LST-325 Added to Historic Register

[P. Greaney]

As I understand it the "capt" was in the Navy and never made it past Lt. Junior Grade.
He has no papers and they need to hire a licensed pilot every time they leave the pier.
They need to dump that bunghole.

[John Sukey (Deceased)]

I could just imagine the stink if the Coast guyard had tried to prevent sht ship from returning. Can you just see the headline?
Government agency tries to stop famous ship from D Day returning to the U.S.!
The feces would bury the CG. ANd can you just see their appropriations from congress?

[jon_norstog]

If it's got a US flag hanging on it, is being driven by a Skipper with a US-issued license, or has a manifested cargo destined for a US port and/or owned by a US entity....then the US Coast Guard has jurisdiction ANYWHERE in the friggin' world!

The Cap of the LST knew he was risking his Ticket, but didn't really give a damn. What the Coasties had their panties most in a wad over was the age and lack of current sea experience in the crew, and that they were, IIRC, attempting to sail without a licensed Chief Engineer. The general fitness of a US-licensed crew is also the Coast Guard's responsibility.

Keep in mind....regardless of what you see on "Deadliest Catch", the Coasties are basically highly bureaucratized cops, not soldiers or sailors, and just LOVE sticking their noses into other peoples' business looking for revenue-generating "rule-breaking" that they can then write-up to justify their phony-baloney jobs...whether it makes a lick of sense or not!

Well, John,

There's more than one CG - it was put together from the lighthouse service, revenue marine and the lifesaving service, over the years. I served in two of the Coast Guards - I was a blue water sailor on 3 different high endurance cutters, and spent about ten months at Bodega Bay lifeboat station. The cuttermen are **sailors**, that's all you can say. I did some things I'm pretty proud of during my enlistment.

there's been a lot of "mission creep" over the last 30 years, what with the war on drugs, immigration cases, etc. and the lifesaving and support to navigation missions have sort of moved to the back burner. Also, I think a lot of obnoxious habits may be rubbing off from other federal agencies, now that CG is part of Homeland "Security."

I was proud, though, during Katrina. The only federal agency that responded in real time to the emergency was CG. Everyone else, FEMA, the states, whoever, was waiting for someone to tell them what to do. The east coast District Commanders and Officers of the Watch started moving planes and crews down as soon as things started looking serious.

When you get the call you have to go out. They used to say "You gotta go out. You don't have to come back, but you gotta go out."


jn

[jon_norstog]

PS

I thought it was great what those veterans did with LST 325, and I doubt you could find a cutterman who would think otherwise!

[HoosierDaddy]

Knob Creek wouldn't miss it. I have the same site at the KOA as always. Drop by for a beer.
Pat I agree with your take on the capt. I met him after the D-Day thing and he had the personality of a rock.

[John Kepler]

Well, John,

There's more than one CG -

When you get the call you have to go out. They used to say "You gotta go out. You don't have to come back, but you gotta go out."


jn

We're all prisoners of our own experience, and it's obvious that CG does great, dangerous work....everywhere but on the Great Lakes!

Q: How many CG assets responded to the "Mayday" call from the SS Arthur M. Anderson concerning the "disappearance" of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald on November 10, 1975?

A: None. All the CG did was make radio calls to other commercial vessels having their own problems with the storm to respond and give aid. They did, the CG didn't!

Q: When did the FIRST USCG personnel arrive at the scene of the sinking?

A: 12 hours AFTER the vessel sank...an over-flight by a C-130! The first CG VESSEL didn't arrive until 25 hours AFTER the sinking, claiming that the lake was "too rough" to get there any sooner! The far less capable and equipped Canadian Coast Guard beat the USCG to the scene by 13 hours from the same starting point (Sault Ste. Marie). Stout fellows those Canucks! Nothing rotary for another day....seems their only helos were in the body and fender shop for "routine maintenance" in November, historically the most treacherous month on the Lakes, and when they were most likely to be needed! The longest you can expect to find live crew in survival suits and covered inflatable life-rafts in November on Lake Superior is 12 hours...by the time the Coasties got there, all they were going to find were corpsickles.

Q: What was the distance from the nearest CG Station to the wreck site?

A: 45 miles (USCGS Sault Ste. Marie), and it took'um over a day to make the trip!

Little known factoid: Of the available aids to navigation maintained by the USCG on the night of the sinking (ancient WW II-era RDF), NONE were functional! The only functioning RDF station on Western Lake Superior that night was ONE on the Canadian side of the lake...it requires a minimum of 2 to be of any use...to my personal knowledge, the USCG RDF station on Whitefish Point hadn't worked for at least 2 years prior to the sinking of the Fitz. Tough to avoid shoal-water with no radar and no functioning aids to navigation.

FWIW. The USCG had LORAN chains all over the flippin' world in 1975 (Guam, Wake, Marcus Island, the entire Aleutian Chain), and had had both coasts and the Gulf covered by the mid-1960's. The USCG didn't install ANY LORAN on the Great Lakes until 1976, when after the Fitzgerald disaster and the subsequent Coast Guard whitewash of the foundering, the Lake Carriers Association threatened to install a private LORAN chain and sue the CG in Federal Court for nonfeasance and dereliction of responsibility for failing to provide adequate aids to commercial navigation per their mandate!

Sorry to offend and I apologize for that...but even after 34 years....it still rankles. I lost friends on the Fitz.

[M1Tommy]

As I understand it the "capt" was in the Navy and never made it past Lt. Junior Grade.
He has no papers and they need to hire a licensed pilot every time they leave the pier.
They need to dump that bunghole.

ANY officer commanding a ship is the 'Captain" and is called by that title, whatever his rank.
Hiring a pilot is a pretty standard practice as I understand matters.


Tommy

[John Kepler]

Being a "Captain" on a commercial vessel isn't just a title, it HAS to be backed up by multiple certifications and licenses issued by the USCG based on demonstrated competency via "real world" testing for the size and horsepower of the vessel. In the case of the LST, the "Captain" was a freshly-minted cap for that size/horsepower....up-graded from a small-craft charter boat license. Not exactly a major "confidence-builder"! It worked, he got the vessel back to the US without significant incident....but I can understand why even the bureaucrats were somewhat nervous....driving a 350' twin-screw steel ship isn't quite the same as pushing a 28' Bayliner!

Unless the vessel captain is also a licensed pilot for the specific waters the vessel is entering, then a Licensed Pilot is required by law.

[M1Tommy]

.......... It worked, he got the vessel back to the US without significant incident....but I can understand why even the bureaucrats were somewhat nervous....driving a 350' twin-screw steel ship isn't quite the same as pushing a 28' Bayliner!........

Yep, and I hear you there!

Tommy

[Harlan (Deceased)]

Not meaning to hijack at all, but this story reminded me of how the CAF B-29 was saved from destruction.

Back in the early 70's a group of aging CAF pilots located one of the last remaining B-29s that had been abandoned in the desert for many years and they ferried it back to Harlingen, TX before the air force destroyed it.

They were able to procure just one from the US government and allowed to get it into condition to ferry it back to Texas. I doubt this would be able to happen today, but it remains the only flying B-29 in existence because they saved it.

Several years ago I talked to the pilot who flew it back and his tales from the adventure were 'interesting' to say the least.

He passed away from natural causes (old age) in his sleep this year.

below is a link to the story if anyone is interested.
B-29 "FIFI" History