This Day in Coast Guard History – Dec. 21

1936-Ice breaking by the Coast Guard was authorized by Executive Order No. 7521.

1960- The tanker Pine Ridge, with 37 crewmen on board, reported it was breaking in two about 120 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.  Immediately, the Coast Guard dispatched aircraft and vessels to the scene and alerted nearby US Navy and merchant vessels.  After the arrival of a Coast Guard UF-2G amphibian aircraft, the bow section of the Pine Ridge capsized, throwing some members of the crew overboard; the stern section, however, remained afloat and upright.  Mountainous seas rebuffed every attempt of the tanker Artemis to rescue the seamen in the water.  Life rafts and emergency equipment, meanwhile, were airdropped, and the helicopters from the aircraft carrier Valley Forge successfully removed the 28 survivors from the still floating stern section.  Of the bow section and the 9 missing crewmen, only debris and lifejackets were found, despite a widespread air and surface search.

(Source: USCG Historian’s Office)