USCG Tamaroa, veteran of WW II & The Perfect Storm

[Fubar512 1,350]

http://www.app.com/story/news/new-jersey/2017/04/11/perfect-storm-ship-sunk-off-nj-next-week/100344998/

 

After several months' delay, the ship that helped rescue seven people during "the Perfect Storm" is scheduled to be sunk off the New Jersey and Delaware coast next week, state officials said Tuesday evening.

 

The Coast Guard cutter Tamaroa will join other ships forming an artificial reef about 26 miles off Cape May at ceremony next Tuesday, barring bad weather, said Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

 

The 73-year-old ship, which also had a distinguished career in World War II, had been scheduled to be sunk late last year. It was delayed when lab tests confirming the ship was free from cancer-causing PCBs — a prerequisite before sinking — came in later than expected.

 

The sinking comes a few months after the 25th anniversary of "the Perfect Storm," a confluence of three weather systems off the New England Coast in October 1991 that generated 40-foot waves and wind gusts over 70 mph.

 

 

 

The Tamaroa’s crew helped save three people on a sailboat before rescuing four of five crewmen of an Air National Guard helicopter that had to be ditched in the ocean when it ran out of fuel during a similar rescue mission. The ship gained fame when its exploits were documented in Sebastian Junger's 1997 book, "The Perfect Storm," and three years later in a film starring George Clooney.

 

News of the sinking had generated significant interest among former crew members ever since word of the Tamaroa's fate broke in October. Many would rather see the ship used as a reef than demolished for scrap metal.

 

The ship already had a decorated history as the Navy's USS Zuni, towing crippled U.S. warships across the war-torn Pacific in World War II and aiding in the invasion of Iwo Jima. It was transferred to the Coast Guard shortly after the war and spent almost a half-century conducting search-and-rescue operations along the East Coast.

 

The Tamaroa was decommissioned in 1994. A decade-long effort by a group of veterans to restore the ship ended when its hull sprang a significant leak in 2012, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. The Tamaroa will join the Navy destroyer USS Arthur W. Radford 120 feet below the ocean's surface on the Del-Jersey-Land Reef, which is managed by Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland.

Edited April 12, 2017 by Fubar512

[Stratos 3,167]

S! for the ship and the crew that served on it!

[Skyviper 1,101]

I don't understand. Why sink a ship with such great history? Why not make it a museum like the Battleship Missouri?

[Silberpfeil 356]

They've tried - the Zuni Maritime Foundation had been active in money-raising throughout Hampton Roads and up and down the East Coast, but they only had a handful of volunteers for daily maintenance.  At one point there was a brief contract to allow local law enforcement agencies to stage practice boardings and securement details, but the insurance requirements were too great for that revenue stream to continue.  I'd been aboard her several times when she was docked in Norfolk a few years back, and in my estimation she just had too many mechanical systems difficulties and access issues for tourists to make that avenue work successfully.  In the end, the calculations were made that it just would never be cost-effective to save her.  The hull damage sustained during 2012 was really the final blow, but she still held on for a couple more years during which time she was stripped of memorabilia and paraphernalia that has now been moved to other museum ships.  It's been a sad end to a ship with a remarkable history...      

[charlielima 328]

They've tried - the Zuni Maritime Foundation had been active in money-raising throughout Hampton Roads and up and down the East Coast, but they only had a handful of volunteers for daily maintenance.  At one point there was a brief contract to allow local law enforcement agencies to stage practice boardings and securement details, but the insurance requirements were too great for that revenue stream to continue.  I'd been aboard her several times when she was docked in Norfolk a few years back, and in my estimation she just had too many mechanical systems difficulties and access issues for tourists to make that avenue work successfully.  In the end, the calculations were made that it just would never be cost-effective to save her.  The hull damage sustained during 2012 was really the final blow, but she still held on for a couple more years during which time she was stripped of memorabilia and paraphernalia that has now been moved to other museum ships.  It's been a sad end to a ship with a remarkable history...      

 

Yah same sierra with the Coral Sea, CV-43. I did a cruise on it when it was "San Fransisco's Own" on a helicopter squadron. She was the 1st and last carrier to cruise with A-1 Skyraiders.

The Midway is a museum and CV-43 is not. In the not too distant future any body who shaves with a blade will have the USS Coral Sea to use.

CL

[Toryu 156]

S! to all USCG personnel, who I believe are way too little recognized for their daily service by the general public.

[charlielima 328]

It looks looks like today is the day.

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/US-Perfect-Storm-Ship-Reef/2017/05/10/id/789225/

CL

[+Typhoid 231]

 

[+EMCON360 215]

Always Make A Note.

[charlielima 328]

Good ole Grandpa Pettibone ?

CL

[Silberpfeil 356]

"He who turns around and lands at base will live to fly to some other place".

[RUSTYMORLEY 162]

They've tried - the Zuni Maritime Foundation had been active in money-raising throughout Hampton Roads and up and down the East Coast, but they only had a handful of volunteers for daily maintenance.  At one point there was a brief contract to allow local law enforcement agencies to stage practice boardings and securement details, but the insurance requirements were too great for that revenue stream to continue.  I'd been aboard her several times when she was docked in Norfolk a few years back, and in my estimation she just had too many mechanical systems difficulties and access issues for tourists to make that avenue work successfully.  In the end, the calculations were made that it just would never be cost-effective to save her.  The hull damage sustained during 2012 was really the final blow, but she still held on for a couple more years during which time she was stripped of memorabilia and paraphernalia that has now been moved to other museum ships.  It's been a sad end to a ship with a remarkable history...      

 

 

 

I agree totally that those vessels which have served well and have played a significant part in major maritime rescues should be given a little more consideration and respect when it comes to end of service life. Could it have been kept out of the water on permanent static display perhaps in a maritime museum.??? A sad end indeed.