Show recalls story of odd wreck U S warship caught by tidal wave stranded on mountain washington navy historians were tailed upun upon recently to decide the strongest strangest marine disaster that ever occurred to an american vessel without dissension they agreed ou on the wreck of the U S S wateree details of the disaster are known to but few and none of the boldest tale tell ing old salts can refer to it as know boltre of personal experience so far as Is known no one alive today wit witnessed hessed the man inan of war picked up cp bodily oft off the chilean coast by 0 tidal wave and deposited high on the tide side of a mountain two miles inland on the navy department records ore are a few words which tell of the file strongest strangest of strange marine dis sitters asters visit scene of wreck tle recent isit to chile of the U S S lio Ito diester hester flagship of the special gerilee squadron on fluty duty with the american commission to the t lie tacna arica plebiscite uncovered the old irli opter of f linval anva history members of the rochester chester Rii crew the seene scene or of ohp lie wreck where the boilers nod and stem ire fire still to tn be seen to in the rammer of 1808 1869 the balei valeree ee arched off arlea from callio nith ith the store ship fredonia in tow both ships had fled from callao cailao to escape the yellow fever plague with a peru clan ninn of nf war the wateree ond and the Fre dorila anchored in the harbor about a mile from shore on august 13 the wateree was engaged in tier her engines when the ship trembled from stem to stern the crew ran to uie the locks the tiny bay unruffled but a cloud of dust and smoke was rising from the town the amazed need sailors saw the smoke lift lind and scarcely a house or a building left standing A hoit boat ho it crew immediately started lor for shore and as they reached the 0 waters edge tidal currents swirled in nod and twisted the wateree free from her anchor chains daylight turned to dail ness find tile wateree was lifted as it if by a giant hand band the teree started moving toward land sundy sandy water and foam swirled over her leeks decks and a minute later slie she emerged three miles tip the coast and two miles inland tile wateree was resting on an even keel against tile side of a mountain with her port anchor find fathoms of chain laid out intact out of men on board the Wa terpe only one was lot lost an in lon the next day revealed that the tidal wave carried water to a height of 47 feet on the mountainside feet from the ship the fredonia Fre donla was crushed on the beach with s a loss of all hands on board the peruvian man of war was caught by the currents and driven far out to sen sea it mas as impossible to salvage the wateree so her equipment was wag removed and her hull bull sold part of her guns were purchased by the peruvian government and later used against the chileans Chi leans today only the boilers and alv stem remain as mute evidence of a dis disaster a ster so strange that except tor for the naval records its occurrence might be of doubted |