shows the cannery being engulfed by the passing wave; it should be 



compared with Figure 163. Moments later (frame No. l8i+ , Figure I69), 



Numair's film shows the disintegration of the cannery as the wave rushes 

 over the North Arm from the northwest . 



According to his account published in "Alaska Construction", Captain 

 Stewart said of this happening that "the Chena heeled over 70° to port 

 and crunched down hard on the spot where the pier had disintegrated 

 moments before. I felt the hull shudder as the ship ground into the 

 rocks and mud and broken pilings on the harbor bottom and I thought 

 she was done for. No ship can stand that kind of battering." 



The Chena at this stage took a violent roll to starboard, presumably 

 as a result of a trough following the wave and her entanglement in the 

 wreckage, but with additional smaller waves which apparently followed 

 in the wake of the first crest she was prized free and carried into the 

 boat harbor (Figures l66e and l67e). Here she was momentarily aground 

 with her stern in the wreckage of the piling of the North Arm cannery. 

 According to Sturgis (Chance, I968); Bryant, I96U), her bow was up 

 (presumably on the mud flats) 20° to 30° above the stern. The Chena 

 now took a violent roll to starboard before the boat harbor began to 

 fill with the great volume of water pouring over the North Arm (still 

 from the first wave). All of this took place apparently during the 

 period of the earthquake, whose duration has been variously given as 

 3 1/2 to 5 minutes (prior to the final 30 seconds of the quake, according 

 to Sturgis). 



A flux of water from the south now filled the boat harbor and carried 

 boats and buildings, dislodged by the first wave, toward the Valdez Hotel. 

 It lifted the Chena which by now had power, and enabled her to float free. 

 This moment is believed to be shown in Figure 170, which is a panoramic 

 composite photograph prepared from the motion-picture color film of 

 Ernest Nelson, another crew member of the Chena. Figure 170 shows the 

 wreckage in the boat harbor. The dark spur is believed to be the remains 

 of the ferry slip, and the parallel "wave" beyond to be the remnant of 

 the North Arm. The Gypsy, the largest yacht in the boat harbor, is just 

 visible off the ferry slip. In the course of the whirlpool-like move- 

 ments of water between the north and south arms of the harbor, the Gypsy 

 had apparently caromed off the side of the Chena while the latter was 

 still stuck in the mud. The cannery roof is believed to be floating 

 alongside of the ferry slip in Figure 170. Subsequently, it was found 

 entrenched in the mud flats north of the harbor (see Figure 166). 



The water now began to drain from the boat harbor, and a strong 

 movement of water from northwest to southeast along the shore began. This 

 at first helped the Chena clear the stub of the south arm and float out 

 where the south pier and cannery had been (see Figure 166). According to 

 Dunning (SEA interview), the deck of this pier had been swept southeast by 

 the first wave that carried the Chena into the boat harbor, and surround- 

 ing piles showed bolts bent in that direction. Bracken (196U) , moreover , 

 records that a trailer frame was swept south from this pier. 



268 



