Loran Station News

Admiral James Steele Gracey, USCG (retired), 17th Commandant of the Coast Guard, passed away on Sunday, April 5, 2020, in Falls Church, Va., at the age of 92.Born in Newton, Mass. in 1927, Adm. Gracey graduated from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1949. Adm. Gracey was a 1956 graduate of the Harvard Graduate School where he earned a Masters Degree in Business Administration.His career included diverse tours both ashore and afloat, including Commanding Officer, LORAN Station Ocean Cape…

French Frigate Shoals are located in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands, between Kauai and Midway. The atoll consists of a twenty-mile long crescent-shaped reef, with 13 coral and sand islands and the 120-foot high volcanic rock Perouse Pinnacle, named for French explorer Jean-Francois de la Perouse, who charted the atoll in 1786 and nearly grounded his two frigates. Tern Island is the largest, covering 105,276 square meters or 26 acres. Second largest is (or was) East Island, with 35…

Bollinger Shipyards has delivered the 25th Fast Response Cutter (FRC) USCGC Jacob Poroo to the U.S. Coast Guard on September 5, 2017 in Key West, Fla. The vessel’s commissioning is scheduled for November 8 in New Orleans. Ben Bordelon, Bollinger president and CEO, said, “This FRC built by Bollinger Shipyards will be the second FRC to be stationed in Pascagoula, Miss. Previous cutters have been stationed in Florida; San Juan, P.R.; Cape May, N.J.; Ketchikan, Alaska; Pascagoula, Miss. and Honolulu, Hawaii.

The Ejde Loran station on the Faroe Islands will be shut down on December 31, 2015, after having been in operation since 1959. At the end of the year, the entire European Loran system will be discontinued. The Loran-C station on Ejde is a part of the Northwest European Loran system, consisting of four stations in Norway, two in France, one in England, one stationin Germany as well as the station on the Faroe Islands. Loran-C is a radio navigation system that can be used for navigation and the receipt of time information if you have a Loran-C receiver.

1909- Point Judith, Rhode Island: The schooner G.A. Hayden grounded northeast of the station. The sea being too rough for surfboat, life-saving crew took the beach apparatus to the wreck and succeeded in reaching her with the second shot. The first of her crew was landed in the breeches buoy at 12: 10 am. After 4 trips the last one came ashore at 12: 45. The vessel was a total loss.   1986-  The Libyan military, on orders from dictator Moammar Gadhafi, fired a missile at the Coast Guard LORAN Station Lampedusa, off the coast of Italy.  The missile fell harmlessly in the Mediterranean and there were no casualties.   (Source: USCG Historian’s Office)

1863- The cutter Agassiz defended the Union-held Fort Anderson at New Bern, North Carolina, from a Confederate attack. 1902- All but one of the members of the crew of the Monomoy (Massachusetts) Life-Saving Station perished during the attempted rescue of the crew of the wrecked coal barge Wadenaduring a terrible winter gale. The dead included the keeper of the station, Marshall N. Eldridge, and six of his surfmen. Eldridge told his crew before they departed on the rescue that: "We must go, there is a distress flag in the rigging."  The crew of five from the barge also perished. The sole survivor, Seth L. Ellis, was the number one surfman of the Monomoy station. He was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal as was the man who rescued him, Captain Elmer Mayo of the barge Fitzpatrick.

1958-A U.S. Navy P5M aircraft enroute from San Juan to Norfolk lost one engine and changed course to the island of San Salvador, British West Indies, to attempt a night ditching. AIRSTA Miami sent up a Coast Guard UF amphibian plane, later reinforced by a second amphibian. After contacting the disabled US Navy plane, the pilot of the first amphibian talked the Navy pilot out of attempting to ditch without benefit of illumination and alerted the commanding officer of the Coast Guard LORAN station on San Salvador for assistance after ditching. In true Coast Guard tradition, the LORAN station's CO borrowed a truck and an 18-foot boat to assist. The commanding officer managed to be on the scene 1 1/2 miles offshore, when the Navy P5M landed with two minutes of fuel remaining.

1968-In October 1968, the United States Air Force requested additional LORAN-C coverage in Southeast Asia and by 27 December 1968 the Coast Guard had received authorization to proceed with the project.  This led to the construction a LORAN station at Tan My, South Vietnam, that supplemented the other LORAN stations in Southeast Asia first established in 1966 under an operation code-named Tight Reign. (Source: USCG Historian’s Office)

1942- Landings made in Vichy-French-held North Africa by Allied forces. Coast Guard-manned vessels participated. 1959- The tanker Amoco Virginia, with a cargo of aviation gasoline, exploded and caught fire at Houston, Texas. US Coast Guard units in the Galveston-Houston area assisted local and Federal agencies in extinguishing the blaze. For 10 more days, Coast Guard air and surface units controlled a dangerous situation by spreading foam to reduce the fire hazard of leaking aviation gas, directing harbor traffic, pumping out the damaged vessel, and moving her to a safe dock. 1979-The crew of Coast Guard LORAN Station St. Paul Island, Alaska, rescued the crew of the Japanese factory fishing vessel Ryuyo Maru NR Two which had run aground near Tolstoi Point on St. Paul Island during a storm.

1899-First Navy wireless message was sent via the Lighthouse Service Station at Highlands of Navesink, New Jersey. 1943-CGC E.M. Wilcox foundered off Nags Head, NC. One crewman was lost. 1949-The rank of commodore, established in 1943 as a wartime measure, was terminated by the President under the provisions of an Act of Congress approved 24 July 1941. 1977- The CGC Taney departed Ocean Station "Hotel" on 30 September 1977 when the station was closed and replaced by a buoy. This was the final ocean station patrolled by a Coast Guard cutter. 1994-The crew of Coast Guard LORAN Station Marcus Island decommissioned their station and turned it over to the Japanese Maritime Safety Agency.

1898-The American steamer, Toledo with the barge Shawnee in tow, became water-logged 25 miles southwest of the station at Ship Canal, MI. Her crew boarded Shawnee and sailed to the canal. There they engaged the steamer D. F. Rose to tow Toledo in and the surfmen assisted to lay her on the beach near the piers. The keeper then telephoned for a tug and lighter, and upon their arrival all hands set to work until 11 p.m. saving about 1,000 feet of lumber. At this hour the wind came out west and the work had to be abandoned. Toledo broke up and became a total wreck on the 30th. 1986- Coast Guard officials signed the contract papers to acquire the H-60 series helicopter to replace the venerable Sikorsky HH-3F Pelicans.

The Coast Guard is holding a decommissioning ceremony for its Long Range Aids to Navigation (LORAN) Station in Caribou, Maine, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010. The LORAN-C station was commissioned in November of 1974, marking 35-years of service. The Station transmitted the American northeast 9960 and Canadian East Coast 5930 navigation and timing signals. It has a crew of four active duty Coast Guard members. Termination of the LORAN-C program was supported through the enactment of the fiscal year 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations bill. Transimission of the American signal ended on February 8, 2010, and the Canadian signal was terminated on August 3, 2010.

1909- Point Judith, Rhode Island: The schooner G.A. Hayden grounded northeast of the station. The sea being too rough for surfboat, life-saving crew took the beach apparatus to the wreck and succeeded in reaching her with the second shot. The first of her crew was landed in the breeches buoy at 12: 10 am. After 4 trips the last one came ashore at 12: 45. The vessel was a total loss. 1986-  The Libyan military, on orders from dictator Moammar Gadhafi, fired a missile at the Coast Guard LORAN Station Lampedusa, off the coast of Italy.  The missile fell harmlessly in the Mediterranean and there were no casualties. (Source: USCG Historian’s Office)

1863- The cutter Agassiz defended the Union-held Fort Anderson at New Bern, North Carolina, from a Confederate attack. 1902- All but one of the members of the crew of the Monomoy (Massachusetts) Life-Saving Station perished during the attempted rescue of the crew of the wrecked coal barge Wadena during a terrible winter gale. The dead included the keeper of the station, Marshall N. Eldridge, and six of his surfmen. Eldridge told his crew before they departed on the rescue that: "We must go, there is a distress flag in the rigging."  The crew of five from the barge also perished. The sole survivor, Seth L. Ellis, was the number one surfman of the Monomoy station. He was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal as was the man who rescued him, Captain Elmer Mayo of the barge Fitzpatrick.

1958-A U.S. Navy P5M aircraft enroute from San Juan to Norfolk lost one engine and changed course to the island of San Salvador, British West Indies, to attempt a night ditching. AIRSTA Miami sent up a Coast Guard UF amphibian plane, later reinforced by a second amphibian. After contacting the disabled US Navy plane, the pilot of the first amphibian talked the Navy pilot out of attempting to ditch without benefit of illumination and alerted the commanding officer of the Coast Guard LORAN station on San Salvador for assistance after ditching. In true Coast Guard tradition, the LORAN station's CO borrowed a truck and an 18-foot boat to assist. The commanding officer managed to be on the scene 1 1/2 miles offshore, when the Navy P5M landed with two minutes of fuel remaining.

1899-First Navy wireless message was sent via the Lighthouse Service Station at Highlands of Navesink, New Jersey. 1943-CGC E.M. Wilcox foundered off Nags Head, NC. One crewman was lost. 1949-The rank of commodore, established in 1943 as a wartime measure, was terminated by the President under the provisions of an Act of Congress approved 24 July 1941. 1977- The CGC Taney departed Ocean Station "Hotel" on 30 September 1977 when the station was closed and replaced by a buoy. This was the final ocean station patrolled by a Coast Guard cutter. 1994-The crew of Coast Guard LORAN Station Marcus Island decommissioned their station and turned it over to the Japanese Maritime Safety Agency.

1898-The American steamer, Toledo with the barge Shawnee in tow, became water-logged 25 miles southwest of the station at Ship Canal, MI. Her crew boarded Shawnee and sailed to the canal. There they engaged the steamer D. F. Rose to tow Toledo in and the surfmen assisted to lay her on the beach near the piers. The keeper then telephoned for a tug and lighter, and upon their arrival all hands set to work until 11 p.m. saving about 1,000 feet of lumber. At this hour the wind came out west and the work had to be abandoned. Toledo broke up and became a total wreck on the 30th. 1986- Coast Guard officials signed the contract papers to acquire the H-60 series helicopter to replace the venerable Sikorsky HH-3F Pelicans.

The Coast Guard Loran Station here will hold a Change of Command Ceremony at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Senior Chief Robert A. Merick will relieve Chief Richard J. Isabelle as Commanding Officer of the unit during the ceremony. Isabelle, of Springfield, Mass., will serve as executive officer of Loran Station Port Clarence. Isabelle’s previous duty stations include Loran Station Marcus Island, Japan, and the Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma in New Bedford, Mass. He graduated from Springfield Technical Community College with an associate’s degree in Electronics Technology in 1985 followed by a degree from the Advanced Integrated Electronics School in Memphis, Tenn. Merick, of Sikeston, Mo., most recently served at the Kodiak Communications Station as the Electronics Technician in Charge.