Tsunamis and the US Navy

Abstract

This chapter presents the story of US Navy ships in the Virgin Islands following the Civil War. On November 18, 1867, a tsunami struck, destroying many of the ships; the events that unfolded are told in firsthand accounts. This tsunami would ultimately delay the purchase of the US Virgin Islands for half a century, thus focusing the US Navy on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, with its own major consequences. Less than a year later, two more US Navy ships would be carried ashore by a tsunami, but this time on the coast of Peru. A Peruvian warship, the Americana, lost her captain and some 85 men, and the remaining crew broke into the liquor stores and became drunk. Meanwhile, the warship USS Wateree would lose only 1 sailor, end up permanently stranded on the beach, and eventually be sold to become a seaside hotel.