Fog horns, do we still need them?

[MrAndyW]

Spending a week on Anglesey and not far from South Stack lighthouse. Heard the fog horn going off a couple of times. Got me thinking,do we really need them in this day and age of gps and all guidance equipment?

I know not all boats,ships have mega modern equipment..But it seems a very outdated item to me.
Maybe it’s one of these old fashioned must provide a service type thing.That actually nobody uses really.

[shouldbworking]

With events like the uss Fitzgerald collision and the uss John mccain collision still relatively recent history I wouldn't dream of making the system even a little less idiot proof!

And those were modern warships, nevermind your day sailors

[peterperkins]

The Mk1 eardrum is pretty reliable.

We like good engineering and a bit of nostalgia...

Sounding the Sumburgh Foghorn!

https://youtu.be/iHCmzvzCmhI

Edited by peterperkins on Wednesday 3rd August 09:11

[Eric Mc]

I love the sound of fog horns. I grew up beside the sea and lying in bed listening to the fog horns moaning in the night was very comforting.

And they really work, my bed never ran onto the rocks.

[Simpo Two]

It's always a good idea to have two systems in case one fails - and the less 'tech' it needs the better.

[Jake899]

Eric Mc said:

I love the sound of fog horns. I grew up beside the sea and lying in bed listening to the fog horns moaning in the night was very comforting.

And they really work, my bed never ran onto the rocks.

excellent!

[Johnnybee]

When I was young we had summer holidays with family who lived at Sennen Cove. Like Eric I also loved listening to the sound of the fog horn when I was in bed. The modern ones I have heard are more of a loud beep and nothing like the older style.

[thismonkeyhere]

When I was navigating ships, and then teaching others to navigate ships, one of the primary messages was that you need to know how to use the Mk1 eyeball, hearing, maths, astro etc etc because whilst the technology is excellent, it isn't infallible. Ideally, wherever possible, you'd use the basics to confirm what the tech is telling you.

I have no idea what they teach these days, but I hope that message still stands.

Plus, thick fog is scary if you're close to the rocks in a large ship, no matter how good your kit. Always reassuring to hear the fog horn you are expecting.

[Badda]

I heard some a month back in the Solent when a strange low fog developed. Tankers were appearing out of the fog after sounding their horns. Most small boats don’t have radar/AIS so it’s appreciated!!

[miniman]

peterperkins said:

The Mk1 eardrum is pretty reliable.

We like good engineering and a bit of nostalgia...

Sounding the Sumburgh Foghorn!

https://youtu.be/iHCmzvzCmhI

Edited by peterperkins on Wednesday 3rd August 09:11

What a cool video

[Eric Mc]

Lovely quote from the Ray Bradbury story in the comments too.

[Talisker]

I dont know about Englandshire but I'm pretty sure there is not a single Fog Horn still in Operational Service left in Scotland.
The one in Aberdeen, known locally as the 'Torry Coo' last sounded in 1987. Cant say I've notice Oil Rig supply vessels running ashore at Balnagask golf course in the intervening 35 years

The Northern Lighthouse Board website says:
"In January 2005, the three General Lighthouse Authorities (GLAs) of the UK and Ireland issued a consultation document following a joint review of Aids to Navigation of the coasts of the United Kingdom and Ireland. The review addressed the current and future requirements of national and international vesselping. Each Aid to Navigation – light, buoy or beacon - was studied in isolation, as well as in relation to the other Aids to Navigation in its vicinity. As part of this process the Northern Lighthouse Board also reviewed the need for the provision of fog horns.

The conclusion was that audible fog signals had a significantly reduced role in the modern maritime environment, as a result of the widespread use of electronic position finding aids and radar, and the adoption of navigating bridges on many vessels. Accordingly, this review, the Board have taken the decision that all of Northern Lighthouse Board's fog signals are surplus to requirement, as such the few remaining systems have been decommissioned and the very last Scottish fog horn was switched off on 4 October 2005 at Skerryvore lighthouse".
(Edited 'cos I can't count)

There are a couple maintained and operated for demonstration purposes by Heritage groups, Sumburgh, & Mull of Galloway spring to mind.

[matchmaker]

miniman said:

peterperkins said:

The Mk1 eardrum is pretty reliable.

We like good engineering and a bit of nostalgia...

Sounding the Sumburgh Foghorn!

https://youtu.be/iHCmzvzCmhI

Edited by peterperkins on Wednesday 3rd August 09:11

What a cool video

A former neighbour of mine operating the equipment!

[Lotobear]

I love a foghorn too. As a nipper in the 60's and 70's living in Tyneside I would hear foghorns during the night - it was the colliers requesting the swing bridge to be opened so they could collect coal from Dunston Staithes. As Eric observes it was strangely comforting.

[anonymous-user]

What happened to thick pea soup fog that we used to get when I was a nipper. Is it due to global warming?

[nodge69]

I did a bit of reading up on these after I discovered an unused foghorn in Cornwall. This website has a few nice recordings. https://alk.org.uk/sound-clips/

[MrAndyW]

Brilliant , I can't believe I'm sat here now listening to fog horn sounds My wife thinks I've lost it.

[2xChevrons]

matchmaker said:

A former neighbour of mine operating the equipment!

Always nice to see and hear a Kelvin diesel at work. If you ever grumble about a modern diesel needing a couple of seconds on the glow plugs, remember that in the good old days you had to oil round, engage the magneto, prime the cylinders with petrol, fill the carb bowl with petrol, crank it over, let it run on spark ignition to warm up the cylinders, open the diesel injector valves, whack over the compression lift and then shut off the magneto!

Lotobear said:

I love a foghorn too. As a nipper in the 60's and 70's living in Tyneside I would hear foghorns during the night - it was the colliers requesting the swing bridge to be opened so they could collect coal from Dunston Staithes. As Eric observes it was strangely comforting.

It is - I think it's comfort from the same source as hearing rain beating against your bedroom window on a foul night, or the Shipping Forecast. It's simultaneously a reminder that there's a hostile environment out there, and people are out there on/in it, and there are devices and systems to keep them safe.

I'm too young for the proper age of foghorns. I remember being on Portland when I was about eight and hearing the original diaphone foghorn. We used to regularly go on holiday in northern Cornwall in the autumn half term and I could lie in bed and hear (really it was a feeling, or a sense of pressure in the atmosphere, more than sound) the foghorn at Trevose Head.

[Eric Mc]

Niponeoff said:

What happened to thick pea soup fog that we used to get when I was a nipper. Is it due to global warming?

No - it's due to much, much tighter air pollution regulations.

[Snow and Rocks]

Interestingly, or not, oil platforms and drilling rigs still sound a fog horn or tone when it's foggy.

More often than not, it lets you know that your planned helicopter flight home isn't going to happen.