The survivors of Katmai testify to the Marine Board of Investigation during Oct. 27 and Oct. 28 in Anchorage. Four persons, captain Henry Blake, deck hands Adam Foster and Harold “C.J.” Appling and deck boss Guy Shroder, survived out of a crew of 11 that set out for Pacific cod in the remote Aleutian Islands. Expressing the horror of the sinking vessel the survivor faces wore grave expressions as they listened to the board’s opening remarks.
Captain Blake said that he knew that his crew was headed into stormy weather when he took the watch on Oct. 21. he added that the vessel was fully loaded with about 120,000 pounds of cod and headed back to Dutch Harbor by way of Amchitka Pass. He told that he sent Foster to find the ship’s chief engineer, Robert “Bob” Davis, who went below and reported there was water flooding the lazaret, a compartment in the stern of the ship, and that was what had made the steering go out. Knowing that Davis would be pumping the lazaret, Blake was not overly concerned.
According to Blake Katmai landed in a ditch but she was doing real well. In the beginning his chief concern was that the boat would lose some of its product. But knowing that “when things happen, they happen fast,” he ordered the crew members to don their survival suits.
Davis reported that the flooding had somehow spread from the lazaret to the engine room. Though Davis said that everything was under control, Blake recalled that “it was a whole different feeling.” Foster said that Cedric cut the line right before the boat went down, and then we had to battle to tie the canopy of the raft. It is true that while they battled the sea, they also battled for each other.
Shroder said that even as he struggled, he tried to keep spirits up by talking like their ordeal was no big deal. Foster told that one wave carried him 40 yards from the raft. With no beacon or canopy, it took several minutes to spot where the raft had gone. Rescue helicopter pilot Lt. Zachary Koehler flew the helicopter that spotted the raft. He said that it was a stroke of luck that they found the raft at all. Seeing a black raft on a steel blue sea is very difficult, said Koehler.
