# The 'Johanna A' Salvage.



## Cpt Dick Brooks (May 13, 2013)

I was contacted by SSB radio on 4th May, 1979, about the wreck of the 80 foot local, wooden cargo boat, 'Johanna A' in Sandy Bay, on the east coast of St. Vincent, in the Windward Islands of the Caribbean Sea. She was of greenheart construction, built in Guyana nine months before, rigged with auxiliary sails and a diesel engine.
They had left Martinique bound for Barbados, and were very low on fuel. As it was a Sunday, they were unable to top up their fuel tanks, but left rather than wait until the Monday morning. Some way off to the east of St. Vincent they ran out of fuel, and ended up on the beach in Sandy Bay, St. Vincent. The black volcanic sand soon enharboured her, which set like wet cement once it had enclosed the ship.
Debut was anchored on the western side of World End Reef, and we had just discovered the wreck of an unknown British whaling ship, wrecked there some 150 years before. We got underway at 0605 hours the next day, bound for Kingstown, St. Vincent, after being contracted by the ship's agent to salvage the stranded vessel, arriving at 1005 hours.
After drifting in the harbour for a couple of hours, Debut got underway for the wreck site with the shipping agent and two of the owners on board. We didn't know it then, but she was owned by a large drug-trafficking syndicate, operating out of Curacao, in the Dutch West Indies, and that 'Johanna A' was one of their mother-ships. The two members of the syndicate that boarded Debut to come with us to the wreck-site were Robin... a 19 year old lad... and Michael... one of the senior members of the drug gang.
At 1445 hours, Debut anchored in Sandy Bay in 60 feet of water, with nine shackles of chain, dropping the anchor on the edge of the continental shelf, then backing into the bay. The 'Johanna A' was in a sorry state, with large breakers running into the bay, with the black volcanic sand within two feet of her waterline. It had set as firm as clay around her.
She should have been dug out with a caterpillar digger with a high-mounted engine, but that was out of the question. The volcano, Mount Soufriere, was in full eruption at the time, and the northern half of the island had been evacuated, and closed off to all members of the public. We were within two miles of the crater itself, with the smoke and ash from the volcano reaching up to 70,000 feet. The jet-stream was taking the cloud to windward, and started covering the streets of Bridgetown, Barbados, some 65 miles to the east. 
By 1800 hours, the wire had been stretched out on the seabed and attached to the bow of the 'Johanna A'. She had attempted to anchor, so was bows pointing outwards, but the strength of the wind and swell was too much for her.
After pumping her out, Debut took up the strain at high tide at 0030 hours, but the wire parted half an hour later, with a pull of 20 tons registered on the ammeter of the main winch motor. We shut down the machinery for the night, to await for the next high tide. By 0800 hours, the wind had increased to force 6 gusting at 7, and there was a large sea piling into the bay from the east. I decided to call off the salvage attempt due to a gale-force warning, and headed back to the shelter of Kingstown Harbour, arriving at 1645 hours and anchoring in 100 feet of water, with three shackles of chain.
We were asked to continue with the salvage attempt, and after another day's charter was paid for in cash, Debut got underway for Sandy Bay at 1205 hours on 10th May. She arrived off the bay at 1420 hours and anchored in 40 feet of water, with eight shackles of chain. By 1730 hours, Debut had reconnected her cable to the 'Johanna A' and took up the strain. After only half an hour we stopped pulling, as the tide had gone down too far.
Debut lifted her anchor and re-anchored 1,000 further out in the bay in 60 feet of water, with six shackles of chain. The wind was force 3, with a gentle onshore swell, and the ship was riding comfortably.
At 0230 hours the next morning, Debut took up the strain, keeping a constant 20 tons pull on the wire for an hour. At 0330 hours, the wire parted with an explosive bang, caused by the wire cutting down the stem to the waterline, and tightened up again. 'Johanna A' fell in half, as if she'd been sliced down the side of the stem with an axe.
The wind was force 5 to 6, with 10 to 12 foot sea running, with heavy rain-squalls. There was a 3 knot north-setting current against Debut's starboard beam. The volcano had also come to full eruption, with lightening-bolts running up and down the 70,000 foot cloud. The red glow could clearly be seen at the summit, with trails of lava flowing down the side of the volcano towards us.
My main concern was of a pyro-plastic flow, as had happened in Martinique when their volcano erupted in the 19th century, killing all 35,000 inhabitants of the town of St. Pierre, and sinking the 34 ships that were lying at anchor in the bay to rescue the population. The only survivor was a drunk, who had been locked in the town jail overnight for being drunk and disorderly. Can you imagine the look on his face when he finally got free, to see the town all around him completely destroyed.
We shut down all the machinery to await further instructions from the charterers. As we were being paid on day-rate, it was now up to them if they wanted to continue.
At 0930 hours, the salvage operation was aborted, and 1,500 feet of inch diameter wire cable was hauled in, leaving another 1,000 feet on the sea-bed. The wind had got up even more onshore, so it was decided to get out of Sandy Bay while we still could, leaving everything else behind.
At 1010 hours, Debut got underway, bound for Kingstown Harbour, and what a sight the volcano set as we steamed west around the northern end of the island. The crew worked out on deck, clearing up all the equipment and hosing everything down. The deck was covered in two inches of volcanic ash, and everything smelt of sulphur.
At 1245 hours, Debut entered Kingstown Harbour and anchored in 60 feet of water, with two shackles of chain. It was a sad end to the salvage operation, but at least we got away from the wreck-site with no damage to Debut, and only the loss of a 1,000 feet of inch diameter cable. Without being able to have a digger on-site to gouge a channel out into deep water, the whole situation was hopeless.
At 1400 hours on 12th May, Debut got underway from Kingstown Harbour, bound for Bequia. At 1500 hours, Debut anchored in Admiralty Bay in 45 feet of water, with two shackles of chain. All the best, Cpt Dick Brooks.


----------

