One Hell of an April Fools Day, No Joke

Wiped out
Survivor of 100-foot wave recalls deadly Aleutians night
By T.C. MITCHELL
Anchorage Daily News

Published: April 1, 2006
Last Modified: April 1, 2006 at 01:50 AM

Five men died 60 years ago today when a tsunami, estimated at 100 feet high, took their sturdy lighthouse on Unimak Island into the sea.

At the time, Scotch Cap Lighthouse was one of the Coast Guard's most isolated duty stations, built on the rock face of the first island in the Aleutian Chain. It was vital because it marked the entrance to Unimak Passage, a heavily traveled strait between the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea, near where the 738-foot Selendang Ayu broke apart in December of 2004.
It's now an unmanned light station, but in 1946 some 25 men made their home there.

When the earthquake hit, Jeano Campanaro, an 18-year-old from Utah, was sleeping on the second floor of the Coast Guard radio communications building, 300 yards away from Scotch Cap Light Station, and on a bluff about 50 feet higher.

"It was a calm evening. My bedroom faced the ocean. When the tidal wave hit, a landlubber like me, all I could see was water all around," he said.

Hoban Sanford, commanding officer, was on duty in the communication building where Campanaro and about 20 other men were stationed. He began sending messages as the island shook.

0130 -- Severe earthquake felt. Building rocked severely. Objects shaken from locker shelves. Duration approx. 30-40 seconds. Building creaked and groaned, but no apparent damage. Weather clear and calm.

"The main thing, we were all young kids and we were all scared," Campanaro said. "Very timid, very fearful. We huddled around each other, it was like a two-story building, it was like a huge house, we huddled around the main area."

0157 -- Second severe quake felt. Shorter in duration but harder than 0130. Duration 15-20 seconds. Again no apparent damage although buildings were shook severely.

Less than 20 minutes later the five-story lighthouse -- designed with iron and stone and built 90 feet above sea level so it could stand against the storms that routinely batter the Aleutian Islands -- returned to gravel, killing the five crewmen as the tsunami blasted it from its rocky shelf.

0218 -- Terrific roaring from ocean heard, followed almost immediately by terrific sea, top of which rose above cliff and struck station, causing considerable damages. Water in building, crew ordered to higher ground.

Campanaro said the wave hit the communications building where he was living with enough force to shove a 2-ton truck through its walls.

"It clipped off the corner of the house. We had water in our generator room. I went down and knocked on the officer's door and asked what we should do. He said we should see if we could start the generators. When we did fire up the generators, we just created a fire. So that didn't work out. And we were supposed to be in constant communication."

0218 -- Attempted to send message of condition but no answer to calls.

"It was April Fools' Day," Campanaro said. "We were sending out an SOS to let people know we were in trouble. They must have thought, 'This is April Fools'. It's a joke.' Nobody answers."

0245 -- Forced to secure power as switchboard is a fire. CO2 used and fire extinguished. Scotch Cap Light Station believed lost. Light extinguished and horn silent.

"I remember some of the guys panicking. They were running out in the wilderness, getting away from that. But when you wake up, you're in your skivvies. Bare-feet. I don't know what they were thinking."

0345 -- Sea seems to be moderating. Still no wind but clouding up. Heavy roaring from ocean, but seems to be quieting down. Scotch Cap L.S. completely washed away. All hands, total loss.

By daybreak, planes did fly over the island. They couldn't land because there was no airstrip. At least the survivors knew then that their situation was finally shared.

"Of course they could see that the lighthouse was gone. Then things started getting in motion."

0800 -- Various tremors continued, some slight, some moderately heavy. Plane came over and surveyed damages.

"We had a few after quakes and tremors, but no more water coming up," Campanaro said. "Of course, every time you'd feel something, everyone would get quite distraught, upset. That's what would bother us. Nobody would eat."

2400 -- Some crew members chose to sleep in DF (direction finding) building. Nearly all hands have been awake for 24 hours. Radio newscasts indicate tidal waves experienced or expected over wide area and information intercepted on 4742.5khz that numerous places being evacuated as safety measures.

The tsunami raced across the Pacific at the speed of a jetliner and hit Hilo, Hawaii, where 159 people were killed. The waves also hit the West Coast and about 20 hours after the quake, a 6-foot wave washed into Chile.

When the 20 men in the communication building ventured out in the light of day to survey the damage, they were further stunned.

"We wandered all over the beach," Campanaro said. "We could look all around the lighthouse and see nothing but the foundation. All the rest of it was just ripped apart. Antennas collapsed. Telephone poles a mile, mile and a half up the ravine were all washed up against the mountainside."

0700 -- Looking over hill to light station again. Debris strewn along beaches. Found what was apparently human intestines on hill by water tank. Much debris.

"There was no search and rescue," said Campanaro. "There was nothing left to rescue. The search involved beachcombing for bodies. We found one, but he (Seaman 1st Class Paul Ness) was pretty well battered. And there were lots of body parts."

Ness was buried on the island in his own grave, Campanaro said. For the remaining four, "We finally made a makeshift grave on the cliff overlooking the lighthouse and made a wooden cross and the pharmacist (stationed there as a medic) took his big black gloves and threw all the parts in a big hole and we put the crosses up and that was it."
2400 -- CGC Cedar and CGC Clover proceeding to Scotch Cap to assist. Pitts, who called S.C.L. Station when first quake felt says that Pickering stated deck was raised. Whether crew had attempted to evacuate and were caught by wave or were trapped inside is not known. (My personal belief is that they were still inside building). -- (Signed) H.B. Sanford CRE.

T.C. Mitchell can be reached at tcmitchell@adn.com.