How they saved a hero boat
February 18th, 2010 | Coast Guard Historical Maritime operations Ships | Posted by Phil Ewing
The Coast Guard's legendary motor lifeboat 36500 has been restored to its former luster by preservationists in Massachusetts. // David Liscio / Orleans Historical Society
Scoop Deck got a copy of February’s WoodenBoat magazine for Valentine’s Day this year (from a Valentine who, mercifully, tolerates the idiosyncrasies of a ship addict) but didn’t get a chance to give it a close read until today’s flight back from Jacksonville. In addition to some engaging write-ups and many illustrations of beautiful craft that Scoop Deck could never afford in ten lifetimes, the magazine has a great feature about a legendary Coast Guard motor lifeboat that has been restored to its former glory up in Massachusetts.
Motor lifeboat 36500 and its crew rescued 32 of 33 men adrift aboard the wrecked stern section of the tanker Pendleton 58 years ago today in an epic operation that has become a Coast Guard legend. The boat took aboard all those survivors despite having a maximum rated capacity of 12 people, creating a constant risk of being swamped or overturned. But even though 36500 saved the day, it was left to rot and ruin after being decommissioned in 1968.
That was until a group of enthusiasts got it added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003, and began the work of restoring the wood-and-canvas lifeboat to its original luster. You can find out much more about the boat and the restoration online here, and you can understand why, for as pretty as wooden craft are, they’re also a lot of work.
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Sea Links « New Wars Says:
February 19th, 2010 at 7:02 pm[...] they saved a hero boat. (Scoop [...]