A phenomenon called the “Three Sisters” is terrifyingly real for ships, and it may have caused a famous sinking. These are not ghost ships, but rogue waves: three massive, consecutive waves that can strike a vessel in rapid succession.
The Great Lakes produce a distinctive wave pattern known to sailors as the three sisters. It consists of a set of three large waves arriving in rapid succession, each one larger than the last. The pattern is especially hazardous because the waves hit ships faster than the vessels can recover, which can cause catastrophic structural failure.The physics behind this hazard involve wave period, the ti…