OCEAN STATION VESSELS 



A typical U. S. Coast Guard ocean station vessel. 



At 0759 the Absecon reached the search area. But, its opera- 

 tions were hindered by heavy skies and steady rain. Things didn't 

 look too promising until a little after one o'clock, when the weather 

 cleared a bit. That gave the Captain the opportunity to take a 

 "murky haze" fix with a sextant. After calculating drift and other 

 factors, he decided that the most promising possibility lay about 

 eight miles to the north. Accordingly, he changed the search sector. 



Every man that could possibly be spared was now on the deck of 

 the Absecon searching the horizon. One of the ship's officers, 

 standing on the bridge, saw what appeared to be a speck moving in 

 the water. As the ship changed course and came closer, he could 

 make out a man vigorously shaking an article of clothing. Incredibly, 

 it was the German seaman. He was waving his undershorts to attract 

 attention. That was about 1402. Two minutes later, the Absecon 

 came alongside Franz, lowering its cargo net for him. 



Despite his exhausting 17 hours in the water, Franz climbed the 

 net and reached the deck where willing hands pulled him on board. 

 It was then that he collapsed. But, he had won an incredible battle 

 with the sea. His stamina and indomitable will to survive had pulled 

 him through. That, plus the good professional judgment and skill of 

 the Commanding Officer of Absecon had brought about a sea rescue 

 that would be long remembered. 



After a couple of hours of rest, Franz was examined by a Chief 

 Medical Corpsman, who was amazed at his excellent physical condi- 

 tion. The expertise of the Coast Guard had paid off well indeed. 



After Franz regained his strength, the Absecon arranged a 

 rendezvous with his ship, the Freiberg, and on September 14 he was 

 restored to his shipmates. 



So if you think Friday the thirteenth is unlucky, don't mention 

 it to Franz Strycharczyk. As far as he's concerned, it'll always be 

 the biggest day on his calendar. 



Since 1953 no less than 253 lives have been saved by ocean 

 station vessels. Most of these rescues were related to marine acci- 

 dents. It has been more than 7 years since a large number of air 

 travelers have been rescued by an ocean station vessel. On 16 

 October 1956 the U. S. Coast Guard Cutter Ponckartrain, while 

 serving on ocean station NOVEMBER, vectored and controlled the 

 ditching of a distressed transpacific airliner. All of the 31 pas- 

 sengers and crew were saved. Since then, only military aircraft 

 have ditched and required assistance. 



Apart from providing necessary navigational information to 

 pilots who have decided to ditch their aircraft, the ICAO Manual 

 recommends several means of assisting pilots. During periods of 

 reduced visibility, the ocean station vessel may lay out a flare path 

 of lighted floats along the ditching track indicated by the pilot. 

 And, in addition, a searchlight beam may be trained horizontally in 

 the ditching direction. During the hours of daylight, smoke floats 

 may be utilized to indicate wind direction to the aircraft. Of course, 

 radio and radar bearings will guide the aircraft to the chosen path of 

 ditching. By turning circles with a diameter of more than one mile 

 or by laying an oil slick, it is possible for vessels, under certain con- 

 ditions, to smooth the seas. 



OPERATIONS 



United States ocean station vessels are cutters especially equip- 

 ped for taking meteorological and oceanographic observations. In 



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