Plymouth Harbor News

Sea Tow Services International, the world’s largest professional marine assistance organization, welcomed Rear Admiral William Baumgartner, the Coast Guard’s 7th District Commander, and Captain David McBride, the U.S. Coast Guard’s Chief of Search of Rescue, to its annual awards ceremony and dinner on Dec. 2, 2010, as part of the company’s 28th Annual Meeting held Dec. 1-3, 2010, in Delray Beach, Fla. Together with Capt. Joe Frohnhoefer, Sea Tow’s founder/CEO, RADM Baumgartner and CAPT McBride presented eight Sea Tow captains with Awards for Efforts Above and Beyond. RADM Baumgartner also presented the Sea Tow captains with his challenge coin, a military honor rooted in the U.S. Navy that acknowledges the receiver’s courage, strength, leadership and commitment to duty.

1883-The schooner Champion with a crew of two men stranded on Dick’s Flat, Plymouth Harbor, near Duxbury Pier lighthouse, at about 6 am. The shoal where she struck was about three miles west-southwest of the Gurnet Point Station (Second District), and the crew of the station were not sure she was aground until about 10 o’clock. The life-saving crew therefore arrived on board a little before 2 o’clock in the afternoon. They found one of the men, the captain, at the pumps and the other bailing from the hatch. The vessel was leaking badly. The two men on board were wet, cold, and very glad of the assistance of the life-saving crew. The keeper, at the captain’s request, took charge. The pumps were manned while another gang went to work bailing.

1883-The schooner Champion with a crew of two men stranded on Dick’s Flat, Plymouth Harbor, near Duxbury Pier lighthouse, at about 6 am. The shoal where she struck was about three miles west-southwest of the Gurnet Point Station (Second District), and the crew of the station were not sure she was aground until about 10 o’clock. The life-saving crew therefore arrived on board a little before 2 o’clock in the afternoon. They found one of the men, the captain, at the pumps and the other bailing from the hatch. The vessel was leaking badly. The two men on board were wet, cold, and very glad of the assistance of the life-saving crew. The keeper, at the captain’s request, took charge. The pumps were manned while another gang went to work bailing.

The Navy has ordered an operational stand-down for all submarines following two recent accidents, charging commanders to “focus energy and intellect back onto the basics of submarine operations,” according to the Submarine Force’s leader. Vice Adm. Chuck Munns, U.S. Submarine Force commander, lamented that the two incidents — one which resulted in the death of two sailors — happened under standard operations. Normal operations will continue while commanders review recently completed operations and future planned evolutions, and evaluate areas of risk and risk mitigation, a statement said. They have a week to do it — reviews are due Jan. 19. The two incidents that sparked Thursday’s order involved four sailors swept from the top of the submarine USS Minneapolis-St.

Two U.S. sailors died after waves swept them from the deck of a nuclear submarine off the coast of southwestern England on Friday, British coast guards said. The USS Minneapolis-St. Paul was leaving Plymouth harbor in rough weather around midday, said Sean Brooks, a coast guard spokesman. Four sailors were tied to the vessel with ropes — a routine precaution — but two fell into the surging water. British rescue boats picked up all four, Brooks said. The nuclear-powered attack submarine, which is based in Norfolk, Virginia, has a crew of 110 and can reach speeds exceeding 30 mph. Its weapons include torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles. Sixth Fleet is the operational arm of U.S. Naval Forces Europe and is primarily responsible for the Mediterranean and western and central Africa.