that often capsize but are better than nothing?
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Generally a ship going down in rough seas has taken on water or sprung leaks between it’s metal hull plates because the waves caused the whole ship to flex. Longer ships get forced to flex more than smaller ones
The lifeboat is doesn’t need to carry a huge amount of fuel/cargo/water so the lifeboat is a lot smaller. It can be made small, strong, and give lots of areas filled with foam to ensure it cannot take on enough water to actually sink
Many are also able to be fully enclosed so there is no big open deck for waves to wash up on. Ships try to close their hatches in rough weather but there can be a lot of them and any leak matters. The lifeboat can put a ton into seals on it’s limited number which wouldn’t be practical for a full sized ship
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