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ant operation since World War II. Coast Guardsmen feel a great deal of pride in having par- tlcipated in the humanitarian effort, but they have *iso experienced a great strain caused by the weeks of °ng, tiring efforts in patrol and rescue work. It is 0W up to Congress to evaluate the results of the Service’s role in the waters between Cuba and Florida, results which dramatically underscored the service-wide shortages pointed out in the Comptrol- er General’s report. | 1 Dr. Scheina, who received a Ph.D. in history 1 from the Catholic University of America in 1976, has been the Coast Guard's historian since early I 1977 Previously, he served as a historian with the Naval History Division in Washington from I 1967 to 1973 and as a ships systems analyst in lIHHk. HH naval intelligence from 1973 to 1977. He has written numerous articles for publications such as the Proceedings, Marine-Rundschau, Navy International, Surveyor, and the Encyclopedia Britannica. His book American Battleship: Pre-Dreadnought Design and Construction, written in collaboration with John Reilly, has just been published by the Naval Institute Press. |
_____________ The Olo Yumi Incident_______________
By Commander Alan F. Miller, Commanding Officer, USCGC Courageous (WMEC-622)
It started out with a possible medical evacuation. We launched our helicopter, based on a report of a serious head injury to a passenger on board one of the refugee vessels northbound. We had the ship’s helicopter run out on the bearing reP°rted, but the pilot couldn’t find the vessel. JTe was flying a routine reconnaissance of north- °und vessels as he came back to the Courageous. Then he suddenly said, “Just a minute. I want to take a look at something in the water over here. H get right back to you.” And the next report Was, “There are people in the water; there’s a par- tlaHy submerged boat, I’m going down to assist.” descending, his next report was, “I need assistance. There are many people in the water. I’m going to hoist as many as I can.” The helo took 11- By then, we had already changed course and lr*creased to maximum speed. We were about 2-3 Hailes away. We passed the situation information the USCGC Vigorous (WMEC-627), which had een working earlier with us, that we needed as- Slstance when we got on the scene. B was a terrible sight. The bow of the Olo Yumi c°nld still be seen; there were people and debris everywhere. There was screaming, shouting, crying—pandemonium. We launched our boats, asked the Coast Guard Group Key West to pro- v'de aircraft, and alerted the USCGC Dallas and *■ e USS Saipan (LHA-2). From there, it was just a Matter of picking up survivors and bodies, then Earthing for those still missing. Of the 52 who | had been on board, 38 were picked up by the cutters, small boats, and the Courageous helicopter. We also maneuvered the ship and put the cargo nets—the swimmers’ nets—over the side. We put swimmers into the water and assisted people in climbing up the nets. Ten bodies were recovered; four remained unaccounted for. The Olo Yumi's problem began when the boat lost one of its two engines and had some steering problems. There were 4-5 foot seas running, and it got a little bit in the trough. This was approximately a 35-40 foot boat, and when people pressed aft to see what was happening, they overloaded it in the stern area. The transom went under the water, and from there they took on water and capsized. Most likely, the four missing people were trampled on, knocked overboard unconscious, or left in the boat when it sank. Many of the people that we picked up had lacerations to their arms and legs to indicate the shoving, pushing, the panic that ensued. We saw a lot of debris and gasoline in the water. A lot of people were in shock after spending two or three hours in the water. There were people with broken arms or collar bones that resulted from knocking into each other—shoving, pushing, everything that developed as the boat started to sink. And they either tried to stay with it or go over the side. But just that many people crowded into such a small space caused the vessel to sink. That was the most tragic thing that we saw. It was the largest rescue of its kind during the Cuban exodus. |
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®e<Ungs / October 1980