CG-36500 Rescues Crew of Pendleton
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Theme CG-36500 Rescues Crew of Pendleton
Period 1950—1953
Artist Tony Falcone, Prospect, Connecticut
Size (framed) 10’-0” wide x 9’-0” high
Champion Carl Burkhart, Class of 1962
Sponsor Class of 1962
Story On 18 February 1952, a fierce storm was blowing at the outer coast of Cape Cod. The Nor’easter had winds of seventy miles per hour or more, and there was wind-driven snow of blizzard proportions. Extremely heavy seas were encountered off of the Cape, forty to sixty feet in height. In mid-morning, the Chatham Lifeboat Station received word of a vessel in distress, the T-2 tanker Pendleton, that had broken in half and was expected to drift offshore not far from Chatham. Bos’n Cluff, officer-in-charge of Chatham Station, ordered Boatswain’s Mate First Class Bernie Webber to pick a crew and take the motor lifeboat CG-36500 out across the treacherous Chatham Bar to assist any men aboard the stern section of Pendleton. Three men immediately volunteered to crew for Bernie: Andrew Fitzgerald, engineman; Richard Livesey, seaman; and Irving Maske, seaman. At the Chatham Bar, the first couple of seas they encountered tossed the boat up into the air, landed it on its side, smashed the windshield, and knocked the compass from its mount. Feeling their way toward the Pollock Rip Lightship, they ultimately came upon the dark, massive hulk of the stern section of Pendleton. The crew threw a long Jacob’s ladder over the side and began to climb down toward the sea. Webber maneuvered the CG-36500 in toward the ladder, timing his approach to avoid the movements of the ship. Pass after pass, man after man, the crew of the boat pulled aboard the crew of the ship. Thirty-two survivors had joined the 4-man crew in the CG-36500. Now, in the darkness, in strong seas, with a seriously overloaded boat, and with no compass, Webber had to return to the treacherous Chatham Bar and to safety. As he headed back, there was no sight of any object to give some sense of bearing. Webber instinctively headed in the right direction. Finally, familiar lights on shore appeared and Webber navigated the familiar waters back to Chatham’s Fish Pier. Webber, Fitzgerald, Livesey, and Maske were awarded the coveted Gold Lifesaving Medal of the U. S. Coast Guard for their daring rescue effort. See the CG36500 website for more information.