Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod
HC-144A Ocean Sentry

Missions

The missions of CGAS Cape Cod include

HH-60 Jayhawk helicopters. CGAS Cape Cod is located in part within the town of Sandwich, Massachusetts
.

History

Beginnings

In the 1950s, helicopters began to be incorporated into the

H-25A Army Mule was built with amphibious capabilities. Float planes were no longer needed because of this development. Therefore, places like Coast Guard Air Station Salem
were slowly being phased out. In the 1960s, the Coast Guard began searching for a replacement facility for Coast Guard Air Station Salem, that was in service from 1935 to 1970. Salem was not able to expand, and the Coast Guard needed a space that could grow as needed and accommodate modern aircraft.

1970–1980

In 1968, the Department of Defense agreed to allow the Coast Guard to utilize

HU-16E Albatrosses
were transferred from CGAS Salem and CGAD Quonset Point Rhode Island (NAS) to Cape Cod in the summer of 1970.

Crash of Helo CG-1432

The CG-1432 crash was a United States Coast Guard aviation accident which involved five crewmembers aboard a helicopter responding to a distress call from the Japanese fishing vessel Kaisei Maru #18.

On the morning of February 18, 1979, Kaisei Maru #18 sent a distress call.

Sikorsky HH-3F Pelican helicopter CG-1432 from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod was alerted and sent out to the vessel.[3]

The weather that morning was stormy and conditions were not ideal for flight.

Petty Officer Second Class John Tait (Avionicsman/Navigator), and Petty Officer Second Class Bruce Kaehler (Hospital Corpsman).[3] The lone survivor, Petty Officer Second Class Mark Torr (Flight Mechanic/Hoist Operator), remembers the flipping of the helicopter and swimming out, holding onto the nose wheel to stay near the aircraft.[3]

The first vessel to the rescue was Kaisei Maru #18, which rescued Torr and circled the ditched helicopter for 15 hours, looking for survivors and eventually recovering the bodies of the four dead crewmembers.[3]

A memorial to the fallen sits at the entrance to CGAS Cape Cod

In an article in the Cape Cod Times that ran on February 22, 1979, the air station's commanding officer, Captain Arthur Wagner, said, "They will never be forgotten. They set down a high standard for all of us to follow."[4] A legacy was set in which a reunion would be held every year so that the men would not be forgotten.

A memorial was erected in 1980 at the entrance to Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod.

At the 2009 reunion, Rear Admiral John Currier, who was stationed at Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod in 1979, recalled telling pilot James Stiles to "fly safe."[4] It was the last time that he ever said that to a pilot. Also at service, crash survivor Mark Torr dropped a wreath in memory of his fellow airmen from a hovering helicopter into the surf off Cape Cod, Massachusetts.[4]

1980-1995

A HU-25 lands at Otis

The HH-3F Pelican continued in service until replaced by the

HU-16E Albatross
. The last Albatross, CGNR 7250, was retired on March 10, 1983 and is on display outside the entrance to the air station. CG 7250/NC 7250 was not only the last Coast Guard Albatross, but the last fixed-wing amphibious aircraft in U.S. inventory.

1995–present

The air station has participated in rescues of sailors from Canada to New York. The Coast Guard has replaced the HU-25 with the

HC-144 Ocean Sentry.[5]

Notable persons

See also

References

  1. ^ USCG Air Station Cape Cod
  2. ^ a b "February Daily Chronology of Coast Guard History". United States Coast Guard. 18 February 1979. Retrieved 2013-02-02.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Lost but not forgotten". First District Public Affairs. 19 February 2009. Archived from the original on 8 July 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
  4. ^ a b c "Living honor heroic Coast Guard crew". Cape Cod Online. 19 February 2009. Archived from the original on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
  5. ^ CGAS Cape Cod information at AtlanticArea.uscg.mil

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Coast_Guard_Air_Station_Cape_Cod&oldid=1229136501"