Today in Coast Guard History
1964 – The Israeli passenger liner Shalom and the Norwegian tanker Stolt Dagali collided off Point Pleasant, New Jersey in a dense fog. Nineteen tanker crewmen were killed in the collision which sliced the tanker into two pieces. CGC Point Arden was the first on scene. Five other cutters and “a fleet” of Coast Guard and Navy helicopters soon joined in the rescue and salvage operations, resulting in the rescue of 24 of the tanker’s crew. One injured Shalom crewman was airlifted by a Coast Guard helicopter for medical treatment and survived. No one else from the liner was injured.
1968 – While en route from Apia, Western Samoa to Pago Pago, Polynesian Airlines Flight 5WFAA sighted the wreckage of an overturned vessel and reported it to the Federal Aviation Agency Flight Service at Tafuna, American Samoa. CGC Cape Providence, moored at Pago Pago on search and rescue standby, was notified of the sighting. With an assist from the Polynesian airliner, the cutter located the disabled fishing vessel named Main Sun No.2 and found 17 survivors clinging to the overturned hull. Despite the rough seas breaking over the hull, the Cape Providence rescued 13 of the survivors, while 4 more were retrieved from the water by the fishing vessel Chie Hong No.20, which had arrived on scene to assist. Two members of the 19-man crew, however, had been trapped in the engine room on the capsized vessel and had perished.
1996 – A Coast Guard HC-130 located a grossly overloaded Haitian freighter off the coast of Haiti. Crewmen from the cutters Dauntless, Chandelier, Monhegan, and Nantucket helped to transfer the largest group of Haitians ever found on a vessel to CGC Northland. One Haitian died of severe dehydration, the other 581 were repatriated.
1997 – Two crewmen died when the Japanese freighter Kuroshima ran aground in a storm near Dutch Harbor. Eighteen other crewmen were rescued by Coast Guardsmen who used a tow rope to haul a life raft to safety. The Coast Guardsmen were from CGC Midgett that was fortuitously in Dutch Harbor for a mid-patrol break. The freighter was later refloated.
2002 – President George W. Bush signed into law a bill that created the Department of Homeland Security, the largest reorganization of the federal government in fifty years. The Coast Guard was one of a number of agencies that transferred to the new Department; the transfer was scheduled to go into effect on 1 March 2003.
Blogs
Thanksgiving dinner with the Coast Guard – Coast Guard Compass
Coast Guard food service specialists serve in approximately 370 units worldwide. The keep the Coast Guard fleet ready and able to perform the service’s missions.
As many Americans gather together with family and loved ones on Thanksgiving, we thought there was no one better to turn to for advice on preparing the perfect meal than our own food service specialists. You’ve already got your turkey, but here, the chefs offer some Thanksgiving Day sides.
Recruit Company Zulu 188: Week 07 – Coast Guard Boot Camp
And just like that our last full week is coming to an end. Good thing too, we are so ready to get out of here and serve our country.
ANT San Diego and the Colorado River “Mardi Gratta” – Coast Guard Pacific Southwest
Question: What do Mardi Gras, the Arizona desert and the U.S. Coast Guard have in common?
Answer: the 7th Annual Bullhead City River Regatta.
Master Training Specialist: What it is & why it matters – Coast Guard All Hands
I had never heard of a master training specialist certification prior to getting my instructor qualification. Even when I learned what it was, I didn’t think it would be a useful qualification to obtain. I now realize what it means and how it has opened doors for me as an instructor, particularly as a machinery technician. At the time, I was at Training Team West in the middle of a complete revamping of lesson plans for fisheries instruction. My unit only had two MTSs and my command was pushing for someone else to get the qualification, so I forged ahead along this path that was still unknown to me.
Elsewhere
Former Coast Guard commander pleads guilty to murder for hire in Keys – Miami Herald
Dennis Zecca, a former commander of U.S. Coast Guard Station Islamorada, has admitted in federal court that he hired a hit man to kill Marathon Realtor Bruce Schmitt.
In return for his guilty plea to murder for hire, the U.S. attorney’s office in Miami dropped charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, and transfer of a firearm to a convicted felon.
