With "a roar like an express train" the wave broke upon the Memphis. The weight of the falling water left most of those on deck bruised and battered. The entire ship except for the funnels, masts and bridge had been engulfed. Those on the bridge had at first thought that the ship had disappeared and that they had been left alone on the top of the wave, but gradually the turrets, the boat deck and the main deck came into view as the water drained away, and they realised that the ship was still afloat. But they had distinctly felt a bump as the bottom of the ship touched the sea bed, and they knew that the hull was likely to be seriously damaged.
Most of the crew were below decks and many had been injured by the motion of the ship as the wave hit, and some had been burned by escaping steam as the boilers exploded. The bridge personnel survived because they were able to take refuge inside the cage foremast, but the Captain's orderly did not get inside in time, and was washed overboard and drowned.
As the third step of the wave had passed the Memphis had been grounded on the coral bottom several times, and at one time the whole of the ship's port side was aground. In fact the 18,000 ton ship had been thrown onto her beam ends, but had recovered to an upright position. Two seamen had made a gallant effort to release the second anchor, but one of them was washed overboard. The other succeeded in knocking off the slip and was then nearly washed overboard as well. Regrettably it was by now too late, as the ship was already aground on the rocks at the edge of the harbour.
The Memphis struck the first rocks at about 16.45 and as each succeeding wave pounded her she was forced a little further ashore. The rocks were coral and pierced her side repeatedly. Memphis was still rolling from side to side, although firmly aground, and the watchers on shore could see that there were large holes in the ship's hull. At about 17.00 she was given one final push by the waves and moved slightly further inshore.
As soon as Memphis had gone firmly aground Captain Beach ordered all hands on deck and told the men to get as high as possible in the ship. Ropes were rigged to help them get up from below - the injured had to be hauled up. By now the ship had a heavy list to port and her upperworks were leaning towards the low cliffs of the shore, which were about 20-30 feet in height. Hundreds of Dominicans had gathered on the cliffs, and by now the entire force of Marines had been mobilised and ordered to the cliffs. Also there were those in the recreation party who had not been able to find room in the returning boat.
The crew endeavoured to throw heaving lines to those on shore - eventually one was caught by members of the recreation party. Its inboard end was secured to a 5-inch hawser and the men on shore were instructed to haul away. The shore end of the hawser had to be kept in hand all the time to allow for its tautening with the rolling of the ship, and for two hours the Marines and the recreation party hauled on it. A breeches buoy was rigged, having been quickly constructed on board, and a snatch block was used to connect it to the hawser. Additional lines were provided to haul it to and fro.
The Captain ordered the sick and injured to be sent first, but this proved problematical because some men were so badly burnt about the hands that they could not hold on to everything. Eventually they were moved in coal sacks. More hawsers were then brought into use, and eventually there were five in use. Thus a continuous shuttle was set up, with men being transported to shore at the rate of about five a minute. In all some 850 lives were saved in this way, but the Memphis had 40 fatalities - some from the boat, some washed overboard from the ship, and some from injuries they sustained on board the Memphis.
Admiral Pond had left the concert at about 16.30, unaware of what was happening except that it was too rough for him to go back on board ship. However, he was soon told and he and his party were taken in cars to the cliffs. It was never revealed either at the two subsequent inquiries or in the eventual court martial that it was he who had not allowed Captain Beach to keep steam in four boilers as he had wished, and one cannot but wonder whether he remembered this when he watched the cruiser's last moments from the safety of the cliffs . . .
Captain Beach had sent his Executive Officer, Williams, ashore early in order to organise arrangements for the reception and accommodation of the crew. Williams was still very dizzy, but did a magnificent job, and quickly got the 800 men organised. As the rescue proceeded and it got dark almost the entire population of San Domingo assembled on the cliffs, arriving in cars and on foot. The cars were at once commandeered to provide illumination with their headlights, since there were no street lights in the area. There had previously been bad feeling between the Marines and the local population, but this was now forgotten and the townsfolk played a large part in the rescue and in comforting and assisting the injured, of which there were around 180.
There were three power boats (two from Memphis and one from Castine) left to fend for themselves, as it had not been possible to hoist them on board. All three had been told to proceed out to sea and await the arrival of their parent ships. They got outside the harbour and waited for hours, riding the reduced swell in the deeper water quite well. They had seen the Castine leave the harbour, but had then lost sight of her.
The men in the boats could not see into the harbour, and had no idea of the disaster which had befallen the Memphis. After dark they decided to make for the only shore light they could see, that of the San Domingo lighthouse, some way to the north.
It was a bad decision, as the waves were much larger inshore and breaking heavily on the rocks. The boats soon got into the surf, and it was then to late for the boats to be extricated. They had stuck together as far as possible, but one by one all three were broken up on the rocky shore, and eight men were drowned.
It did not take long to realise that Memphis was a total loss. The hull was wrecked and the engines were a write-off. Only the guns were in a fit condition for salvage - they were subsequently removed by the battleship New Hampshire, which was sent to the island for this purpose.
Memphis was finally left abandoned on the rocks to await the arrival of the ship breakers - she was to wait 21 years.
Additional Sources:
www.chinfo.navy.mil
www.navsource.org
www.grijalvo.com
