Thomas F. Allain

Thomas F. Allain helped to save Helvig S. Christensen from drowning and exposure, Elfin Cove, Alaska, November 18, 1950. On Cross Sound during a violent gale, a trolling boat in which Christensen, 45, machine-shop proprietor, and two companions were riding on the morning of November 15 ran aground on a submerged reef 3,700 feet from Yakobi Island and broke up and sank in high swells. Christensen was swept against a large rock rising 30 feet from the water and onto a ledge 10 feet above the surface. His companions were drowned. Christensen grasped a projection and secured himself. He was pelted continually with icy spray, became badly numbed, and lost consciousness that evening. The gale raged for almost two days. The pilot of another craft had observed the foundering of the trolling boat and notified residents of a hamlet 14 miles from the accident. Allain, 34, commercial fisherman, arrived at the hamlet on the night of November 17 and was informed of the disappearance of the other boat by C. Marie Mork and her sister Betty. Allain ascertained that the lowest tide near the rock would occur early the following morning and resolved to proceed to the scene without delay. Marie and Betty volunteered to accompany him. He piloted his fishing-boat 12 miles in an inlet and reached the sound. Maneuvering through swells four feet high, Allain continued two miles to within 300 feet of the rock. Visibility was poor. Allain sounded a whistle, and Christensen revived and called to them. As Allain attempted to pilot the craft closer, the boat ran aground on a reef. The propeller was badly damaged, and two holes were torn in the hull. Allain observed water rising rapidly in the bilge, and he and the girls launched a skiff and prepared to abandon the boat. A swell suddenly lifted the boat free of the reef. Allain anchored the boat beyond the reef. At his instruction, Marie began pumping out the water with a hand-pump. Allain directed Betty to operate the steering wheel and to prevent the boat from drifting broadside to the swells. With great difficulty he rowed 300 feet in the skiff and advancing on an incoming swell made momentary contact with the rock. At his call, Christensen slid downward into the skiff. Allain rowed to the boat, which pitched and rolled in the surf, and aided by the girls lifted Christensen aboard. Allain removed Christensen’s clothing, which was frozen solid below the waist, and wrapped him in blankets in a bunk. Although greatly impeded by the damaged propeller, Allain piloted the boat to the inlet. The girls by pumping steadily kept the rising water under control. They reached the hamlet at daybreak. Christensen was in a critical condition and suffered from shock, hunger, and frostbite of the hands, feet, and legs. He was hospitalized two months, his lower legs and the tips of two fingers being amputated. Allain was tired.