Krakatoa...

... where tsunami did not kill, the volcanic ash did the rest...

Capt. Johan Lindeman piloted the ship Governor General Loudon through the Sunda Strait as Krakatoa erupted in 1883. The ship, operated by the Netherlands Indies Steamship Company as a mail steamer and excursion vessel, was based at Batavia.

This account from the captain begins after the ship docked at Anjer at 2 p.m. on Aug. 26, headed for Telok Betong. A few quotes in the summary of events have been taken from accounts written by a member of the ship’s crew and a passenger.

The diary, Sunday, Aug. 26, 1883

• The Loudon takes passengers on board at Anjer. The ship leaves at 2:45 p.m. At the same time, Krakatoa is "casting forth enormous columns of smoke."
• At 6 p.m., the ship endures heavy falls of ash and pumice, and the wind starts to pick up.
• At 7 p.m., the ship struggles up the coast past Krakatoa, making its way toward Telok Betong. The Loudon approaches the bay and anchors up.
• Later that night, lightning strikes the main mast conductor six or seven times, and "the mud rain, which covered the masts, rigging and decks, was phosphorescent and on the rigging presented the appearance of St. Elmo's fire."
• The native crew tries to put out the flames with their bare hands, pleading with the Europeans, convinced it was the work of evil spirits, and a harbinger of the ship being wrecked.
• Lindeman orders fire hoses set up and ready on deck, "since there was every chance that the ship might catch fire. It is most amazing that this did not happen."
• At midnight, Lindeman sends several signals to shore requesting a sloop to land the passengers bound for Telok Betong. When no sloop comes, Lindeman sends the first mate in a small boat to find out what's happening.
• The first mate returns an hour later saying it's impossible to land because of the heavy current and surf, and that the pier head is standing partly underwater. A boat that had tried to put off from shore has already been wrecked — the sloop the Loudon was expecting.
• The captain hears other ships' bells ringing and is concerned about a collision, so he sails blind to get away from the bells.

The further notes from the diary are to be read here.

Anak Krakatoa, the Son of Krakatoa, a volcano that is growing 5m a year, grows on the spot where the original Krakatoa was and disappeared after its huge erruption in 1883.

The wave that was generated after the erruption was the biggest tsunami ever recorded, the waves came up to Europe. The volcanic dust that got into the atmosphere supposedly caused the temperature to drop on the Earth for the several upcoming decades (maybe that is the reason for the global warming - the dust has finally left the atmosphere and the temperature on the planet came to its usual level ;o).

The scary part is that the volcano is errupting again... many of the locals in West Java do not even know what Krakatoa is... 2000 people died in 1883, now in the surroundings of Krakatoa live millions of people.