Cordova, Alaska Cordova, Alaska Cordova () is a small town located near the mouth of the Copper River in the Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Alaska, United States, at the head of Orca Inlet on the east side of Prince William Sound. The population was 2,239 at the 2010 census, down from 2,454 in 2000. Cordova was named "Puerto Cordova" by Spanish explorer Salvador Fidalgo in 1790. No roads connect Cordova to other Alaskan towns, so a plane or ferry is required to travel there. In the Exxon Valdez oil spill of March 1989, an oil tanker ran aground northwest of Cordova, heavily damaging
SS Tuxpam (Mexican oil tanker) SS Tuxpam (Mexican oil tanker) The SS "Tuxpam" was an oil tanker, in the service of Petroleos Mexicanos, that was sunk on 27 June 1942 by U-129. She was completed in November 1903 as SS "Prometheus" for Deutsch-Amerikanische Petroleum GmbH, Hamburg. In 1914 she was laid up at New York City and, in December of that year, sold and renamed SS "Cushing" for Standard Oil of New Jersey, Bayonne. In September 1918, she was requisitioned by the US Navy as "USS Chinampa (SP-1952)" for the Naval Overseas Transportation Service and returned to her owners in May 1919. In 1924 she