A Day Trapped at Arica: The USS Wateree and the Tsunami, 1868
You Are There - Graphic History Series
You Are There… Graphic History Series.
Historical Backdrop
On the afternoon of August 13, 1868, one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded struck the coast of what was then southern Peru (today northern Chile). The shaking lasted minutes, flattening the bustling port of Arica beneath the towering El Morro headland. Then the sea drew back like a held breath before returning as a wall of water 40 to 60 feet high. Among the witnesses were the crews of foreign warships anchored in the bay, including the U.S. side-wheel gunboat USS Wateree, a flat-bottomed double-ender. Our subject is Thomas “Tom” Gallagher, a 21-year-old Irish-American Ordinary Seaman aboard the Wateree.
Arica, Peru — August 13, 1868, 5:40 AM — aboard USS Wateree, anchored in Arica Bay
You wake in your hammock below deck to the bell and the smell of coal smoke and bilge. You roll out, splash brackish water on your face, and climb to the deck. The bay is glassy and gray. The great rock of El Morro looms black against a pale sky. The town is still asleep. Your bare feet are cold on the damp planks, and your stomach growls for hardtack and coffee.
Arica, Peru — August 13, 1868, 8:15 AM — main deck, USS Wateree
You holystone the deck on your knees with the other hands, scrubbing the wood pale with sandstone blocks and seawater. Your knuckles are raw. The boatswain barks orders. Sweat runs down your spine as the sun climbs over the desert hills. Gulls scream and circle the galley scraps. Across the water you hear the faint bells of Arica’s church and the calls of fishermen pushing boats out.
Arica, Peru — August 13, 1868, 12:30 PM — rail of USS Wateree, facing the town
You lean on the rail at the noon meal, chewing salt pork and biscuit, watching the shore. Arica is busy now—mule trains hauling guano and silver from the railway, vendors under canvas, women in shawls, a few of your shipmates rowing back from leave with stories and cheap aguardiente on their breath. The heat shimmers off the dry hills. Everything feels ordinary. You spit a weevil from your biscuit and laugh.
Arica, Peru — August 13, 1868, 4:47 PM — main deck, USS Wateree
The ship lurches and shudders under you with a deep groaning roar, though there are no waves. You grab the rigging and stare at the shore in horror. The whole town is shaking—dust explodes upward as walls and the church tower fold and collapse into rubble. You hear a sound like endless thunder and the screaming of hundreds of voices carrying across the water. Your knees buckle on the trembling deck.
Arica, Peru — August 13, 1868, 5:05 PM — bow of USS Wateree
