"There was a violent shock. The town was enveloped in a pall of dust and was then no more," said one of the officers of the Blue Funnel vessel, who was an onlooker from her decks.
"We were lying off 'K' Pier, working cargo, when the terrific initial shock which destroyed Yokohama in a few seconds was felt," he said. Everything on the ship rattled and her masts swayed. In an instant she seemed to sink with the sea, taking a dive by the head to the buoy. She came up again and took two complete turns round the buoy, driven round by a gigantic whirlpool. The barometer was then as low as 29.48 in. A small typhoon threatened Yokohama. The town crumpled up. We could see that the wharves and mail jetty had been destroyed. The breakwater, with its doctor's station and time gun, submerged. Afterwards we were just able to see the tops of the two lighthouses above the surface at the entrance to the breakwater.
The. tidal wave came at 1.45. Ships were rocked about like corks. Portions of wharves and quays were adrift. One ship adrift came between us and another vessel, dropped anchor and hit us a severe blow, damaging the stern counter. Eventually this vessel found a mooring. We maintained a full head of steam, but the engines were useless in checking the ship.
"The fires on shore had already. started, and it was by now too hot for us. Lighters in flames drifted towards us. Fire hoses had to be manned and were kept continually playing on the ship."
THE TYPHOON, The typhoon now made the launching of small boats almost too dangerous a venture. Only powerful tenders or launches could weather the gale. The heat from the burning town was intense. Hundreds of people were swimming out from the shore in an attempt to reach the shipping. During this terrifying stage, Mr. Phillipsen and Mr. Clarence Martin did heroic work in their powerful launch,- continually going to and from the shore to pick up the drowning and others by the launch was Messrs. Butterfield & Swire's Yokohama staff.
On one of the' landings from the launch Mr. Martin visited the wrecked French Consulate-General, where M. Dejardin lost his life. The walls were collapsing and Mr. Martin had a. miraculous escape from death.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.