The finest hours : the true story of the U.S. Coast Guard's most daring sea rescue by Tougias Mike 1955-

Author:Tougias, Mike, 1955-
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Pendleton (Tanker), CG36500 (Lifeboat), Shipwrecks -- Massachusetts -- Chatham -- History, Shipwreck survival -- History, Shipwreck survival, Shipwrecks, Survival after airplane accidents, shipwrecks, etc. -- History, Shipwrecks -- History, Massachusetts -- Chatham
ISBN: 9781416567219
Publisher: New York : Scribner
Published: 2009-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

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PART TWO

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

THE MERCEKS BOW CAPSIZES

At sea a fellow comes out. Salt water is like wine, in that respect.

—Herman Melville

As Chatham celebrated the rescue of thirty-two sailors from the Pendleton’s stern, the survivors still on board the drifting hulk of the Fort Mercer’s bow huddled together for warmth. They had watched several of their crewmates fall to their death, and now, in the darkness, all they could do was wait for dawn, and hope that the cutter Yakutat, which was standing by, would somehow get them off before they went down with the ship.

Captain Naab of the Yakutat had spent a sleepless night staring at the huge black hulk of the Mercer, praying it stayed afloat until dawn. And so when the captain saw the first hint of light to the east, he was relieved. He was also thankful that the snow and sleet had let up. The wind was still howling, but the seas seemed to have eased a bit, dropping from the fifty- and sixty-foot range to about forty feet. Now Naab went over his options. After what had transpired the preceding night he did not want to send over more life rafts. He was afraid that if the survivors fell into the frigid ocean, they simply would not have the strength or the dexterity to stay afloat or climb into the rafts. Naab knew that the only way men in the water could be saved was if some of his own crewmen were waiting for them. He then made a fateful decision. The cutter’s 26-foot lifeboat would be launched with a crew of five. It was a gamble, to be sure; now Naab not only had to worry

about the survival of the tanker’s crewmen, but he knew his ovm men might be lost as well.

The skipper also worried that the men left on the Mercer’s bow might, upon seeing a lifeboat coming their way, jump too soon. He picked up a loudspeaker and shouted to the survivors that he was sending over a lifeboat, and that the lifeboat crew would signal to them when it was time to jump. He told the survivors that when the time came they should jump into the ocean next to the lifeboat and his men would pull them inside. Naab knew that if this rescue failed he would be second-guessed and the deaths of the men would forever haunt him. But, looking out at the bow, he thought the half ship was in jeopardy of capsizing at any time. He could not afford to wait a moment longer.

The lifeboat was referred to as a “Monomoy surfboat” because it was designed with a high bow for the big surf that crashed into Monomoy, just off Chatham.

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