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U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmers from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City train off the coast of Atlantic Cit, NJ, Sept. 18, 2006. Photo Credit: U.S. Coast Guard photo by PAC Tom Sperduto

Tragedy Spawns Heroes: U.S. Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue Swimmer Program

By Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Evanson Fifth District Public Affairs

25 years ago, a tragic event claimed the lives of 31 Merchant Marines, and the U.S Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue Swimmer Program was conceived to prevent such disasters from happening again. The program has been a guardian angel to many souls nearly taken by the sea.

Tragedy at Sea

The S.S. Marine Electric, a 587-foot motor vessel transporting coal departed Norfolk, Va., for Brayton Point, Mass., on Feb. 10, 1983. Thirty-four merchant mariners were aboard as a winter storm pummeled the lower Chesapeake Bay. If four-foot seas within the bay were harsh, the seas awaiting the Marine Electric in the open ocean were in excess of 40 feet.

On Feb. 12, 1983, at approximately 2:51 a.m., a U.S. Coast Guard watch stander in Ocean City, Md., was notified by the Master of the Marine Electric, reporting his vessel was taking on water near the front end of the ship. By 3 a.m., the entire crew was mustered on deck near the starboard lifeboats preparing to abandon ship. At a 4:15 a.m., as the merchant mariners were preparing the lifeboats, the ship was struck by a powerful jolt, possibly a rogue wave, capsizing the vessel to the starboard side. The Marine Electric crew was thrown into the frigid Atlantic waters recorded at 37 degrees Fahrenheit (2.8 degrees Celsius) approximately 30 miles (48.3 kilometres) off the coast of Chincoteague. What was an initial distress call now became a massive search and rescue mission, but the following events proved far more difficult than ever imagined.

At the time, U.S. Coast Guard flight crews did not have the ability or power to deploy rescue swimmers in the sea to recover victims. A crewmember simply lowered a rescue basket from the helicopter in the vicinity of a distressed person in the water. The success of the mission relied almost entirely on the victim mustering the strength to get in the basket on his or her own. In cold temperatures where shock and hypothermia were prevalent, this practice proved futile.

When a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew based at Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., arrived on-scene shortly after 5 a.m., the water was flush with strobe lights, yet little sign of life existed. Not until 6:05 a.m. was a Navy rescue swimmer able to assist with the recovery. The Navy dispatched a helicopter crew from Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, Va., which had rescue swimmers trained for search and rescue. One-by-one with the help of the crew of the 82-foot Coast Guard Cutter Point Highland, the Navy rescue swimmer recovered the bodies of the Marine Electric crew from the surface; nearly three hours after the vessel capsized.

Of the 34 crewmembers aboard the Marine Electric, 27 people were recovered; only three survived. Seven Marine Electric crewmembers were never found, possibly still aboard the ship. The medical examiners indicated that the cause of death of the deceased was hypothermia and/or drowning.

Aftermath

This tragic event proved to be more catastrophic because the U.S. Coast Guard was not prepared to respond. The sad conclusion of the S.S. Marine Electric served as a humbling blow to U.S Coast Guard readiness. Following the tragedy, the U.S. Coast Guard launched one of the biggest Marine Board of Investigations in its history. Making the case more overwhelming were Congressional representatives seeking to know how such a disaster could happen, and more importantly how can a similar scenario be averted. After several Congressional hearings, the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1984 was passed to ensure the U.S Coast Guard was properly equipped to respond to such cases.

Introduction of the Guardian

"The Aviation Survival Technician (AST) rating's job which was created in 1969 has always been to inspect and maintain life support equipment, perform ground handling and servicing of aircraft, and conduct aviation administration duties," said Master Chief Petty Officer Donald Murray, Coast Guard Aviation Survival Technician Rating Force Manager.

Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Tony Ariola, a helicopter rescue swimmer from Air Station Savannah, hones his skills in Charleston Harbor, S.C., during a training mission. The crew of the U.S Coast Guard rescue helicopter was on their way to Air Station Savannah’s northern staging area - Air Facility Charleston. Photo Credit: U.S. Coast Guard photo by PA1 Donnie Brzuska, PADET Jacksonville, Fla.

The U.S. Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue Swimmer Program would become an extension of the AST mission objective, beginning very subtly in the fall of 1984, as a result of the Marine Electric tragedy. The U.S. Coast Guard joined forces with the Navy, which permitted prospective U.S. Coast Guard helicopter rescue swimmers to train with fellow Navy swimmers at the U. S. Navy Rescue Swimmer School at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla.

After a few years of training with the Navy, it became apparent the U.S. Coast Guard needed to make modifications because some of the methods taught at the Joint Service School were not applicable to the U.S. Coast Guard’s search and rescue mission. The U.S. Coast Guard's main emphasis is peacetime rescues, not downed military recovery methods. In addition, the program was not without its challenges. The new feature to U.S. Coast Guard aviation generated hesitation and concern from pilots with regard to deploying swimmers in hazardous conditions.

Rescue swimmers assigned to Air Station Elizabeth City officially became the first operational unit with helicopter rescue swimmers March 5, 1985, with air stations throughout the country following suit throughout the following years. "The Coast Guard went fully operational with the rescue swimmer program in October of 1991 meaning all Aviation Survivalmen, [first class petty officer] and below stood rescue swimmer duty at every Coast Guard air station across the country," said Murray.

Since its inception, the U.S. Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue Swimmer program has enhanced the U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue mission. "The addition of a Rescue Swimmer asset to Helicopter search and rescue teams has had significant impact on the mission. Hurricane Katrina is our most recent reminder of the value of this asset," said Senior Chief Petty Officer Lewis Hart, who supervises the Aviation Survival Technician "A" school in Elizabeth City.

In the two-plus decades of the program’s existence, several innovations in training have allowed rescue swimmers to adapt to the unpredictable situations that they often encounter.

"The Rescue Swimmer Program has evolved in a number of ways but mostly in more advanced gear and training. The development of the Advanced Helicopter Rescue School in Astoria, Ore., helps train AST's in advanced techniques such as vertical surface rescue, sea cave rescue, heavy surf rescue, and swift water rescue," said Hart. In addition, innovations in sport science became an objective in training rescue swimmers.

It has been 25 years since 31 souls from the Marine Electric perished. Since this tragedy, it can be said that many lives have been indirectly saved. It is sometimes through tragedy that good can be extracted, and the U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer has fostered this. In Hurricane Katrina, more than three-thousand lives were saved as the search and rescue operation unfolded on live television. In addition to survival skills in extreme elements, rescue swimmers are trained emergency medical technicians employing basic skills to victims while transporting to medical facilities ashore.

With lessons learned, the U.S. Coast Guard stands by for the next search and rescue case, always ready.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Evanson is a six-year veteran of the United States Coast Guard and currently resides in Portsmouth, Va. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, Calif., and serves the Coast Guard as a journalist, photographer and spokesperson.

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