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January
9: A Coast Guard HH-52 helicopter flying from Barbers Point Air Station located and hoisted aboard three survivors from a twin-engine Cessna that ditched 9 miles southeast of Oahu, Hawaii. The rescue took place at night.
10: An HH-3 helicopter hoisted a sick crewman from the Greek merchant ship Golden Spear 170 miles northeast of Miami. Coast Guard Radio Station Miami received the request for medical assistance. The sick man was flown to a hospital in West Palm Beach.
10: An HH-3 from Coast Guard Air Station San Diego evacuated a crewman from the Liberian tanker Stolt Eagle, 150 miles southwest of San Diego.
12: A Coast Guard C-130 from Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii, discovered a Japanese vessel illegally fishing inside the U. S. fishery conservation zone. The vessel was instructed to sail to Midway Island. On 14 January a boarding party from the cutter Jarvis (WHEC- 725) was flown to the island by a Coast Guard C-130. The vessel was seized and sailed to Honolulu in the custody of the Jarvis boarding party.
14: An HH-3 from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater hoisted a sick woman from the Indian tanker Jag Darshan while 215 miles northeast of Nassau. The helicopter had flown to Nassau a day earlier. A Coast Guard C-130 from the same air station had located and provided navigational assistance to the tanker. The C-130 then flew the woman from Nassau to Miami for hospitalization.
18-20: A severe storm hit the upper Texas coast. Winds reached 70 knots and seas ran up to 30 feet. All Coast Guard units between Galveston and Panama City, Texas, were involved in search and rescue operations.
21: An HU-25 Falcon jet transported a diver, a U. S. citizen, suffering from the bends from La Cieba, Honduras, to a hospital in Gainesville, Florida.
23: A utility boat from Coast Guard Base Miami Beach evacuated a sick passenger from the liner Sun Viking in the Straits of Florida.
28: An HH-3 from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod evacuated a seriously injured crewman from the Spanish fishing craft Rio Verengo about 100 miles off Nantucket.
31: Helicopters from Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans and civilian craft picked up six survivors from the 54-foot Miss Bridgett which had capsized following a collision.
During the entire month of January, the Coast Guard seized 11 vessels suspected of carrying drugs. Ninety-five persons were arrested and 199,383 pounds of marijuana were confiscated. An additional 10,975 pounds of marijuana was recovered as floating debris. The Coast Guard participated in two joint seizures with other agencies. These resulted in the confiscation of 550 pounds of pure cocaine. All seizures took place off the southeast United States, except for one made in San Francisco and one in Los Angeles. (See yearly summary)
February
In February, the Coast Guard announced that the OMEGA radio navigation system is operational in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. The OMEGA system is capable of providing position-fixing accuracy of two to four nautical miles. 2 dims, 95% confidence for ships and aircraft.
5-6: Aircraft from Coast Guard Air Stations Traverse City and Detroit, plus craft from four small boat stations rescued 14 people trapped on ice floes in the Great Lakes area.
7: A Coast Guard helicopter from Air Station Miami located a sinking Bahamian barge east of Miami. It diverted a merchant vessel to the scene to pick up five survivors in a life raft.
7: A helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City evacuated an injured stowaway from the container ship St. Louis. The patient was hoisted off and taken to a hospital in Morehead City, North Carolina.
8: The merchant ship Eagles Cliff sank east of Galveston, Texas. A helicopter from the Coast Guard Air Station Houston delivered three Coast Guard marine safety observers from Galveston to survey the situation. Three utility boats from Base Galveston, along with a civilian
boat removed the 17-man crew.
10: Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Huntington monitored the cleanup of the Ohio River following a spill of 42,000 gallons of gasoline.
12: The collier Marine Electric foundered and sank 30 miles east of Chinco- teague, Virginia, in heavy seas. Coast Guard, Navy, and civilian units rushed to the scene. Three survivors and 24 bodies were recovered. A Marine Board of Investigation was convened. Results of the investigation have not been released.
13-24: Admiral James S. Gracey, Commandant of the Coast Guard, visited seven West African countries to discuss issues of mutual interest.
14: After a seven-day, 16,000 square- mile search by Coast Guard, Air Force, and Navy aircraft, along with Coast Guard cutters Sherman (WHEC-720) and Polar Sea (WAGB-11), the capsized hull of the vessel Americus was found. Reported missing since 7 February, along with a sister ship, Altair, the search was suspended with no survivors located. No trace was found of the Altair, and a formal marine board was convened to investigate the incident.
16: The San Mateo, a 41-foot passenger vessel carrying 30 school children and two crewmen, broke up and capsized while departing Morro Bay Harbor in California. Various Coast Guard units participated in the rescue of all aboard, and a joint Coast Guard/National Transportation Safety Board-Marine Board of Investigation was convened to determine the cause of the casualty.
17: A tug with 18 barges in tow struck bottom three miles down the Mississippi River from Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The tow broke apart and four barges grounded, one carrying tetrapropylene, a combustible lubrication additive. Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Paducah was the on-scene coordinator.
20: A helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco and two rescue boats from Coast Guard Station Fort Point recovered three men who were thrown overboard from the charter vessel Ketchikan during heavy swells near the San Francisco Bar. Four of the remaining 17 passengers were taken to shore by a
44-footer, and the vessel was escorted to Port.
20: The Coast Guard’s Office of Research and Development, in conjunction with the Navy, contracted the lease of a modem, lighter-than-air craft from Airship Industries, Ltd., of Great Britain. The Coast Guard contributed approximately half of the funding required to assess the LTA craft’s capabilities as patrol platforms, and to evaluate their use in a wide spectrum of Coast Guard missions.
22: The Coast Guard began the 1983 International Ice Patrol season. Originating after the Titanic disaster in 1912, the International Ice Patrol has been managed hy the Coast Guard since 1914. The ice Patrol is usually conducted by visual and electronic surveillance from a C-130 aircraft augmented by cutters. The number °f icebergs entering the patrolled area varies greatly from year to year. None were reported in 1966, and a record 1,587 were discovered in 1972.
Four vessels were seized during the month of February in drug interdiction efforts. The Coast Guard cutters Ute, Cape Shoalwater, Point Warde, and Coast Guard Station Lake Worth, Flor- •da, were credited with one case each, resulting in the arrests of 14 persons and |he seizure of 58,675 pounds of marijuana. All seizures took place off the southeast United States. (See yearly summary.)
March
1: The construction barge Betty L broke loose from its moorings near San Francisco due to high winds and heavy seas. The barge contained 140,000 gallons of diesel oil. A helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco evacuated 12 workers from the barge, and equipment and advice were provided hy the Pacific Strike Team. The Marine Safety Office monitored salvage opera- hons and barge repairs, and no pollution occurred.
5: A 41-foot utility boat from Coast Cuard Station Pensacola, Florida, rescued four persons from the 60-foot tug- uoat Sharon B, taking on water in a heavy squall. The Coast Guard vessel fought against 6-to-8-foot seas and one-mile visibility to rescue the men, treat them for hypothermia, and transport them to a local hospital. The Sharon B eventually grounded in 25 feet of water.
7: The first polar circumnavigation within 60 degrees south latitude by a U. S. icebreaker was completed by the Polar Star (WAGB-10). The Coast Guard icebreaker circumnavigated Antarctica during the period 27 December 1982 through 7 March 1983. Coast Guard icebreakers have regularly deployed to the Antarctic since 1946 under the mission name “Operation Deep Freeze.”
8: A memorandum of understanding was signed between the U. S. Coast Guard and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The memorandum agrees that under Section 4, (b)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the Coast Guard has jurisdiction for enforcing occupational safety and health regulations for vessels inspected and certified by the Coast Guard.
15: The Coast Guard cutter Morgen- thau (WHEC-722) completed a 250-mile tow of a disabled Navy oceanographic vessel. The Navy vessel, De Steiguer (T-AGOR-12), was disabled on 11 March when her screw became fouled with one-inch oceanographic cable, and requested Coast Guard assistance on 12 March due to the potential for deteriorating weather conditions. The vessel was delivered to Navy tugs near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco Harbor.
17: The Coast Guard cutter Glacier (WAGB-4) aided in the unsuccessful search for the Summer Seas, a 36-foot sloop with two U. S. citizens aboard, off the coast of Tahiti. The cutter searched a 1,875 square-mile area but found no trace of the vessel.
17: The motor vessel E.D. Wattles, with the dredge boat Alabama in tow, struck a submerged lock wall of Lock and Dam 53, on the Ohio River, four miles upriver from Olmstead, Illinois. The vessel was carrying 12,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 1,000 gallons of lube oil. Over
4,0 gallons of spilled material were recovered, with Marine Safety Office Paducah monitoring the cleanup.
19: Coast Guard, Navy, and Air Force planes suspended their search for a 25- foot pleasure craft overdue in the Florida area. Twenty sorties and 50 hours of flight time were logged in the search.
20: The Coast Guard training bark Eagle (WIX-327), en route to New London, intercepted a radio transmission stating that an Army Chinook helicopter with five passengers had crashed in the water 10 miles east of the Chesapeake Light Tower. Within the hour, the Eagle was at the site and had assumed the duties of on-scene controller. Intense search efforts by Army and Coast Guard helicopters, the Eagle's small boats and National Strike Team divers from the Point Huron (WPB-82357) recovered one body from the water. Two other bodies were spotted in the wreckage, but no survivors were found. The Point Huron stayed on scene throughout the night over the inverted craft, awaiting the arrival of Navy salvage units.
21: The 85-foot Texaco jack-up drill rig Mallard-35 collapsed while under tow five miles southwest of Point Conception, California. Two HH-52 helicopters from Coast Guard Air Station Los Angeles, cutters Point Bridge (WPB-82338) and Point Barrow (WPB-82348), and a utility boat from Station Channel Islands Harbor responded. An injured crewman was hoisted on board an HH-52, and one cutter remained with the wreckage until it sank.
27: The cutter Sassafras (WLB-401) intercepted and seized the Japanese fishing vessel Shinei Maru No. 21, about 165 miles northwest of Midway Island. A Coast Guard C-130 aircraft had spotted the vessel about 20 miles inside the fisheries conservation zone and radioed the cutter. The vessel’s catch included billfish, for which a permit is required. The vessel was escorted to Honolulu.
28: The U. S. successfully launched a satellite as part of an international cooperative program in search and rescue. The SARSAT (search and rescue satellite- aided tracking) satellite joined a similar Soviet satellite called COSPAS, which was already in orbit and undergoing evaluation. The Coast Guard Office of Research and Development is managing the Department of Transportation’s participa-
79
Uoceedings / Naval Review 1984
Coast Guardsmen from the 110-foot harbor tug Raritan paint a marijuana leaf insignia on the bridge after she made a major contraband seizure in September in Long Island Sound.
tion in the program.
30: The Coast Guard cutter Storis (WMEC-38) seized the Japanese fishing tender Hiyo Maru and the trawler Tomi Maru No. 83 about 165 miles from St. Mathews Island for improperly logging a transfer of sablefish. They were escorted to Kodiak, Alaska.
Twelve vessels were seized during the month of March in drug interdiction activities. Nine were U. S. vessels, one was Panamanian, one was Canadian, and one was stateless. These seizures resulted in confiscation of 110,343 pounds of marijuana, 46.2 pounds of cocaine, and the arrest of 41 persons. An additional 85 pounds of marijuana was discovered as floating debris. (See yearly summary.)
Personnel from the Marine Safety Office in Miami observed the offloading of 18 Haitian aliens from motor vessels at the Habrew Marine Facility on the Miami River. All were taken into custody and remanded into the custody of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
April
2: The motor vessel City of Greenville, towing four barges of crude oil, struck the Poplar Street bridge over the Mississippi River at St. Louis, Missouri. The barges, carrying 672,000 gallons of oil, were heavily damaged, creating a major pollution incident. Cleanup operations were conducted by the Gulf Strike Team, using booms at three locations downriver from the original spill site. The remainder of the spilled oil was dissipated by the rising water level and the swift current.
4: Utility boats from Coast Guard Station Manasquan, New Jersey, assisted a Navy explosives ordnance detail in removing an unexploded depth charge from the fishing vessel Pearle W. O'Neil. The vessel had recovered the device in its nets while fishing 40 miles off the coast of Sandy Hook, New Jersey. A Coast Guard safety zone was set up while the high explosive was loaded onto a raft and detonated.
AS 15 TT Lightweight, all-weather,
anti-ship search and attack system
6: The Coast Guard cutter Bear (WMEC-901) saved the three-man crew of a Bell Ranger helicopter when it was forced to ditch off the Panamanian coast. The helicopter was working in support of a 194-foot tuna boat at the time of the accident. The three men were recovered
from the pontoon of the helicopter and treated for minor injuries before being returned to the fishing vessel.
6-12: The Eighth Coast Guard District assisted in flood-relief operations throughout Louisiana. The district disaster control plan was implemented, and a Disaster Control Group established in Slidell, where some of the worst flooding occurred. Numerous sorties were conducted during this period to aid evacuees, search for missing persons, and to maintain law and order. Helicopter overflights Were conducted in close cooperation with state and local disaster relief authorities.
18: The Coast Guard helped fight a fire involving hazardous chemicals in Hayward, California. The runoff was contained and kept from entering San Fran- eisco Bay.
21: A motor life boat from Coast Guard Station Eastport extinguished a fire on board the 35-foot Canadian fishing vessel Golden Rocket III off New Brunswick, Canada.
22: Coast Guard cutter Active
(WMEC-618) seized the fishing vessel Salveterra off the coast of Massachusetts. A Coast Guard aircraft from Air Station Cape Cod observed the craft fishing in a closed haddock spawning area. The boarding party also found that the mesh size of the nets was smaller than that permitted by Atlantic groundfish regulations.
14-27: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard personnel participated in the Joint Services Mobilization Exercise held in Morehead City, North Carolina. The Coast Guard was represented by 48 regular and 187 reserve personnel.
30: A 22-foot pleasure craft broke up and sank on its maiden voyage 15 miles northeast of Boston. A Coast Guard helicopter from Air Station Cape Cod, and utility boats from stations Gloucester and Point Allerton, together with state and civilian craft rescued five persons. Two lives were lost.
30: While on a weekly run from Jacksonville, Florida to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a Navy C-130 crashed shortly after takeoff from Naval Air Station Jacksonville. The aircraft, with 15 persons on board, was en route to Cuba when it crashed and fell into the St. John’s River, impacting 100 yards short of the runway. Three Coast Guard Auxiliary vessels assisted the Navy in establishing a 1A mile security zone around the crash site. One survivor was located and hospitalized. By Wednesday, 4 May, the bodies of the other 14 persons were recovered.
May 2: An inspection team from Coast
Guard Marine Inspection Detachment Houma, Louisiana, detained the tug- barge Star 7 on the Intercoastal Waterway near Larose, Louisiana. Inspection revealed possible hull damage to two port cargo tanks, and a flooded forward compartment. The barge was carrying
150,0 gallons of spent creosote and phenol mixture. Captain of the Port, New Orleans, monitored the situation.
3: Two barges under tow by the tugboat Jennie Dehmer went aground on the Tennessee River. Marine Safety Office Nashville responded, and there was no discharge of the barge’s cargo of asphalt. The barges were refloated later in the day without incident.
10: The Coast Guard cutter Cape Hat- teras (WPB-95305) seized a Canadian fishing vessel for fishing for halibut in a closed area in violation of the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982.
11: Coast Guard cutter Rush (WHEC- 723) seized a Japanese trawler in the Bering Sea for underlogging its catch of Pacific Cod. The vessel was escorted to Kodiak, Alaska.
16: A Coast Guard aircraft from Air Station Barbers Point and an Air Force jet intercepted and escorted a commercial
(Continued on page 214)
Intended as the armament for helicopte
shipping role such as the DAUPHIN,
□ Detection of surface targets at long-range by of the AGRION radar of advanced technoli
c Surface situation reporting to friendly ships.
□ Target indication for long-range anti-ship missiles (such as EXOCET MM 40).
DIVISION ENGINS TACTIQUES
2,
□ Firing of AS 15 TT missiles with command guidance of high accuracy to a maximum range of more than 15 km.
U. S. Coast Guard in 1983 (Continued from page 81)
airliner bound from Honolulu to San Francisco which had declared an in-flight emergency. The airliner landed safely without incident.
20: A helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater evacuated two injured crew members from the Spanish tanker Castillo de Javier about 150 miles west of Key West, Florida.
22: Cutter Point Bonita (WPB-82347) seized a U. S. fishing vessel in an area closed for haddock spawning, approximately 40 miles southeast of Cape Cod.
22: The commanding officer of the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Buffalo was the on-scene coordinator for the cleanup of a major oil spill in the St. Lawrence River. The Yugoslavian vessel Beograd had spilled 11,000 gallons of number six fuel oil.
23: The cutter Bibb (WHEC-31) seized an 84-foot side trawler 50 miles southeast of Cape Cod for violating the Magnuson Fisheries Conservation Act. The vessel was fishing in a closed haddock spawning area.
26: A helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Astoria, Oregon, evacuated a crewman from the U. S. tanker Bay Ridge approximately 200 miles southwest of Astoria. The man had suffered a severe hand injury.
27: A Coast Guard helicopter from Air Station Clearwater, Florida, flew three injured persons from Bimini to a Miami hospital. They had been injured when their inflatable dinghy was run down in a boating accident.
29: A Coast Guard helicopter from Air Station Kodiak evacuated a crewman from the Russian fishing vessel Egorova about 210 miles west of Kodiak. The man had received an emergency appendectomy on board earlier in the day and required medical facilities ashore.
June
2: The merchant ship Sunwave broke away from its moorings and collided with a dock on the Mississippi River 40 miles above New Orleans. The accident resulted in a 20-foot gash and a spill of
63,0 gallons of bunker C fuel. Coast Guard Captain of the Port, New Orleans, was the on-scene coordinator for the cleanup operations.
3: The Liberian tanker Caribbean Courage collided with a dock in Corpus
Cristi Bay, Texas, spilling 37,800 gallons of crude oil. The commanding officer of Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Corpus Christi was the on-scene coordinator of the cleanup operations.
8: Several Coast Guard and Air Force aircraft responded to the in-flight emergency of a Reeve-Aleutian Airlines craft, with 15 persons on board. The aircraft lost a propeller soon after takeoff from Cold Bay, Alaska. The fuselage, nose gear, and throttle of the aircraft were damaged by the flying propeller. A C-130 aircraft from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak escorted the damaged aircraft to Anchorage, Alaska, where it skidded off the runway, but made a safe full- power landing.
9: The Greek merchantman Athena radioed that she was taking on water and in danger of sinking 250 miles south of Adak, Alaska. A Coast Guard C-130 from Air Station Kodiak provided continuous air cover until other merchant ships had arrived on the scene in answer to the distress call. The crew safely abandoned ship.
9: Three railroad tank cars containing sulphur and naphtha derailed near Three- Mile Creek in Mobile, Alabama. The tanker containing naphtha, a highly-flam- mable liquid, began leaking. Marine Safety Office Mobile, as on-scene commander, and members of the Gulf Strike Team monitored salvage operations by railroad personnel. The cars were righted without further incident.
10: The Coast Guard cutter Ute rescued four Mexican fishermen from a life raft in the Yucatan Channel. The men were the entire crew of the Mexican fishing vessel Don Pepe II, which sank in six-to-eight-foot seas on 21 May. The 21-day ordeal left the fishermen suffering from exposure, severe skin ulcers, dehydration and starvation. Medical care was provided, and the men were turned over to a hospital in Key West, Florida, in stable condition.
12: Cutter Active (WMEC-618) intercepted a 25-foot Haitian sailing vessel in the Windward Passage with 76 Haitian immigrants on board. All were returned to Port-au-Prince.
15: The First Coast Guard District received a report of a fire aboard the fishing vessel Gull. All five crew members were preparing to abandon ship 35 miles east- northwest of Nantucket Island. The Coast Guard cutter Cape Henlopen (WPB- 95328), a helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, and a lifeboat from Station Chatham, along with several commercial fishing vessels, responded. The five crewmen were recovered by the fishing vessel Jaqualin Maria and transferred to the Cape Henlopen. They were returned to shore for medical treatment-
16: The Coast Guard cutter Point Judith (WPB-82345) assisted the U. S. Customs Service in seizing the Greenpeace vessel Pacific Peacemaker. The Greenpeace vessel was attempting to disrupt a test of the MX missile two miles offshore from Vandenburg Air Force Base. Eleven different violations of customs laws were discovered after the vessel was boarded. Crewmen from the Point Judith acted as custody crew for the seized protest vessel, and all of the protesters were taken to Coast Guard Station channel Island Harbor for disposition.
July
7: A utility boat from Coast Guard Base South Portland, Oregon, rescued five crewmembers from the tug Helen McAllister which had capsized in Casco Bay. One life was lost.
7: A surfboat from Coast Guard Station Tillamook Bay, Oregon, rescued two persons from a capsized boat off the Netarts Bay Bar.
11: A Coast Guard helicopter from Ait Station Clearwater, Florida, rescued two Air Force personnel who had ditched their F-16 aircraft 57 miles west of St’ Petersburg.
12: A Coast Guard helicopter transported a diver suffering a case of bends from the diving vessel Sea Hunt to a decompression chamber. The accident occurred 40 miles south of Long Island-
18: The Coast Guard cutter Steadfast (WMEC-623) intercepted a 25-foot Haitian sailing vessel in the Windward Passage with 21 Haitians on board. All were returned to Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
21: Craft from Coast Guard Station Is' lamorda intercepted a Cuban fishing craft near Long Key, Florida, with 27 Cubans on board. The four crew members claimed they had been hijacked. They were escorted out of U. S. territorial waters. The remaining Cubans were re-
:J
manded to the U. S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.
22: The Coast Guard cutter Cape Hat- teras seized a Canadian fishing vessel for fishing without a permit inside U. S. territorial waters in the Dixon Entrance.
25: The Coast Guard cutter Boutwell (WHEC-719) rescued four persons from the sinking fishing vessel Comet, 20 miles north of Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
26: A helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station North Bend, Oregon, rescued two pilots from an Air National Guard jet. They had ejected 30 miles off the Oregon coast due to equipment failure.
30: The Captain of the Port of New Orleans closed five miles of the Mississippi River to all traffic following a major spill of vinyl chloride. The restrictions were lifted after it was determined the air quality was within safe limits.
During July, the Coast Guard seized six drug-laden vessels, five of U. S. registry and one stateless. 98,752 pounds of marijuana were seized, and 40 persons arrested. An additional 6,233 pounds of marijuana was picked up as floating debris. (See yearly summary.)
Also during the month, a Coast Guard group conducted an intensive study at the request of the Government of Bermuda concerning the island’s search and rescue needs.
August
10: Coast Guard cutter Cape Romain (WPB-95319) assisted the leaking Canadian fishing craft Sandra Mae II off Tracey Bay, Canada. Coast Guardsmen located and plugged the vessel’s leak.
18: Coast Guard units responded to the dangers and damage created by Hurricane Alicia. Helicopters evacuated stranded persons and conducted damage assessment flights. Buoy tenders repaired damaged aids to navigation. The Houston- Galveston Vessel Traffic Service was damaged by the hurricane.
22: The Coast Guard Research and Development Center at Groton, Connecticut, began evaluation of the lighter-than- air AI500 Airship off Oregon Inlet, North Carolina. Tests included infrared scanner surveys, aerial photography, datum marker buoy drift, and gas detection.
22: Coast Guard, Navy, and commercial ships saved 33 persons from the sinking charter fishing vessel Majestic Fox, 60 miles off Santa Barbara, California.
16-30: The Coast Guard seized four vessels and confiscated 23,960 pounds of marijuana off the southeastern United States. Ten persons were arrested. (See yearly summary.)
September
4: An HH-3F helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen, Puerto Rico, evacuated an injured Marine from Santo Domingo. He had been hurt in a motorcycle accident.
15: The Commandant, U. S. Coast Guard, Admiral J.S. Gracey, and the Commissioner, Canadian Coast Guard, Mr. A.L. Collier, approved the first major revision of the Canada-United States Joint Marine Pollution Contingency Plan at a signing ceremony at U. S. Coast Guard Headquarters. The plan provides a joint response mechanism for any oil or noxious substance pollution incident which threatens the waters or coastal areas of both countries.
15: A Coast Guard helicopter from Air Station Chicago rescued six persons from a downed civilian helicopter in Lake Michigan about 20 miles northeast of Chicago.
17: The Coast Guard cutter Munro (WHEC-724) rescued the crew of a Navy helicopter that crashed in the Sea of Japan. Ships and aircraft had been searching for the remains of the Korean Airlines Flight 007.
22: Coast Guard units from Southwest Harbor, Maine, rescued 20 persons from the burning sailing vessel Angelique, which was anchored 500 yards off the Coast Guard base.
22-24: Top-ranking officers of the Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Auxiliary met in Kansas City, Kansas. The conferees discussed and made decisions on major issues regarding boating safety education, courtesy marine examinations, and Auxiliary support in search and rescue operations. The Coast Guard Auxiliary was formed in 1941 as a volunteer organization to help the Coast Guard.
25: A Coast Guard HH-3 helicopter from Barbers Point performed a medical evacuation of a passenger from the cruise ship Independence west of Honolulu.
October
1: A Coast Guard helicopter from Air Station Elizabeth City evacuated a sick crewman from the Panamanian freighter Balsa which was 60 miles northeast of Cape Hatteras.
2: A Coast Guard helicopter from Air Station Borinquen evacuated an injured crewman from the USS Harry E. Yarned (CG-17) 240 miles north-northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The patient was flown to Naval Station Roosevelt Roads f°r treatment.
2: A helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco transported two accident victims to Peninsula Hospi<a' after their pickup truck plunged over 3 200-foot cliff.
3: The National Park Service adopted Coast Guard boating regulations for all craft operating in park waters.
5: Coast Guard cutter Westwii^ (WAG-281), en route to Operation Deep Freeze in the Antarctic, diverted to assist the disabled U.S. fishing vessel OceQn Hope II. A boarding party repaired the vessel’s engine from 330 miles south of Mobile, Alabama.
8: Coast Guard cutter DecisW (WMEC-629) intercepted a 30-foot sail' ing vessel in the Windward Passage wit*1 69 Haitians on board. All were returned to Port-au-Prince.
14: A helicopter from Coast Guard Alf Station Clearwater evacuated four ere"' members from the Maltese merchantm3” Unity at anchor near Dry Tortugas. The evacuees included the ship’s captain
16: The freighter Westbridge radios the Rescue Coordination Center San JuaI1 that it was disabled and taking on watef’ 26 miles southwest of Saint Thomas. ^ helicopter from Coast Guard Air Static’11 Borinquen delivered de-watering pumps to the stricken freighter. Coast Guard cu1' ter Point Whitehorn (WPB-82364) deliv' ered more pumps and the cutter’s rescue and assistance team started dewatefiw the vessel. The vessel was saved 3,1
towed to Saint Thomas.
16: A helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Houston evacuated an injured Crewrnan from the fishing vessel Tonya J°e, some 21 miles south of Freeport,
Texas.
IT: A Coast Guard helicopter from Air Station Astoria evacuated an injured crewman from the USS Acadia (AD-42), a destroyer tender.
22: A helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod evacuated a crewman ’torn the German sail-training ship Gorch \_°ch 70 miles southeast of Nantucket. *he evacuation had been hampered by TO-knot winds and 15-foot seas.
22: The cutter Vigorous (WMEC-627) ■jeized the Italian fishing vessel Maria ‘nichela for violating fishing regulations ^>me 100 miles east of New Jersey. The t-oast Guard boarding party determined hat the vessel had underlogged its catch.
23: The cutter Ironwood (WLB-297) Seized the Japanese fishing vessel Kiyo Warn No. 55 in Kodiak, Alaska, for vio- at'ng fishing regulations. The vessel had Underlogged its catch of sablefish.
25: The drillship Glomar Java Sea ^ank at its drill site in the South China ^ea- The vessel had a crew of 81, of "'hich 37 were Americans. There were no survivors. A Coast Guard Board of Instigation was convened initially at Houston, Texas, on 4 November to inves- hgate the casualty.
27: Two helicopters from Coast Guard S Station Sitka rescued one survivor r°m the tug Eagle which had sunk in eavy seas 0f f Alaska. A 72-hour search ru a'rcraft and the cutter Woodrush ' wfB-407) failed to locate any other sur- V|vors.
Tl: A major chemical release occurred hen three warehouses caught fire at p etairie, Louisiana. The Captain of the 0rt, New Orleans, was the on-scene c°ordinator. The canals were diked and ';n|y a small amount of the chemicals escaped. The Coast Guard Gulf Strike ^ani assisted. Three such teams had een created in 1973 to assist in such disasters.
Member
Se*2: The cutter Jarvis (WHEC-725) •Zed the Japanese fish transport vessel 11 To Maru 120 miles northwest of uirnak Pass.
*6: A helicopter from Coast Guard Air ation Port Angeles rescued a survivor (-,0rn the fishing vessel El Paso off the r®gon coast.
: Coast Guard helicopters from Air ation Port Angeles evacuated 19 crew ^umbers from the Panamanian freighter Ue Magpie, which had become
stranded entering Yaquina Bay, Oregon. Rough seas fractured the hull in three places, causing a slow oil leak. On 24 November the forward section ruptured, releasing the remaining 94,000 gallons of fuel oil. The Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Portland, Oregon, coordinated efforts by the Pacific Coast Strike Team, Navy salvage experts, two contractors, and state and local agencies to help protect the environmentally sensitive area.
December
3: The West Coast was hammered by a severe winter storm. Winds were sustained at 46 knots and peaked at 74 knots. Seas peaked at 33 feet. Twelfth District units, responsible for northern California, responded to 33 search and rescue cases and saved 13 lives. Conditions required the Captain of the Port of San Francisco to close San Francisco Bay to all traffic. The large navigation buoy off San Francisco suffered minor damage after breaking free from its moorings and coming ashore five miles south of the city.
7: Coast Guard units Sagebrush, Cape Shoalwater, Cape Fox, and Cape Gull began surveillance duties from Grenada.
13: The Coast Guard cutter Vigilant (WMEC-617) seized the U. S.-registered, 25-foot pleasure craft Natacha in Behamian waters near Great Isaac Island. The Vigilant observed as the crew of the vessel recovered bales of marijuana at the scene of a recent air drop. After it had moored at Great Isaac Island, the boat was seized by the Vigilant, and its crew of two former Cuban refugees arrested.
14: A Cessna 310 aircraft with one person on board crashed as it was approaching Buffalo Airport. Coast Guard Base Buffalo dispatched a 44-foot motor lifeboat and an aids-to-navigation vessel to search for the aircraft. At first light, a Canadian Coast Guard helicopter and two civilian aircraft joined the search, which continued throughout the day. Only some debris from the crash and bits of human tissue were found. The plane was believed to have been carrying nearly $8 million worth of government securities.
18: The aircraft carrier Saratoga (CV- 60) reported that she had lost radar contact with one of her A-7 jet aircraft, 50 miles east of Daytona Beach, Florida. There was one person on board the aircraft. Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard aircraft, and the Coast Guard cutters Point Roberts (WPB-82332) and Point Charles (WPB-82361) searched the area for nearly 46 hours, finding only debris from the jet. The pilot was not located.
24: A major chemical spill occurred with the rupture of a storage tank of sulfuric acid at the Essex Industrial Chemical facility in Baltimore, Maryland. A total of 3,365 tons of the product were lost, with 90% of the total escaping into Cabin Branch, a tributary of Curtis Creek. Marine Safety Office Baltimore, as on-scene coordinator, monitored cleanup operations by the facility.
25: The tugs Exxon Brownsville and Lilly M. Freedman, each towing several barges, collided in the Lower Mississippi River, approximately 30 miles south of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The incident caused a major oil spill, causing one grain barge to sink and two fuel barges, Exxon 208 and Exxon 218, to lose 2,500 barrels of oil into the water. Captain of the Port New Orleans responded to the incident, which posed no threat to navigation. The cause of the accident is under investigation.
30: Coast Guard cutter Lipan seized an 82-foot Panamanian merchant craft with marijuana in a concealed compartment. During the case, the Lipan seized a 60- foot U.S. shrimper carrying 367 bales of marijuana. While enroute to Guantanamo, the Lipan intercepted a stateless vessel and found marijuana in the cargo holds. While convoying these craft, the Lipan intercepted and seized a U. S. lobster boat carrying marijuana and arrested six crew members. Within 24 hours, the Lipan had seized four vessels carrying 40 tons of marijuana and arrested 25 persons. (See yearly summary.)
Yearly Summary:
In the war against drug smuggling, the Coast Guard seized 164 vessels and aided in the seizure of 56 others. The Coast Guard confiscated over two million pounds of marijuana, 46 pounds of cocaine, and almost 30,000 pounds of hashish. The Service arrested 873 persons. The street value of the drugs seized by the Coast Guard directly, or when assisting other state and federal agencies, is estimated to be over $2.2 billion in 1983.
A six-year veteran of the Coast Guard, Petty Officer Grubb is a photojoumalist assigned as a research assistant to the Coast Guard historian at the service’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. He has studied at the Institute of Art and Design in New York and attended University of Califomia-Berkeley. Before reporting to his present duty station, he spent five years at 12th Coast Guard District headquarters in San Francisco; while there, he was involved in public affairs work, photography, writing, and graphic arts projects.
Dr. Scheina is the Coast Guard’s official historian. He has contributed a number of Coast Guard items to the Proceedings, including an account of the 1980 Cuban refugee rescue effort which was published in the special Coast Guard issue of the Proceedings that year. He is also author of U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft of World War II, which was published by the Naval Institute Press in 1982.