"The Chena arrived at Valdez at l6:12 hours, March 27. About 

 7:31, while discharging cargo, we felt a severe earthquake followed 

 Imost immediately "by tidal waves. There were very heavy shocks 

 hout every half a minute. Mounds of water were hitting at us from 

 11 directions. I was in the dining room. I made it to the bridge 

 three decks up) by climbing a vertical ladder. God knows how I 

 ot there. 



The Valdez piers started to collapse right away. There was a 

 remendous noise. The ship was laying over to port. I had been in 

 arthquakes before , but I knew right away that this was the worst 

 ne yet. The Chena rose about 30 feet on an oncoming wave. The 

 hole ship lifted and heeled to port about 50°. Then it slammed 

 own heavily on the spot where the docks had disintegrated moments 

 efore. 1 saw people running - with no place to run to. It was 

 ust ghastly. They were just engulfed by buildings, water, mud, 

 ,nd everything. The Chena dropped where the people had been. That 

 s what has kept me awake for days. There was no sight of them, 

 he ship stayed there momentarily. Then there was an ungodly 

 ackroll to starboard. Then she came upright. Then we took 

 nother heavy roll to port . 



"l could see the land (at Valdez) jumping and leaping in a 

 errible turmoil. We were inside of where the dock had been. We 

 ad been washed into where the small boat harbor used to be. There 

 as no water under the Chena for a brief interval. I realized we 

 ad to get out quickly if we were ever going to get out at all. 

 here was water under us again. The stern was sitting in broken 

 ilings, rocks, and mud. 



"l signaled to the engine room for power and got it very 

 apidly. I called for 'slow ahead', then 'half ahead' and finally 

 or 'full'. In about four minutes, I would guess, we were moving 

 ppreciably, scraping on and off the mud (bottom) as the waves 

 ent up and down. People ashore said they saw us slide sideways 

 ff a mat of willow trees (placed as part of the fill material 

 n the harbor) and that helped put our bow out. We couldn't 

 urn. We were moving along the shore, with the stern in the mud. 

 Ig mounds of water came up and flattened out. Water inshore 

 as rushing out. A big gush of water came off the beach, hit 

 he bow, and swung her out about ten degrees. If that hadn't 

 happened, we would have stayed there with the bow jammed in a 

 iiud bank and provided a new dock for the town of Valdez I I We 

 iToke free. The bow pushed through the wreckage of a cannery. 

 ''e went out into the bay and had to stop. The condensers were 

 ilugged with mud and pieces of the dock. The chief mate, Neal L. 

 .arsen, checked to see then if we were taking water. We were 

 ■aking none. It was unbelievable after what the ship had been 

 ■hrough. We had the lifeboats all manned and ready. I didn't 

 ■■hink she would float in deep water. Maybe the soft mud bottom 

 iiade the difference." 



263 



