Each month, an interesting aspect of the world’s oldest continuous maritime service will be highlighted. The men and women of the United States Coast Guard follow in the fine tradition of the brave mariners who have served before them. As sentinels and saviors of the seas, the United States Coast Guard proudly continues its commitment to honor, respect & devotion to duty to maintain their vigil – Semper Paratus.
Rescue of the Fairisle
He sat down in the chair and took a deep breath. His normally clear mind was a fog of thick and heavy thoughts. The early morning hours of July 23, 1956, only four days earlier, flooded into his consciousness. The room was quiet. Only the breezy fans high atop offered a respite from the silence. His voice replayed in his mind. The responses from his crew recirculated over and over again as if they were being called out on the bridge of his charge. He blinked and tried to cast the thoughts of the night from his mind. Then he thought of his career. Twenty years, he served at sea. His record was unblemished. He gazed at the United States Coast Guard officers seated before him at a long, dark wooden table. He knew the players of the inquiry. He had been briefed. The man in the middle, the one who had three stripes on his tan jacket sleeves, was the senior investigator, United States Coast Guard Commander Frederick Arzt. The witness watched the commander shuffle a few papers and make several notes with his pen. Suddenly, the investigator cleared his throat. “For the record,” the voice began, “please state your full name.” The witness sat forward in his seat. “Captain Abram Kean of Merrick, Long Island, sir.” The testimony of Captain Kean, Master of the Fairisle, was about to begin.
Four days earlier, at roughly zero one zero five hours, the Fairisle, a converted C-2 freighter, was inbound to Newark, New Jersey, with five thousand tons of general cargo. Master of the freighter, Captain Kean, was on the bridge as his vessel bound deeper and deeper into the thick blanket of fog. He was roughly three and a half miles south of the Ambrose Lightship. He confirmed his speed with the engine room and ordered the revolutions to be slowed. The Fairisle continued on her course.
Meanwhile, on a near reciprocal course, Captain Frederico Bollorino stood on the bridge wing of the tanker San Jose II. On the helm was his Second Mate, Genghi Biagio. The tanker had discharged her cargo of crude oil at Newark, New Jersey, earlier in the day and was outbound from New York. Captain Bollorino had two contacts on his radar. One was the Ambrose Lightship, and the second was an inbound vessel of unknown name. The inbound vessel was two miles off the starboard bow of the tanker. Captain Bollorino ordered two blasts of the tanker’s foghorn. He would be turning to port. Captain Bollorino’s watch reported a fog signal in the distance. He knew the ship must be closing in on her position. At what he estimated was less than a mile distant, Captain Bollorino ordered his helmsman to steer hard to port. Two whistle blasts were sounded immediately as the tanker began to slowly turn to port. Two minutes later, the lights of the inbound vessel shone through the fog. The unknown vessel was less than fifty to sixty feet away from the San Jose II. Captain Bollorino ordered full speed astern. It was too late. The bow of the San Jose II sliced into the unknown vessel amidships. The screeching of steel and the thunderous thud of the impact were deafening to those on both vessels. The tanker began to pull almost immediately free from the unknown vessel as her engines hummed at full speed astern. The two vessels drifted apart. Word of the collision was quickly passed via channel sixteen to the United States Coast Guard. Assets were immediately dispatched to render aid.
The United States Coast Guard Cutter Tamaroa was the first to arrive on scene and was quickly augmented by three patrol boats dispatched from Staten Island. The Coastguardsmen saw the Fairisle listing dangerously because of the horrible gash on her port side. Lifeboats with passengers and officers and crew from the stricken freighter peppered the seascape. The Coastguardsmen sprang into action and in a coordinated effort with the smaller patrol boats, quickly ensured an accounting of all of those who had abandoned the freighter. Two men, one passenger and one of the freighter’s officers, needed medical attention. Lifted gingerly from their lifeboat, they were quickly dispatched back to St. George’s for medical attention. As the remainder of the patrol boat fleet continued to Staten Island to land the survivors, a skeleton crew of officers and crew remained aboard the freighter. Under the watchful eyes of the officers and crew aboard the U.S.C.G.C. Tamaroa, the freighter was slowly towed into the shallow waters of Gravesend Bay before she finally succumbed to her mortal wounds and slid to her side. The Fairisle foundered in the thirteen-foot waters of Gravesend Bay, saving herself from a watery end.
“I first saw her,” Captain Kean offered, “when she was about fifteen hundred feet away.” He paused and then continued. “I only saw her green running light.” He continued to explain that he had already slowed the freighter’s speed before entering the approaches to the harbor. He recalled that he had ordered the engine room to give him eighty revolutions instead of eighty-seven revolutions per minute.
Commander Arzt lowered his pen and then inquired if he thought Captain Kean felt that the lowering by seven revolutions represented slowing. Captain Kean retorted, “It was a slowing down of my vessel…I had no reason to think there was anything there.” he paused and then continued, “I heard no signal.” Captain Kean sat uneasily in his chair. Commander Arzt then leaned forward, “Will you say with the speed you were going and the visibility you were in compliance with the rules of the road?” Captain Kean knew there was only one answer to the question for any mariner worth one’s salt. “No,” he offered, “I don’t think so.” The silence of the room deftly returned. Only the slight whirring of the ceiling fans could be heard.
The United States Coast Guard and its response to the Fairisle and San Jose II collision had been multifaceted. Upon learning of the collision, the men of the service had launched into action to effect the rescue of those mariners and passengers in distress. Once an accounting of personnel had been accomplished, the United States Coast Guard then ensured that the vessels had been safely transited to the nearest safe haven and that they remained clear of other vessel traffic. The second responsibility of the United States Coast Guard then began in earnest – a determination of responsibility in the collision so that other mariners could learn from the possible missteps or mistakes that led to the collision. Though no lives had been lost, the Fairisle had been mortally wounded and barely made it to the shallows of Gravesend Bay before succumbing to her grievous injuries. The San Jose II, her bow badly damaged in the collision, under the watchful eye of several patrol boats, had limped to a temporary anchorage off Staten Island before being shifted to a dry-dock for her critical repairs. In the end, Captain Kean, a master with an unblemished twenty-year career at sea, pleaded guilty to excessive speed. The collision of the two vessels might have been avoided, or it may have still occurred, possibly at a slower speed due to the terrible weather conditions. Despite the possibilities, excessive speed certainly did not help avoid the collision. By surrendering his credentials, Captain Kean was aware of the possibility that he might never set foot to command another vessel for the remainder of his life, but he also knew that he had not exercised good seamanship when he decided not to slacken his speed under the weather conditions of reduced visibility.
The United States Coast Guard, a service that has and continues to maintain myriad responsibilities in their vast scope of duties, remains today, as they have since 1790, ready to answer the call to action when a situation arises. It is this steadfast dedication to the service of others that remains a cornerstone of the United States Coast Guard and serves as a reminder to all that they will forever be sentinels and saviors of the seas.