Pirates of the Caribbean already answered this question. Headlights at sea would attract deadly mermaids.

Well this was illuminating, I am now fully enlightened and not in the dark anymore.

I like the saying, "better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it."

00:04 Ships don't have headlights for safe navigation at sea. 01:38 Ships don't have headlights due to reliance on lookouts and potential danger. 03:05 Ships rely on night vision and specific lights for safe navigation in the dark 04:29 Ships don't have headlights to preserve crew's night vision and to avoid disasters. 05:49 Ships don't have headlights due to the need to preserve night vision. 07:15 Ships use lights for navigation and safety 08:46 Ships use radar to see in the dark today. 10:18 Ships don't have headlights because human vision is sufficient and radar technology helps navigate.

Ships don’t need headlights because the water is always LIT

This may or may not be true, but I remember reading somewhere that the traditional seaman's eyepatch was to keep one pupil dilated so they could see better below decks, where light was scarce. This discussion reminded me of that.

These have became my favorite videos by far. Not only are they the best oceanliner/titanic videos the Michael is such a charming gentleman. Truly one of the last of a dying breed and his outfits are always the most elegant!

Mike, I love the fact how you're diversifying and it's not just all Titanic related! Last thing I saw before I clicked on this one was a short from you about the Me 262!!😂 Fascinating stuf!! Keep it up my man!!

During the 60's and 70's it was popular to equip small yachts with "docking lights", small headlights molded into the bow. They fell out of favor, as a movable spotlight was far more valuable at spotting unlit markers when entering a channel. One slight mistake I noticed: The night Titanic was sunk was not moonless because of a lunar eclipse, it was moonless because it was a new moon - the moon was on the daylit side of the earth and thus was below the horizon at night. There was a lunar eclipse 2 weeks earlier though.

This topic is a question I never gave much thought to in all my years of being obsessed with ocean liners and modern ships, and this video was a fascinating take on the answer from start to finish. The perfect short documentary UKposts video, IMO.

Great video! To add to your point at 5:00. Around 7PM Lightoller (who was Officer of The Watch (OTW) from 6PM to 10PM, right before Murdoch) actually had a deck hand trim the forward lights. He specifically asked all lights on the boat deck aft of Bridge to the Grand Staircase, the forward section of A and B deck, the entire well deck and forecastle trimmed accordingly. Yes, this would be a normal action at night regardless but the fact the OTW made extra orders to ensure this was done is overlooked. The bridge lights were off, and the shutters to the wheel house closed as you described as per standard nighttime procedure. In fact for this very reason the event order and timing of the actual collision are shrouded in some mystery. The only survivors that were on duty to witness the collision and know the exact events on the bridge were the Helmsman and Assistant Officer. Obviously we have the Lookouts to know how the ice was spotted but the events on the bridge are hazy as everyone who survived was inside the wheelhouse till after the collision. The only direct orders from Murdoch via voice were "hard to starboard", everything else was done silently by Murdoch himself on the navigation bridge; specifically the commands sent via the Engine Order Telegraph (EOT). The EOT point is largely known these days since the testimony of the Chief Stoker in Boiler Room 6 very clearly gives us the order was "Stop" not "Full Astern" as depicted in pop culture. There is some evidence to believe that Murdoch actually saw the ice first on the Starboard bridge wing as the Lookout testimony indicates the turn started immediately after he placed the phone down, something that should of started seconds later (if the hard-over call was made after the call was finished). Personally I believe the event order is as follows (all in a span of 30-40 seconds): 1. Murdoch see's ice and begins to move off Starboard bridge wing 2. Lookouts see ice and ring the bell, Murdoch calls for hard to starboard 3. Bridge phone rings and Assistant Officer answers, Murdoch orders engines to Stop 4. Helmsman calls hard over, Assistant Officer finishes call and relays the Lookup report, Murdoch activates watertight doors (switch is located in Navigation Bridge, not Wheelhouse as many think) 5. Lookouts place phone down and feel ship swinging to port, Murdoch returns to bridge wing 6. Collision, Murdoch orders hard to port (attempt to port round the obstacle to avoid stern swinging into berg and damaging propellers) Source: www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/on-titanics-bridge.html

We've had "docking lights" on boats for decades. Don't really work out on the open water because they could never be powerful enough but they do work when docking or in other tight unlit areas.

"Ships don't need headlights, because the sea is always Lit" "Yeah so's my brother but he still needs headlights!"

I’ve seen a number of sailboats with a powerful LED light mounted on the pulpit (the railing at the bow) which are used for anchoring or motoring into an area where there are crab or lobster pots that can tangle up in the propeller shaft if they run over. I’ve even been thinking of installing one on my small 32 sailboat because the Chesapeake Bay, where I sail, is loaded with crab pots in the shallows where many boats anchor for the night. I once entered Annapolis harbor at night and found myself in a field of crab pots with their floats bobbing all around me on the water. My “first mate” had to go to the bow with a powerful flashlight light and direct me away from any floats that might become tangled in our prop if we ran them over. So “head lights” do have their uses in specific situations but for the most part we keep things dark or illuminated with red lights when sailing or mortoring at night.

Great video as always Mike! I really like the fact you mentioned icebreakers, since those ships popped in my mind first once I saw the title of the video. You showed a great proficiency at your field of interest once again. Cheers for that!

I thought about this exact question many times and never came to a conclusion... Thanks a lot for enlightening us Mike! I absolutely adore your videos and I actually save them up for evenings like Friday to enjoy them to the fullest :D Thank you so so much for your hard work and dedication! It's truly a pleasure to watch your videos :) Greetings from Switzerland

In the modern world where we are so used to technologies like Night Vision and Radar that allow us to navigate beyond visual range or without visible light at all in all manner of weather regardless of visibility. It still strikes me as incredible. That even just a few short decades ago. So much of our navigation was still done from eye balling it alone. Meaning that even well into the 20th century our ability to navigate was still heavily limited by the weather, nightfall, and just general atmospheric conditions.

Mike Brady once again pierces the veil of our ignorance with another fascinating insight -- and without blowing our night vision! I love this channel!

Mike, I didn’t used to know anything about ships, and now I look forward to your uploads every week and consume other ship content. You’ve created a fascination in me and I thank you!

Thanks, Mike! I asked this very question (somewhat cheekily) in your previous video where you broke down various scenes from JC's movie (I didn't repost it for the re-uploaded version, though). I'm glad the inquiry at the time asked the surviving crew, as well. I feel validated that it wasn't an absurd notion to have a searchlight, even if there's a good explanation as to why ships didn't have one. Great explanation, I appreciate it.

Well done again. For those of us who know the topic, it's great to see the information presented in a way that is informative and interesting. In addition to the icebreakers you mentioned, many vessels use massive floodlights to see at night. Fishing vessels are a great example as they need to spot their buoys to retrieve their gear. This does make their navigation lights useless, but as you pointed out radar and also AIS keep the captains informed about each other's movements.

7:55 speaks in evergreen

Love this channel, it's the best place to come for Titanic and all other ship related information!

I was literally JUST wondering about this while watching one of your videos about the Titanic. Good timing 😃

Mike has changed my life. Was suggested the channel, and boom complete Boat nerd. I love your dedication, work ethic and presentation. Thank you.

Thank you for an illuminating video 😄 I had read a brief description on this subject years ago, but your video goes into much more detail, thank you!

I love a video that poses a question I'd never thought about.

Response/reaction time + ship maneuverability vs illumination range is #1.

6:31 One problem I see with the "spotlight in dense fog" idea is that you ruin your own ability to see in the dark...and other ships that are doing the same also can't see you because of their own glare. So you end up with a case of both ships brightly lit, but also sailing blind.

Great presentation, Mike. This reminded me of a few years back, when I was on the jury of a court case where a small fishing boat was run down by a larger vessel, and several lives lost. This same question was put to one of the expert witnesses, who gave pretty much the same reply as you have. It was a fascinating and very difficult case, but I think by the end we'd all had a masterclass in navigation lights, GPS and radar!

I recently found this channel and like the technical part of your show. There's lots of channels about hundreds of sunken ship stories, so I'm not interested in such sadness. Great job. Thanks for sharing. Be blessed 😇.

Props to you for looking snazzy, dapper, and in-theme for the discussion 👏🏼

Amazing video quality as always

I don't know if it's just me, but the production quality on this one is absolutely incredible. Kudos! Been watching for a while now and love them all though

What a great video, I never really gave this question any thought but it‘s actually so interesting

Good video Mike. Night vision is important and is one reason why you want the oncoming OOW to arrive about 15 minutes before taking over - gives time for their eyes to adjust to the conditions. One thing that interests me is how much brighter ships bridges have become since I first went to sea in 1971, mainly due to the addition of addition aids such as ECDIS, flat screen radars etc. Yes you can turn the illumination down but originally we operated in almost complete darkness to maintain vision.

Another use for powerfull serchlight still in use today is when you are ice navigating at night. When I was a cadet onboard MV Arctic, going in the canadian north in january and february, the ship was fitted with three powerfull lights on the foremast and 2 wing searchlights by the wheelhouse. With thick flat ice, it was necessary to find the path of least resistence up the Hudson straight. Thanks for your vids, really interesting even for a seasoned mariner.

Your videos are great. I had no previous interest in ships but I always enjoy learning something new.

It's nice to see this, I was always the lookout on my dad's boat and I had many of these questions and he explained these things to me. I did have a handheld spotlight I could use in moments of indecision. But I almost never used it. It was partly pride but also partly that I felt nearly blind for minutes after switching the spotlight off and my eyes readjusted.

Great video! But needs a correction at 1:44 The Moon wasn't covered by Earth's shadow at all! That happens only during a lunar eclipse (only possible when the Moon is full!) That night the Moon was in fact getting close to a new Moon (its position in the sky was getting close the Sun's position). The night was Moonless, simply because the Moon has set before the Sun

Next video, why don’t they have brake lights

another well thought out and fantastically executed video, Mike!

Thank you for bringing light on the subject

Basically as Radar and "light" are both electromagnetic waves these days we use head"lights" along with artifical eyes able to see that "light" we send out, while keeping our valued nightvision in the wavelenghts we are naturally able to see. I think its the perfect combination to use natural night vision in the dark and additionally "light up" the darkness with radar for artificial eyes.

Funny this appeared in my recommended after what just happened in balti

Great video. Thank you so much for the wonderful explanation about ships and having lights on them.

What a great insightful vid! Never thought about this. Thanks for making it.

Spotlights shining forward of you without any spill back don't bother your night vision nearly as much as an overhead lamp may. Lights in Fog are basically useless except for letting others you're near by. I often drive with just running lights in dense fog, it's terrifying when oncoming traffic is using their high beams in such situations. I do think a spot light used at sea only would be helpful, ignoring the probably insane maintenance issues with mounting a substantial light at the bow.

It's the same for planes, planes do have landing spotlights, but they're only on when coming in to land. They have navigation lights similar to ships, the left wing had a red light, the right wing a green light, and a white light on the tail of the plane. There are also anti collision strobe lights on the aircraft as well. Planes can be closing in on each other at 5 hundred to thousand miles per hour Combined.

Fascinating as always Mike

Super intelligent as always. Every single video you produce is a wonderful educational experience! Thank you.

'Moonless' is surely more accurately described as when the Moon is either obscured by clouds or beyond the horizon. The Moon being hidden by the Earths shadow would be a lunar eclipse.

FYI: "a moonless night" is most associated with a new or nearly new moon. The moon is not in the earth's shadow but rather it's own. The moon is actually on the opposite side of earth, potentially along with a solar eclipse.

Coming from someone who knows very very little about shipping/boats. This was super interesting and insightful. Love the content!

Correction Mike. It was a dark night because the moon was below the horizon and yet to rise. When the moon is in the Earth's shadow that's a lunar eclipse, a rare event.

It still seems like having a searchlight on the front of the ship that can be activated under certain circumstances, but not always on, would be better than not having one

Man that big ole' 'hoooonk' in your opening always gives me the willies and the chills in the best possible way.

I really appreciate you Mike and Oceanliner Design. You guys are timeless and masterpiece in storytelling. Thank you for putting peace into my soul who faced such fatal adversity in a such past life. The Pearl Harbor episode, you made it so much real in addition to my grandpa who was there on that dreadful day and afterward with the scrappint effort. It was s surreal time for him and I had the opportunity to hear the details. He kept something good going from the Coast Guard/Navy days, making these delicious sweet puffy yeast rolls. His comrades were grateful as the master cook onboard the Walnut. I am trying to dig further on the lost ship of the USS/USCG Walnut as a minesweeper. I followed it deeply to the bottom of the Hondura Bay as it sank from effect of the hurricane.

Moonless nights don’t occur because the moon is in earths shadow. That’s a lunar eclipse, and you can clearly see the moon the whole time during one. A moonless night is caused by the moon being in a position in its orbit where it is overhead of the daylight side of the earth, and it either isn’t visible at all at night, or only right around dawn or dusk.

As a motorcycle rider I can attest that sometimes the headlight can hide road hazards. You need to scan from fender to 150 ft out constantly. Break concentration and eat a pothole!

Thanks for lighting the way.

You always manage to make videos on questions I’ve always had in the back of my mind but have never articulated lol

mike, it's 12:04 am, your videos are so good you're making me stay up longer when I was about to sleep. worth it.

The kind of question that might only come to you in the shower 😂

Excellent presentation with calm soothing commentary. Also I learnt something today! Subbed!

Excellent detail. I thought I knew the answer to this, but was off the mark and learned a lot!

When the moon is blacked out by the earths shadow that’s a lunar eclipse. A “new moon”, what we get once a month, is when the side of the moon that we see (it’s always the same side of the moon) is facing away from the sun.

One not-so-important detail: it's not the Earth's shadow that causes a moonless night, but the position of the Moon when it's between the Sun and the Earth. When the Earth's shadow falls on the Moon, we have a lunar eclipse. Cheers :)

Brilliant video, love the style!

An excellent, well presented video clip, Mr Brady, as usual from your capable hands. Oh yes, I like the semi-Edwardian look as well. That shirt is very smart !

Who’s here after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse?

In the titanic's case...much like in fog or low visibility conditions, you would think they would at least slow the ship down if they cant see anything in front of them or visibility was low for any reason? Surely if you're practically sailing blind, you would at least slow right down to give you enough time to react in case anything does come up. Or were they just not expecting anything in their path at the time?

One of my absolute favorite yt channels♥️

Well, that answers a question I've been asking myself for ages. Thanks Mike.

It's not quite right, most ship actually have a spotlight or "headlights" and use it when they need to search for something or to confirm that what's on the charts is accurate when they are maneuvering in canals, harbors or other tight spots. On many of the tankers I worked on we often use the "headlights".

Ironic that this gets recommended to me after the bridge incident

I love that ship horn sound in your intro

Hey Mike Brady, every time I see a video of yours, im always impressed. Each of your videos seem to get classier and more refined than the last. Excellent narration, absolutely love your accent, and big up for always dressing dapper there, M8. Greetings from Austin, TX!

1:40 When the moon is hidden by the earth's shadow it is a moon eclipse. What you mean is a moonless night, when the moon is near the sun and rises and sets together with it.

How did this get recommended now. Dafuq.

Great information. I was wondering about this a while back while watching a history channel. I can see how the light would mess with their eyes and they would only show up to a certain distance where as in the darkness the eyes can see much further.

I hadn't considered this until I saw a video of yours which mentioned the Imperator. I saw that tremendous spotlight on the mast and I said to myself "I wonder why that didn't catch on?" I decided to just live with the curiosity, so this video is a pleasant surprise! But in later photos, the light has been removed, so now I wonder what they used it for at that point...

why dont they just occassionally turn it on and off

This didnt age well in baltimore

Yet another fascinating video. Thank you!

Love these vids Mike - please keep them coming!

Such an excellently presented and informed video!

That's such an intriguing question! It really makes you think about the unique challenges and solutions in maritime navigation. In contrast to cars, ships navigate vast open waters where lighting plays a different role. It's fascinating to consider how ships use other methods like radar, AIS, and navigational aids to safely travel, especially at night. The ingenuity and technology involved in marine navigation are truly impressive! 🚢✨

This is fascinating stuff and really well explained.

Another fascinating video, thank you Mike. What you say about preserving night vision is spot on. As an officer of the watch in the RNR I made many night passages around northern Europe through some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world and trusted to my and the lookouts eyesight, backed up by radar. Once in the Irish Sea I had a radar contact that appeared to be barely moving and I studied it intently through binoculars for its steaming lights. The ship had a mass of very bright, white lights all over and at last I could see a glimmer of red and prepared to alter course. As I was about to give the helm order I spotted a faint green amongst all the white, that gave me right of way and I stood on with caution. The red was light reflecting of the vessel's funnel. I don't know what the other was doing as no other signals were displayed and it didn't answer a VHF call.

Casual Navigation already made a video about this, but I still like the way you explained it, especially with your titanic sprinkles in there.

Absolutely educational video because I never thought about it this way ever!

Excellent program as usual.

Radar was the answer I was looking for throughout the video. But its good that I learnt a lot more than that.

Answered a question that I never thought of about but now that it has been brought to my attention, I will pay more attention to that

I used to work for Disney Cruise Line back in 2012. I worked on the, "Dream". My favourite time to be off work/out on deck was at night. There was a lookout area all the way forward, close to the 13th deck I believe. It was always pitch black up there (as you sort of mentioned). My next fave spot was in the crew bar, out on the balcony-very aft of the ship. You could look down at the water, and all around the ship it was illuminated the prettiest blue you could imagine! This was because there was lighitng all around the bottom of the ship. Pretty dope

No Im never going to unsee lighting conventions on ships. Thank you I actually love that.

07:45 We had a light on our foremast, it was called a Panama Canal Light. It shown forward only. Great vid, thanks for sharing.

great video - simple and informative

Amazing channel on a relatively obscure and niche topic that is otherwise covered in sensationalism or dumbed down with animation Good job comrade