Happy New Year!

 

Merry Christmas!

Have a Very Merry Christmas and Joyous New Year 2021 filled much love, joy, peace, and happiness! 

USCGAUX Meeting - Jan. 12

USCG AUXILIARY MEETING:

JANUARY 12, 2021

6:30 p.m.

LOCATION: TBA

Coast Guard Holiday Party Snapshots - Dec. 16

The 2020 Coast Guard Holiday Party was a unique one this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of being held at the hotel, it was hosted on December 16, 2020 at Sector Guam.  Wearing our now familiar face masks, we took a couple of snapshots.  Enjoy, and please stay safe!

VFC/FSO-DV Mendiola Expresses Her Gratitude

VFC/FSO-DV Mae M.C. Mendiola expressed her gratitude to her fellow Guam Flotilla 140-02-24 Auxiliarists and USCG Sector Guam personnel.  "THANK YOU to all for your thoughts and prayers, especially for my husband. My family and I are truly grateful for your overwhelming love and support," Mendiola said.

Special condolences printed in the USCG Auxiliary Guam Flotilla 140-02-24 newsletter.  You can view the full newsletter at http://mnrivera1.com/Guam_Flotilla_November_2020_Newsletter.pdf.   

Flowers from USCG Sector Guam

Floral Wreath from USCG Auxiliary Guam Flotilla 140-02-24

USCGAUX Guam Flotilla Staff Officers Sworn In by Captain Chase - Dec. 15

Congratulations to the USCG Auxiliary 2021 Guam Flotilla Staff Officers who were sworn in today via Zoom by Sector Commander Captain Christopher Chase! Also in attendance were Commander Joshua Empen, Master Chief David Fedison, LTJG Ed Oingerang, Guam FSOs, and members. Good luck, and stay safe, Team!

USCG Auxiliary 2021 Guam Flotilla Staff Officers Swearing-In Ceremony, December 15, 2020

Guam Flotilla November 2020 Newsletter

Click here to view the November 2020 Guam Flotilla newsletter.

USCGAUX D14 Elected Officers Sworn In - Dec. 3

Congratulations to the USCG Auxiliary District 14 Elected Officers who were sworn in today via Zoom! We will be having our Guam Flotilla swearing-in ceremony for all Appointed Officers during our December 8, 2020 meeting. Stay safe, Team!

D14 Elected Officers Swearing-In Ceremony, December 3, 2020, 1600, Guam Time

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Biba Ha'ånen Mannå'i Ģråsia! 🍁 🍂 🍁 🍂

Swearing-In Ceremony - Dec. 03 at 1600 (Guam & Saipan Time)

A swearing-in ceremony for all elected officers via ZOOM will be attempted on Wednesday, December 2, 2020 at 2000 hours (HST). On Guam and Saipan, it will be on Thursday, Dec. 03 at 1600.  DNACO will do the honors if available. Swearing In ceremony to be recorded for Auxiliary members unable to attend.

 

All officers should be wearing the Tropical Blue uniform with accompanying ribbons, devices and shoulder boards appropriate to their newly-elected status. Covers need not be worn since it is assumed all will be indoors. Elected officers may invite their respective appointed officers to also be sworn in at this time, but for those who may not be able to participate, their oath of office can be administered by Flotilla or Division elected officers at a later date/time.

 

Please look for an e-mail from COMO Zwicky with the appropriate ZOOM link to join the ceremony in early December.    

 

Congratulations to all, and here’s to a productive Auxiliary year to come.

Condolences for the Mendiola Family

The USCG Auxiliary Guam Flotilla extends its deepest condolences and sympathies to the family of Rick Anthony Palomo Mendiola, husband of Guam Flotilla VFC/FSO-DV Mae Mendiola.  Rick left this Earth on November 21, 2020.  He will always be remembered. God Bless him and his family.  May he rest in peace.

Daily rosaries are being held daily from Nov. 22-29, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. CST) via Zoom, Meeting ID: 691 692 2160.  There is no password required.  Kindly enter with cameras and mics off to conserve bandwidth and prevent audio feedback.  

The mass of intention for Rick will be at the San Vicente Catholic Church, Barrigada on Sunday, 10 a.m.; Weekdays, 6:00 p.m., & Saturday, 7:15 a.m.  Funeral information will be announced later.  Si Yu’os Ma’ase’ for keeping the Mendiola family in your prayers.

USCGAUX Change of Watch Meeting - Dec. 8

USCG AUXILIARY CHANGE OF WATCH MEETING:

DECEMBER 8, 2020

6:30 p.m.

LOCATION: ZOOM!

Happy Veterans Day!

To all of those who have served and continue to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces, so that we may have the freedom that we enjoy, we salute you! *HAND SALUTE* God Bless you all!  HAPPY VETERANS DAY!

Image source:  Jerry Trimble Helicopters

Merger of ANSC and AUXCEN

The Digest of US Coast Guard Auxiliary Activity - Nov. 6

 

 PDF link:        CLICK HERE

Operation Extended Hands

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION, RESPONSE, AND RECOVERY (SAPRR) UPDATE

Promotional Video for the Coast Guard Auxiliary

 

USCGAUX Meeting - Nov. 10

USCG AUXILIARY MEETING:

NOVEMBER 10, 2020

6:30 p.m.

LOCATION: TBA

D14 Newsletter

Click here to view the D14 Newsletter.

Half-masting of national ensign in honor of DHS personnel who have died due to COVID-19

R 010915 OCT 20

FM COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC//NCC//
TO ALCOAST
UNCLAS //N05060//
ALCOAST 371/20
COMDTNOTE 5060
SUBJ:  HALF-MASTING OF NATIONAL ENSIGN
A. U.S. Coast Guard Regulations 1992, COMDTINST M5000.3 (series)
1. As directed by the Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary,
the national ensign shall be flown at half-mast on Thursday, October 01, 2020
from sunrise to sunset, in honor of DHS personnel who have died due to COVID-19.
2. The national ensign shall be flown at half-mast on all U.S. Coast Guard
buildings, grounds, and vessels not underway.
3. If normally flown, the Department of Homeland Security flag shall also be
flown at half-mast for the same duration.
4. Internet release is authorized.

USCG Auxiliary Meeting - Oct. 13

USCG AUXILIARY MEETING:

OCTOBER 13, 2020

6:30 p.m.

LOCATION: TBA

Guam’s first Coast Guard Fast Response Cutter arrives at Apra Harbor

Coast Guard Cutter Myrtle Hazard (WPC 1139) enters Apra Harbor before arriving at its new homeport in Santa Rita, Guam. The new Fast Response Cutter (FRC) is the first of three scheduled to be stationed on Guam and is replacing the 30-year old 110-foot Island-class patrol boats. FRCs are equipped with new advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems and boast greater range and endurance. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class MacAdam Kane Weissman)

The Coast Guard Cutter Myrtle Hazard (WPC 1139) arrived at its new homeport in Santa Rita, Guam on Thursday.

The crew of the Myrtle Hazard traveled from Key West, Florida to Guam, covering a distance of over 10,000 nautical miles during the two month journey.

The new Fast Response Cutter (FRC) is the first of three scheduled to be stationed on Guam and replaces the 30-year old 110-foot Island-class patrol boats. FRCs are equipped with advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems and boast greater range and endurance.

“FRC’s in Guam strengthen and affirm the U.S. Coast Guard’s operational presence in Oceania,” said Lt. Tony Seleznick, commanding officer of the Myrtle Hazard. “We increase the fleet’s range, endurance, and capabilities to deter illegal behavior, support Search and Rescue, promote maritime stability, and strengthen partnerships.”

The FRCs represent the Coast Guard’s commitment to modernizing service assets to address the increasingly complex global Maritime Transportation System. Like the Island-class patrol boats before them, the Myrtle Hazard will support the people of Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and our international partners throughout Oceania.

FRC’s are designed for various missions including drug interdiction, defense operations, maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, marine safety, and environmental protection. FRC’s can reach speeds of up to 28 knots and endure 5 days out at sea while covering over 2,500 nautical miles.

“Myrtle Hazard will significantly increase the capabilities of the Coast Guard throughout the region,” said Capt. Chris Chase, commander, Coast Guard Sector Guam. “I am excited to welcome the crew of the Myrtle Hazard home and look forward to them conducting operations with our partners in the near future.”

Myrtle Hazard, the cutter’s namesake, was the first female to enlist in the Coast Guard. Enlisting in January, 1918, she became a radio operator during World War I. She ended her service in 1919 as an Electrician’s Mate 1st Class.

Each FRC has a standard 24-person crew. This will bring over 70 new Coast Guard members to Guam, along with a projected 100 family members. In addition to the crews of the three ships additional Coast Guard support members and their families will also be in Guam.

Sources:  USCG News Release & Pacific News Center

-

Applications for National Staff Positions Now Being Solicited- Deadline is 30 September

National Commodore elect, Alex Malewski, is pleased to announce his selections for ANACO and Director for the 2020-2022 term, and to solicit applications for all lower level staff positions.

ANACOs

Chief Counsel (CC) – Douglas Cream

Diversity (DV) – David Porter

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) – Robert Bruce

Response and Prevention (RP) -  Kevin Cady

ForceCom (FC) -  Gregory Kester

Recreational Boating (RB) -  Robert Laurer

Planning and Performance (PP) -  Peter Jensen

Information Technology (IT) -  Susan Davies

Directors

DIR-R  Response: Roy Savoca

DIR-P  Prevention: Kim Cole

DIR-Q  Emergency Management and Disaster Response: Anthony Marzano

DIR-I  International Affairs: David Huang

DIR-A  Public Affairs: Lourdes Oliveras

DIR-T  Training: Gerlinde Higginbotham

DIR-H  Human Resources: Lee Zimmerman

DIR-V  Vessel Examination: Christopher Wilson

DIR-E  Public Education: David Fuller

DIR-B  RBS Outreach: James Cortes

DIR-S  Strategic Planning: Jeannemarie McNamara

DIR-M  Performance Measurement:  Kevin Redden

DIR-C  Computer Software and Systems: Amanda Constant

DIR-U  User Support and Services: Gerald (Randy) Patton

Members desiring appointment or reappointment to the National Staff for deputy or below positions are invited to submit a resume and relevant information to the appropriate person listed above no later than 30 September. Members desiring appointment must specify the office to which appointment is desired. If more than one office is sought, apply separately for each one. ANACO and Director email addresses are available in the AuxDirectory (https://auxofficer.cgaux.org/auxoff/unitstaff.php).

2020 Coastal Cleanup Canceled

 

D14 2020 Fall Conference A Success!

Bravo Zulu to the D14 conference committee for planning a successful virtual D14 2020 Fall Conference!  Although we could not convene together in person, due to COVID-19, our fellowship remained strong, and we were able to increase our knowledge on the various missions, training, etc. the USCG Auxiliary engages in.  Kudos to the organizers, presenters, and members who attended this historic event!  Stay safe, Team, and enjoy the following snapshots!

D14 2020 Fall Conference

 

Half-Masting of National Ensign

Remember Our Heroes - 9/11

Wear your mask properly

Auxiliary Election Policy Changes

The Long Blue Line: Ocean Station—Coast Guard’s support for the Korean War 70 years ago!

Scott T. Price, Chief Historian United States Coast Guard

After 21 days of being slammed around by rough cold sea swells 20 to 50 feet high, and wild winds hitting gale force at times, within an ocean grid the size of a postage stamp, you can stand any kind of duty.

Coast Guard Cutter Pontchartrain battles heavy seas on Ocean Station duty. (U.S. Coast Guard)

Coast Guard Ocean Station veteran

As the Coast Guard Ocean Station veteran above noted, his duty could be monotonous at one moment and terrifying the next, as the vessels rode out storms that made the saltiest sailors green. Established under President Franklin Roosevelt in 1940, the Ocean Station program, proved to be a vital Korean War mission and was perhaps the most direct contribution made by the Coast Guard to that United Nations’ war effort.

Enclosed by a patrol area shaped like a square with sides 210 miles long, Ocean Stations represented a postage stamp in square miles compared the vast expanse of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In the Pacific prior to the outbreak of the Korean Conflict, Coast Guard cutters were stationed at two Ocean Stations, including Nan (N) and Oboe (O). When the conflict began in Korea, the service added three more stations in the North Pacific, including Queen (Q), Sugar (S), Uncle (U) and Victor (V). The new stations provided complete weather data and greater search and rescue coverage for the trans-Pacific merchant and military traffic brought on by the war.

Coast Guard cutter Sebago encounters heavy seas while serving on Ocean Station duty. (U.S. Coast Guard)

Cutters assigned to Ocean Stations hosted teams of meteorologists from the U.S. Weather Bureau. These men carried out weather observations, assisted by specialists among the Coast Guard crew. The cutters also served as high-seas aids to navigation and checkpoints for military and commercial maritime traffic, and communication “relay” stations for aircraft on transoceanic flights. In addition to their search and rescue duties, they provided needed medical services to merchant ship crews.

During the conflict, 95 percent of war material bound for Korea went by ship, but nearly half of the personnel went by air, making the Ocean Station vessels a vital link in the United Nations’ military logistics effort. Cutters were assigned to Ocean Station duty to augment their search and rescue capabilities in case aircraft had to make a water landing. The Coast Guard also established a chain of Pacific air search and rescue detachments, including bases in the Philippines, Wake Island, Midway Island and Hawaii. These search and rescue aviation units supplemented the cutters serving Ocean Station duty.

Casting a Nansen bottle used to measure ocean water temperatures at various depths. (U.S. Coast Guard)

With the addition of new Ocean Stations, the Coast Guard sought more vessels to augment the already extended cutter fleet. Fortunately, a ready source existed within the mothball fleets of the U.S. Navy. The Navy turned over a number of destroyer escorts (DEs), which the Coast Guard re-commissioned as cutters. These old war-horses had served as convoy escorts in World War II, 33 of which had been manned by Coast Guard crews. The DEs were re-armed with depth charge racks and numerous anti-aircraft guns, and retrofitted with a large shelter on the stern for weather balloon storage. The first ex-DEs to join the fleet were CGC Koinerand CGC Falgout. Once commissioned, the new cutters underwent shakedown training under the supervision of the Navy and then sailed for their new homeports.

The Koiner’s operations provide a good example of Ocean Station duty. After its shakedown cruise, the cutter arrived in Seattle, where it joined a hodge-podge fleet of ex-Navy seaplane tenders and 255-foot Coast Guard cutters, including the Bering Strait, Klamath, Winona, and Wachusett. Koiner next deployed for Ocean Station Nan in the North Pacific. There, the cutter steamed for three weeks in endless circles within the Ocean Station square before being relieved by the cutter Lowe, another converted DE.

While on Ocean Station, Koiner’s crew quickly established a routine. The cutters’ radar and radio were manned around the clock. The crew checked water temperatures with a bathythermograph every four hours down to a depth of 450 feet. The men also assisted U.S. Weather Bureau weather observers from the San Francisco office who typically accompanied each patrol. Twice daily the observers and crew launched six-foot diameter helium filled balloons that measured air temperature, pressure, and humidity to an altitude of 10 miles. They launched another smaller balloon to measure wind speed and direction.

1) Coast Guard cutter Sebago encounters heavy seas while serving on Ocean Station duty. (U.S. Coast Guard)

2) Former World War II destroyer escort Richey converted to a Coast Guard cutter for Ocean Station duty. Notice depth charge racks and plentiful anti-aircraft armament of this heavily armed cutter. (U.S. Coast Guard)

3) Deploying a weather balloon for U.S. Weather Bureau reports and forecasting. (U.S. Coast Guard)

4) Coast Guard cutter Taney encounters heavy seas en route to its Pacific Ocean Station duty. (U.S. Coast Guard)

The Ocean Station cutters also served as a floating aids to navigation. They contacted passing aircraft and ships by radio and provided radar and navigation fixes. Such contact with anyone from the outside world, even if only briefly, broke up the monotony for Ocean Station crews. Then there were the daily drills such as fire, collision, and boat drills. For recreation, the crew had movies, pistol matches, skeet shooting, volleyball games, and fishing. Though this was usually enough to keep from going stir crazy, the crew invariably counted the days until the end of the patrol and their next port call.

After Koiner returned to Seattle, the crew of the Coast Guard cutter received welcome liberty. Next, the cutter set sail for Ocean Station Victor, midway between Japan and the Aleutian Islands, by way of Midway Island. While at Midway, the cutter stood search and rescue standby duty, then set sail for Victor for another three-week tour of duty. When relieved at Victor, Koiner sailed on to Yokosuka, Japan, for a 12-day layover, which included liberty for all hands. Afterward, the cutter steamed once again out to the North Pacific to Ocean Station Sugar. Three weeks later, Koiner’s relief arrived and it returned to Seattle. And so it went, month-by-month, year-by-year.

During the Korean War, Ocean Station cutters assisted several merchant ships and aircraft in distress in the North Pacific. In 1950, Station Nan was the busiest of all the Ocean Stations, with cutters providing nearly 360 radar fixes per patrol. CGC Forster assisted the largest number of vessels while on patrol. On August 16, 1952, Forster searched for and located the Japanese Motor Vessel Katori Maru and aided the disabled and burning ship. Later, Forster assisted five more merchant and fishing vessels. During the war, the Pacific Ocean Station cutters assisted over 20 merchant and Navy vessels and one transoceanic airliner.

Unsung but always ready, the Ocean Station cutters insured the timely and safe arrival of United Nations’ troops and supplies throughout the Korean Conflict. At the start of the war, Ocean Station cutters averaged over 700 hours on station and steamed an average of 4,000 miles per patrol. These numbers increased considerably during the Korean Conflict when the patrols were lengthened and expanded. Twenty-four cutters served on the stations that fell within the perimeters of the Korean War and thus, they and their crews earned the Korean Service Medal. The Coast Guard’s Ocean Station program in the Korean Conflict is yet another forgotten chapter of the long blue line.

Source:  http://live.cgaux.org/

USCGAUX Meeting - Sept. 8

USCG AUXILIARY MEETING:

SEPTEMBER 8, 2020
6:30 p.m.

LOCATION:  TBA

Valuable Views on Diversity

“Diversity is essential.  It enables us to appreciate others from all walks of life from every part of the globe.  It embraces acceptance and respect.  This is because every individual is unique and can contribute greatly to missions,” said FC Dr. Matilda Naputi Rivera.

FC Rivera said FSO-DV Mae Mendiola was instrumental in embracing diversity.  She said that Mendiola took the lead in strengthening values that promote diversity and include activities that allowed all auxiliary members to embrace cultures and positive differences.  This is because everyone is a valuable part of what we do to serve the public.

Mendiola has also organized diversity gatherings with rich cultural servings from regions in the Pacific and other parts of the world, from the Chamorro gathering in February, to the Philippines delights in June, to the festive Germany gathering in October.  The fellowship amongst all was positive and encouraging.

Guam Flotilla August 2020 Newsletter

Click here to view the August 2020 Guam Flotilla newsletter.

Happy 230th Birthday U.S. Coast Guard!

On Tuesday, August 4, 2020, the U.S. Coast Guard will celebrate its 230th Birthday!  

Semper Paratus!

The Long Blue Line: Florence Finch—Asian-American SPAR and FRC namesake dons uniform 75 years ago!

William H. Thiesen, Historian, Coast Guard Atlantic Area

Of the thousands of women who have served with honor in the United States Coast Guard, one stands out for her bravery and devotion to duty.

Asian American Florence Smith Finch was born in the Philippines in Santiago City. The daughter of a U.S. Army veteran and Filipino mother, she went to work for General Douglas Macarthur’s army intelligence unit in Manila after graduating high school. She later married U.S. Navy PT boat man Charles Smith. In 1942, after the Japanese invaded the Philippines, her young husband died trying to re-supply American and Filipino troops trapped on Corregidor Island and the Bataan Peninsula.

Florence Smith Finch supplied food and medicine to American POWs in the Philippines then became a Coast Guard SPAR late in World War II. (Coast Guard Collection)

After the Japanese occupied Manila, Finch avoided internment by claiming her Philippine citizenship. She was given a job with the Japanese-controlled Philippine Liquid Fuel Distributing Union where she was responsible for writing vouchers for the distribution of fuel. Working closely with the Philippine underground, she diverted fuel supplies to the resistance and helped arrange acts of sabotage against Japanese occupation forces. Meanwhile, her former U.S. Army intelligence boss had been imprisoned by the Japanese. Through the grapevine, he let Finch know how badly Allied POWs were being treated by their captors. She joined an underground group in Manila smuggling food and medicine to the prisoners.

In October 1944, the Japanese arrested Finch. Her captors beat, tortured and interrogated her during her initial confinement and sentenced her to three years of hard labor. In February 1945, when American forces liberated Manila and her prison camp, Finch weighed only 80 pounds. Through it all, she never revealed information regarding her underground operations or fellow resisters.

Soon after liberation, Finch boarded a Coast Guard-manned transport returning to the United States. She moved to her late father’s hometown of Buffalo, New York, and enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard. She did so on July 13, 1945, on board the Navy’s LST-512 which was tied up in Buffalo Harbor. She joined the Coast Guard Women’s Reserve, or SPARs, eager to continue the fight against an enemy that had tortured her and killed her husband.

Photograph of Japanese tanks entering Manila in early January 1942. Japanese troops would occupy the city until 1945. (Photograph courtesy of U.S. Army)

Finch served through the end of World War II. After the war, she met U.S. Army veteran Robert Finch. They married and moved to Ithaca, New York, where she lived the remainder of her life. Of the thousands of SPARs serving in World War II, Finch was the only one honored with the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Ribbon. In November 1947, for aiding Allied POWs and Filipino resistance fighters, she was also awarded the Medal of Freedom, the highest honor recognizing U.S. civilians. Her citation reads:

For meritorious service which had aided the United States in the prosecution of the war against the enemy in the Philippine Islands, from June 1942 to February 1945.  Upon the Japanese occupation of the Philippine Islands, Mrs. Finch [then Mrs. Florence Ebersole Smith] believing she could be of more assistance outside the prison camp, refused to disclose her United States citizenship. She displayed outstanding courage and marked resourcefulness in providing vitally needed food, medicine, and supplies for American Prisoners of War and internees, and in sabotaging Japanese stocks of critical items . . . . She constantly risked her life in secretly furnishing money and clothing to American Prisoners of War, and in carrying communications for them.  In consequence she was apprehended by the Japanese, tortured, and imprisoned until rescued by American troops. Thought her inspiring bravery, resourcefulness, and devotion to the cause of freedom, Mrs. Finch made a distinct contribution to the welfare and morale of American Prisoners of War on Luzon.

Florence Finch Smith was the first Asian-American woman to don a Coast Guard uniform. In 1995, the Coast Guard honored Finch’s service by naming the administration building for her at Coast Guard Base Honolulu. She passed away in 2016 at the age of 101. Of her wartime activities, she stated “I feel very humble because my activities in the war effort were trivial compared with those of people who gave their lives for their country.” She was a distinguished member of the Service’s long blue line and she will be honored as the namesake of a Fast Response Cutter.

SOURCE:  http://live.cgaux.org/

USCGAUX Meeting - Aug. 11

USCG AUXILIARY MEETING:

AUGUST 11, 2020
6:30 p.m.

LOCATION:  ZOOM

The Long Blue Line: Great Galveston Hurricane—Coast Guard’s first superstorm 120 years ago

William H. Thiesen, Historian, Coast Guard Atlantic Area  

This day crew pulled with Surf-Boat to “Pelican Flats” and resumed the task of burying the bodies of drowned persons and animals; burning, and burying twelve persons; and ten animals. Crew returned to City at 5 p.m.
  -Keeper Edward Haines, Galveston Lifesaving Station,
Sept. 17, 1900

Chart showing the track of the 1900 Galveston Hurricane. (Library of Congress)

In early September of 1900, a hurricane of massive force struck the Gulf Coast west of Galveston, Texas. The Great Galveston Hurricane would prove far deadlier than any man-made, environmental or weather-related disaster in U.S. history, with approximately 8,000 killed in Galveston and roughly 2,000 more lost in other parts of the Gulf Coast. This death toll is greater than the combined casualty figure for the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, Hurricane Katrina, the 9/11 terrorist attacks as well as Hurricane Ike, which struck Galveston in 2008. 

In the afternoon of Saturday, September 8^th, the storm closed in and floodwaters rushed into the Galveston with wind speeds reaching gale force. By 3:00 p.m., the storm surge had flooded lower portions of the city to a depth of five feet. For many in the city’s East Side there was nowhere to turn and, by 3:30 p.m., reports of death and destruction began to reach the Revenue Cutter Galveston moored in the harbor. The cutter already held 50 refugees and the captain decided to deploy a smallboat to assist the city’s storm victims.

Revenue Cutter Galveston moored in Galveston harbor. (U.S. Coast Guard Photo)

At 4:00 p.m., a volunteer rescue party led by Galveston’s Assistant Engineer Charles Root set-off dragging Galveston’s whaleboat over railroad tracks and launching it into the city’s flooded streets. The high winds rendered oars useless, so the men warped the boat through city streets using a rope system. One man swam through the streets with a line, tied it to a fixed object and the crew hauled it in. Using this arduous process, Galveston’s boat crew rescued numerous victims out of the roiling waters in the city.

At nearby Bolivar Point, the storm surge flooded the low-lying peninsula and waves broke against the base of Bolivar Point Lighthouse. Approximately 125 locals sought refuge from the storm in the lighthouse tower while the water began rising around it. That afternoon, the floodwaters had halted a passenger train approaching the Bolivar Point Ferry Terminal to meet the ferry for Galveston. Of the nearly 100 riders and crew on board the train, only nine braved waist-deep water to seek the safety of Bolivar Light’s tower. Soon after, the rising water surrounded the train, trapped riders and crew in the passenger cars and drowned them all.

A rare photograph showing Charles Root later in his Coast Guard career. (U.S. Coast Guard Photo)

In the evening, the storm unleashed Category Four winds on the city. At around 6:15 p.m., the Galveston Weather Bureau anemometer registered over 100 miles per hour (mph) before a wind gust tore it off the building. Bureau officials estimated that by 8:00 p.m., sustained winds blew at 120 mph. By this time, Assistant Engineer Root and his crew returned to the Galvestonhaving filled their whaleboat with over a dozen survivors. Heavy winds were taking an awful toll on the ship, stripping off rigging and blowing away the launch, while wind-driven projectiles shattered windows and skylights.

At the nearby Fort Point Lifesaving Station, Keeper Edward Haines realized his situation was dire and told his crew they should find a way to save themselves. As the floodwaters crept up the station walls, the surfmen believed they could survive in the upper floor of the building, so three of them climbed to the top and passed down ropes for the others. Up to this time, Haines and his wife had remained in the station’s lifeboat, but the waters by now were breaking over them, with the boat tossing on its beam-ends. The keeper lifted Mrs. Haines to the upper story by tying rope around her body and hoisting her to the surfmen above.

A view of Fort Point Lighthouse, a screw-pile lighthouse that barely survived the Great Galveston Hurricane. (U.S. Coast Guard Photo)

After hoisting his wife to safety of the station top, the gallery under Haines collapsed and he was swept into the lifeboat. The storm blew the boat into open water and Haines shouted to the surfmen to protect his wife. Shortly thereafter, he realized two of his men were clinging to the lifeboat and pulled them into the boat.

That night, the storm’s wind and seas began to reach their climax. At 7:30 p.m., Weather Bureau officials recorded an instantaneous four-foot rise in water level while the wind speed reached 150 mph with gusts up to 200. The wind sent men sailing through the air and toppled horses to the ground while the flooding reached its peak at over 15 feet above sea level. The storm surge raised cutter Galvestonover its dock pilings, but the piling tops failed to puncture the cutter’s hull plates.

By 8:00 p.m., Assistant Engineer Root was ready to return to the dark flooded streets. He called for volunteers and the same men stepped forward that had served in the first mission. The hurricane still made use of oars impossible, so the crew waded and swam as water depth allowed, warping the boat from pillar to post. Meanwhile, buildings toppled over and the wind filled the air with shrapnel-like slate roof tiles. Root’s men managed to rescue 21 victims, housed them in a structurally sound building and found food for them in an abandoned store. The cuttermen then moored the boat in the lee of a building and sheltered from the flying debris.

Bolivar Point Lighthouse tower sheltered 125 victims during the hurricane and received relatively little damage. (U.S. Coast Guard Photo)

In Galveston Bay, lighthouses marked the waters for shipping. Located about seven miles north of Galveston, the Halfmoon Shoal Lighthouse sat over a shallow area in the middle of Galveston Bay. Unmoored by storm-driven ships in Galveston Harbor, the steamer Kendal Castle broke loose from its moorings and began drifting around the Bay. The ship mowed down the Halfmoon Shoal Light, obliterating the screw-pile lighthouse and Keeper Charles Bowen, whose body was never found. As one witness recounted, “we passed within a few hundred yards of where the Halfmoon Lighthouse once stood, but could see no evidence of the lighthouse, it being completely washed away.” If this were not bad enough, the hurricane wiped out three generations of Bowen’s family with his father, wife and daughter all perishing on shore.

Redfish Bar Cut Lighthouse managed to survive the storm, but just barely. Newly commissioned in March, the lighthouse marked a channel through a shallow bar bisecting Galveston Bay. It must have seemed surreal to the keeper when a darkened vessel barreled down on the lighthouse, pushed by Category Four winds. Just as it seemed the ghost ship would crush the beacon, the vessel veered slightly and passed silently a few feet from the lighthouse.

The Fort Point Life-Saving Station probably looked similar to this vintage photo before the storm. (U.S. Coast Guard Photo)

At Fort Point Lighthouse, Keeper Charles Anderson watched the storm surge carry off equipment on the screw-pile lighthouse’s lower deck, including a lifeboat and storage tanks for fresh water and kerosene fuel. The wind grew so intense that it peeled off the lighthouse’s heavy slate roof tiles. Some of the stone tiles shattered the lantern room glass and the winds blew out the light. With Fort Point Lighthouse’s lowest level flooded, the lamplight extinguished, no means of escape, and Keeper Anderson suffering from serious facial wounds, he and his faithful wife made their way to the parlor and to meet their fate.

Hurricanes had blown Galveston Lightship LV-28 off station many times before, but none compared to the 1900 Hurricane. The wooden lightship relied on sails for motive power and was at the mercy of the storm. The hurricane tore the vessel from its moorings and parted its anchor chain. The lightship’s windlass and whaleboat were ripped away and the winds collapsed one of the ship’s two masts. The storm drove the vessel several miles up Galveston Bay before the crew dropped the spare anchor, which held fast. Fortunately, no crewmembers were lost.

A rare photograph of LV-28 in 1895, five years before the 1900 storm struck Galveston. (U.S. Coast Guard Photo)

By 11:00 p.m., the wind began to moderate allowing Root and his men to return safe, but exhausted, to Cutter Galvestonby 12:30 a.m. on Sunday. At about 1:00 a.m., Fort Point Station keeper Edward Haines’s surfboat found bottom and the winds died down to only 20 miles per hour. The cloud cover cleared and the moon illuminated the surroundings for Haines and his two surfmen. They had washed ashore a mile-and-a-half beyond Galveston Bay’s normal shoreline about nine miles by water from the station.

At Bolivar Light, Keeper Harry Claiborne did his best to care for his flock. The hundreds of weary men, women and children rode out the stormy night seated on the spiraling steps leading up to the lantern room. The next morning, the survivors left the safety of the tower to find a scene resembling a massacre. As the floodwater subsided, it deposited the corpses of those who tried and failed to gain the safety of the lighthouse. Meanwhile, Keeper Claiborne’s storm victims had consumed all the provisions stockpiled in the tower and, when he returned to the keeper’s quarters, he found the storm surge had wiped out his worldly possessions.

At Fort Point Light, Keeper Anderson and his wife survived what seemed certain death to see another day. At daybreak, they climbed the stairs to the lighthouse gallery and emerged arm-in-arm to witness the carnage left in the wake of the storm. The receding floodwaters carried away dozens of human and animal carcasses in a silently watery funeral procession from Galveston Bay to the Gulf of Mexico.

Meanwhile, Life-Saving Service Keeper Haines and his two surfmen began searching the beach for survivors and found three more of his surfmen who were blown across Galveston Bay on flotsam. The three men recounted how the lifesaving station collapsed just after Haines’ lifeboat was swept away, throwing the surfmen and Haines’s wife into the roiling seas. Later, Haines located temporary graves containing Mrs. Haines and the missing surfman. Haines and the crew rowed out to the graves with a casket and retrieved her body for re-burial. It is not known whether the surfman’s remains were ever exhumed.

For the next two weeks, Keeper Haines and his crew worked for the Galveston Relief Committee locating hundreds of corpses. In the rush to clear away the dead, most of the bodies were never identified and either buried at sea, buried in hastily-dug graves, or just burned where they lay. Meanwhile, Cutter Galveston’s crew towed countless human and animal remains out to open water. The tide returned many of them to the harbor, so the crew had to tow them to the nearby mud flats and burn them. Galveston’s burial detail burned so many corpses that it finally ran out of fuel oil to set the bodies on fire.

In the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900, members of the Coast Guard’s predecessor services performed heroically. Keeper Edward Haines and the Galveston Life-Saving Station crew struggled mightily against the forces of nature at Fort Point. The men of the Lighthouse Service and Revenue Cutter Service demonstrated the same devotion to duty by manning the lights and saving hundreds of lives. The Great Galveston Hurricane would be the first of countless hurricane response efforts performed by the Coast Guard and its ancestor agencies.

SOURCE:  http://live.cgaux.org