Surviving the great storm of ’51

JERRY PERSON

One thing that can be said about our Southern California winter

weather is that you can never be sure what the next day will be like.

The storms that lashed their way across Huntington Beach in

December and January were sure something else. Streets flooded in

many parts of Downtown and a portion of Pacific Coast Highway was

closed to traffic.

But even with all this wet weather, our residents were still able

to find something good. Kids went out boogie boarding on the flood

waters around Lake Park, and some of our citizens were out kayaking

in flooded streets in the Glen Mar housing tract near Bushard and

Adams avenues.

These storms reminded me of the ones that barreled through

Huntington Beach in the winter of 1983. It was in those storms that

we lost part of our pier and the End Cafe. I can still recall

watching John Gustafson, the owner of the End Cafe, walking out on

the sand toward what was left of his restaurant.

Anyone who has ever owned a business, or known how much work and

sweat goes into building one up, will know what John must have felt

that morning.

I even made the mistake of driving my Capri on the flooded streets

near Park and 12th streets and saw the water reaching the bottom of

my car’s doors, nearly stranding me in that moving water. Lucky for

me the engine kept going long enough for me to reach safety.

So what has this got to do with today’s column?

This week, we are going back to remember another great storm that

struck our city in the spring of 1951.

Little did Dr. Ralph Hawes, chairman of that year’s May 14th

Salvage Week committee know that another salvage operation would

precede his by a couple weeks. Only this salvage would not be for

clothing or used furniture, but for the remains of two of three

vessels that had been dashed onto shore.

The weather on Saturday, April 28, began with dark clouds and

winds that would pick up by nightfall, and by the next morning would

become a major storm.

During the night, the sport fisher Cruiser II, a 42-foot sport

fishing boat owned by Ernest “Shorty” Ingersoll and Herbert Berry,

was tied up to buoys at the end of the pier hoping to ride out the

storm. The $4,500 craft had once been a water taxi, owned by Ruby

Crain of Costa Mesa.

Also moored to buoys at the end of the pier was the 65-foot deep

sea fishing boat Super Express. This twin diesel was owned and

piloted by William Wantz of Sunset Beach.

A third craft, the Elsie I -- a converted World War II infantry

landing craft, also owned by Ingersoll and Berry, was moored a half

mile off the coast at 23rd Street (Goldenwest) by strong bow and

stern anchors.

As the 65-mph winds ripped into town, it tore down power lines and

sent much of western Orange County into darkness. The winds sent

several lifeguard towers crashing to the ground, making driftwood out

of them.

Trees toppled into yards and into city streets. Ocean waves began

pounding our pier and debris slammed into the poor boats anchored

nearby.

Wantz remained aboard his craft and -- straining those two diesel

engines -- was able to successfully beach his craft in the middle of

Huntington Beach State Beach.

Not as successful was the Cruiser II, as the winds and surf

pounded the helpless vessel, breaking her lines and sending it onto

the shore in pieces. Unlike the Super Express, there was no one on

board her to guide it safely to shore. Debris from the Cruiser II

would litter the shoreline over a wide area.

The 165-foot barge Elsie I, with its barge master Wade Showalter

aboard, capsized at the height of the storm, sending Showalter into

the churning sea and to his death.

As the storm subsided, salvage operations began. The owners of the

Elsie I hired a Long Beach salvage company to tow her to shore.

Before reaching land, however, it broke in half and shortly sank into

40 feet of water.

All that could be salvaged from the Cruiser II were its motor,

shaft and propeller.

A tugboat succeeded in pulling the deep sea Super Express back out

into the ocean, where the craft’s owner found the vessel had suffered

little damage.

Helicopters and a Coast Guard cutter combed the sea on April 29,

looking for Showalter.

Chief lifeguard Elmer Combs spent most of the day driving his

truck up and down the beach, from the Santa Ana River bed to the Seal

Beach net depot, looking for Showalter but without any luck.

In all, the great storm of ’51 caused $25,000 damage to Ingersoll

and Berry’s property and much more to our county’s residents.

These storms remind us that we are but just fragile beings on this

old ball and are at the mercy of Mother Nature.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.