Death on Wine-Dark Waters

The ancient Greeks dreaded the sudden squalls of the wine-dark Aegean Sea, where even the mighty Odysseus was sometimes washed overboard during his voyages. Modern Greeks are less superstitious. Despite gale warnings one evening last week, Captain Emmanuel Vernikos, 50, decided not to delay the departure of the Heraklion, his 8,900-ton auto-and-passenger ferry on its scheduled thrice-weekly 190-mile crossing from the Cretan city of Canea to Piraeus, Athens' port on the Greek mainland.

Suddenly, in mid-passage the skipper found himself in the midst of 70-m.p.h. gale winds and heavy waves. With horror, crew members reported that the cars and trucks on the auto deck were about to break from their flimsy moorings. Sure enough, they did, cascading into the ship's sides. Worst of all, a huge 16-ton trailer truck was improperly parked by the bow exit. Each time the ship pitched, it rammed against the door. Finally, the door gave way and in spilled the Aegean waters. Radioed the Heraklion: "S O S. We are sinking."

Passengers and crewmen threw themselves into the sea. Only a few had life jackets; the others clung to debris or quickly drowned. Within 15 minutes, the Heraklion sank, taking the captain with her.

The U.S. Sixth Fleet's aircraft carrier Shangri-La and scores of other ships converged on the disaster area. King Constantine flew his DC-3 to the scene and circled overhead, sometimes relaying rescue instructions to the searchers. On the dock at Piraeus, thousands of friends and relatives waited for the ships carrying the survivors and the blanket-shrouded bodies. By week's end 47 had been rescued, but the death toll was put at 234, making it one of the worst sea tragedies in Greek history. The government ordered a three-day period of national mourning.

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