Fredonia Caught Up in An Earthquake and Is Destroyed
In 1868, owing to yellow fever at Callao, Fredonia was moved to Arica, in the southern coast of Peru, where on 13 August she was destroyed by a violent earthquake. The first severe shock occurred about 5:05 p.m., followed by successive shocks and a tremendous tsunami. Wateree, also anchored in the harbor of Arica, was washed ashore, while the storeship was completely broken up with a loss of 27 lives.
Only five of Fredonia's complement survived—three officers, who were on shore, and two enlisted men who were rescued the following morning from a portion of the wreck. The earthquake, reported to be the most devastating and extensive that ever occurred in South America, destroyed not only Arica but a number of other large cities on the west side of the Peruvian Andes Mountains.
Read more about this topic: USS Fredonia (1845)
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