- Oct 22, 2014
- 23,341
I spent the afternoon exploring this Columbia River Bar museum. The exhibits are very engaging. From the 36ft Coast Guard motor life boat operated by Coast Guard Surfmen started service in 1929 on both coastlines and the Great Lakes, this one was built in 1940’s.
It was the type of boat that stared in the movie “Their Finest Hour”. That movie star boat 36500 was refitted and can be found on exhibit in Orleans, Mass. CG 36500 was stationed at the Chatham, Massachusetts Coast Guard Life Boat Station from 1946 to 1968 and is famous for its role in the rescue of crewmen from the tanker Pendleton in 1952. In the late afternoon of February 18 during a northeaster with winds of 70-knots, reported 40-60-foot seas and heavy snow, the crew of CG 36500 crossed the Chatham bar in the lifeboat and rescued 32 of the 33 men who were stranded on the stern half of the tanker. The Pendleton had broken in two in the early hours of the morning with the stern half moving towards Chatham.
The Columbia River Bar is known as the Graveyard of the Pacific. Since 1792, approximately 2,000 large ships have sunk in and around the Columbia Bar.
The CG out of Ilwaco, WA train Surfmen on the 47’ motor lifeboat.
Here the Columbia bar is at peace. But that can change in a heart beat.
The CRMM has staged the CG Motor Lifeboat in action.
If you get a chance to visit Astoria, OR, I encourage you to explore the CRMM Home
It is an afternoon well spent.
It was the type of boat that stared in the movie “Their Finest Hour”. That movie star boat 36500 was refitted and can be found on exhibit in Orleans, Mass. CG 36500 was stationed at the Chatham, Massachusetts Coast Guard Life Boat Station from 1946 to 1968 and is famous for its role in the rescue of crewmen from the tanker Pendleton in 1952. In the late afternoon of February 18 during a northeaster with winds of 70-knots, reported 40-60-foot seas and heavy snow, the crew of CG 36500 crossed the Chatham bar in the lifeboat and rescued 32 of the 33 men who were stranded on the stern half of the tanker. The Pendleton had broken in two in the early hours of the morning with the stern half moving towards Chatham.
The Columbia River Bar is known as the Graveyard of the Pacific. Since 1792, approximately 2,000 large ships have sunk in and around the Columbia Bar.
The CG out of Ilwaco, WA train Surfmen on the 47’ motor lifeboat.
Here the Columbia bar is at peace. But that can change in a heart beat.
The CRMM has staged the CG Motor Lifeboat in action.
If you get a chance to visit Astoria, OR, I encourage you to explore the CRMM Home
It is an afternoon well spent.
