Storis News

Legislation to reform the U.S. domestic marine recycling industry, the Ships to Be Recycled in the States (STORIS) Act, was introduced today by U.S. Senators David Vitter (R-La.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.). Congressman Garret Graves (R-La.) will introduce the companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. The legislation aims to improve the domestic ship recycling industry and promote transparency by requiring reports from Maritime Administration (MARAD) and an audit by the Government Accountability Office. “The Maritime Administration receives millions of dollars in federal funding, but they’ve never reported how the sales money is spent or how the agency awards contracts,” Vitter said.

Denise Rucker Krepp, former Maritime Administration Chief Counsel who currently advocates on behalf of the U.S. domestic ship recycling industry, issued a statement at the Coast Guard Shipping Coordinating Committee Meeting March 12, 2014, in Preparation for the April 2014 Maritime Environment Protection Committee Meeting. Below are her comments. Good morning. My name is Denise Krepp and I am representing EMR-Southern Recycling. As I mentioned last year, EMR-Southern Recycling is the premier metal recycling operation in the U.S.

1909- Burnt Island, Maine: The schooner Regina stranded five miles north of the station. The Life-Saving crew, in a small power boat, arrived at the same time as the tug Bismarck. After the tug had pulled her afloat, the keeper piloted them out into clear water.   1992- The CGC Storis' 3-inch/.50 caliber main battery was removed from the cutter.  It was the last 3-inch/.50 caliber gun in service aboard any US warship.  The 3-inch/.50 was a dual-purpose weapon (surface and anti-aircraft) that had been in U.S. service since the 1930s.  It was shipped to Curtis Bay where is was made inoperable and was then loaned to a VFW club.     (Source: USCG Historian’s Office)

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.

1832- Treasury Secretary Louis McLane discontinued the practice of hiring "unemployed" Navy officers as senior Revenue Cutter Service officers.  All vacancies were to be filled by promotions within the service.  This was a tremendous boost to morale among Revenue cuttermen as they had long complained about the slow line of promotion, as unemployed Navy officers grabbed up senior positions. 1972-CGC Storis seized two Soviet fishing vessels, the 362-foot factory vessel Lamut and the 278-foot stern trawler Kolyvan, for fishing inside the 12-mile U.S. contiguous zone. 1994- Coast Guard units and family members assisted those in need after an earthquake hit Los Angeles, California. (Source: USCG Historian’s Office)

1950-A dedication of the monument erected in Arlington National Cemetery on the gravesite of those who lost their lives on the night of 29 January 1945, when USS Serpens was destroyed off Lunga Beach, Guadalcanal. This was the largest single disaster suffered by the Coast Guard in World War II. 1992: The CGC Storis became the cutter with the longest service in the Bering Sea, eclipsing the U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear which had held that distinction since 1929. The Bear was decommissioned in 1929 after serving in the Bering Sea for 44 years and two months. (Source: USCG Historian’s Office)

1926-An airways division, headed by a chief engineer, was set up as a part of the Lighthouse Service, its work covering the examination of airways and emergency landing fields and the erection and maintenance of aids to air navigation. 1943-Coast Guard-manned USS LST-203 was stranded in Southwest Pacific but there were no casualties. 1976- Coast Guard personnel were required to change to the new "Bender Blues" uniforms by this date. 1991- The CGC Storis became the oldest commissioned cutter in the Coast Guard when the CGC Fir was decommissioned. The Storis's crew painted her hull number "38" in gold in recognition of her status. 1996- Operation Frontier Shield commenced. It was the largest counter-narcotics operation in Coast Guard history to date.

1909- Burnt Island, Maine: The schooner Regina stranded five miles north of the station. The Life-Saving crew, in a small power boat, arrived at the same time as the tug Bismarck. After the tug had pulled her afloat, the keeper piloted them out into clear water. 1992- The CGC Storis' 3-inch/.50 caliber main battery was removed from the cutter.  It was the last 3-inch/.50 caliber gun in service aboard any US warship.  The 3-inch/.50 was a dual-purpose weapon (surface and anti-aircraft) that had been in U.S. service since the 1930s.  It was shipped to Curtis Bay where is was made inoperable and was then loaned to a VFW club. (Source: USCG Historian’s Office)

1942-  The 172-foot tender CGC Acacia was en route from Curacao, Netherlands West Indies to Antigua, British West Indies, when she was sunk by shellfire from the German submarine U-161. The entire crew of Acacia was rescued. She was the only Coast Guard buoy tender sunk by enemy action during the war. 1944- Coast Guardsmen participated in the invasions of Manus (Admiralties) and Emirau (St. Mathias Islands). 1946- For the first time, U.S. Coast Guard aircraft supplemented the work of the Coast Guard patrol vessels of the International Ice Patrol, scouting for ice and determining the limits of the ice fields from the air. 1983- The Coast Guard retired its last HC-131A Samaritan. 1991-The F/V Alaskan Monarch became trapped in the ice-encrusted Bering Sea near St.

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.

1950-A dedication of the monument erected in Arlington National Cemetery on the gravesite of those who lost their lives on the night of 29 January 1945, when USS Serpens was destroyed off Lunga Beach, Guadalcanal. This was the largest single disaster suffered by the Coast Guard in World War II. 1992: The CGC Storis became the cutter with the longest service in the Bering Sea, eclipsing the U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear which had held that distinction since 1929. The Bear was decommissioned in 1929 after serving in the Bering Sea for 44 years and two months. (Source: USCG Historian’s Office)

1950-A dedication of the monument erected in Arlington National Cemetery on the gravesite of those who lost their lives on the night of 29 January 1945, when USS Serpens was destroyed off Lunga Beach, Guadalcanal. This was the largest single disaster suffered by the Coast Guard in World War II. 1992: The CGC Storis became the cutter with the longest service in the Bering Sea, eclipsing the U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear which had held that distinction since 1929. The Bear was decommissioned in 1929 after serving in the Bering Sea for 44 years and two months. (Source: Navy News Service)

1790-Contract entered into for the construction of the "first" of the 10 revenue cutters, Massachusetts, at Newburyport, Massachusetts. 1952-A Merchant Marine Detail was established at Yokohama, Japan to handle increased merchant marine problems occurring there as a result of the Korean Conflict. 1956- CGC Pontchartrain, on Ocean Station November, rescued the passengers and crew of Pan American Clipper Flight 943 after the clipper ditched between Honolulu and San Francisco. 1992-CGC Storis became the first foreign military ship to visit the Russian port of Petropavlosk since the Crimean War.  During the goodwill visit, Storis conducted joint operations with the Russian icebreaker Volga. (Source: USCG Historian’s Office)

1926-An airways division, headed by a chief engineer, was set up as a part of the Lighthouse Service, its work covering the examination of airways and emergency landing fields and the erection and maintenance of aids to air navigation. 1943-Coast Guard-manned USS LST-203 was stranded in Southwest Pacific but there were no casualties. 1976- Coast Guard personnel were required to change to the new "Bender Blues" uniforms by this date. 1991- The CGC Storis became the oldest commissioned cutter in the Coast Guard when the CGC Fir was decommissioned. The Storis's crew painted her hull number "38" in gold in recognition of her status. 1996- Operation Frontier Shield commenced. It was the largest counter-narcotics operation in Coast Guard history to date.

The U.S. Coast Guard decommissioned its oldest vessel, retiring the cutter Storis with eight rings of a bell and the playing of taps in a gymnasium at the Kodiak Coast Guard Base. About 70 Storis crew members wearing dress blues stood at attention during the ceremony to retire the 64-year-old icebreaker. About 200 invited guests also attended. Storis crews have boarded 7,500 vessels, saved 250 lives, kept 25 vessels from sinking, assisted 100,000 people and traveled 1.5 million miles. The Storis has been patrolling Alaska waters since the late 1950s. Capt. James M. McCauley, commander of the Storis, thanked Kodiak for the town's hospitality as homeport. McCauley's last outing with Storis was a 54-day patrol in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea.