A Final Salute to "Gold Medal" Crewman from 1952 Pendleton Rescue
by Captain W. Russ Webster, USCG (Ret.)
Ervin Maske, 74, died suddenly on October 7, 2003 near his hometown of Marinette, Wisconsin. His local obituary struggled to define his lifetime achievement as one of four Coast Guard "Gold Medal" crew men from the February 18, 1952 rescue of sailors from the stricken tanker Pendleton off Chatham. This was, according to the Wisconsin Eagle Herald, "one of the most amazing rescues in Coast Guard history. Using a 36 foot (CG 36500) motor lifeboat in 60 foot seas, the crew rescued 32 men from the stern section."
I thought I'd put Mr. Maske's heroics in a modern context so readers and friends could better appreciate his achievement. Obituaries, always cramped for space, could not adequately describe Mr. Maske's contributions to this rescue. He was one of four "chosen" crewmembers who volunteered to go out in 70 knot winds, horizontal, sub-zero freezing rain, and towering seas --- the same weather that had split two 500 foot tankers in half the evening before. He was chosen as one of three remaining crew from the Chatham Coast Guard station, himself a member of the Stone Horse lightship, awaiting transport, the remaining crew having "scattered" when the call for volunteers was announced.
http://www.cg36500.org/history_finalsalute.htmlhttp://www.cg36500.org/history.htmlThe Coast Guard's Finest Hour
Surfboat that rescued 32 in storm visits Academy
New London -- The modest wooden boat tied up at Jacob's Rock Tuesday morning was designed to carry a crew of four, or up to a dozen people in dire emergency. But in what some consider the U.S. Coast Guard's most heroic hour, it carried 36 men to safety through 60-foot seas, lashing winds and blinding snow.
In weather many times worse than much larger modern ships are rated to withstand, the “36500” — the surfboat is too small to have been christened with a real name — labored through a nor'easter to reach a tanker that had broken in half off Cape Cod a half century ago.
It was almost lost three decades later, forgotten in the undergrowth of the Cape Cod National Seashore, before a local history buff recognized it and bartered for its transfer to the Orleans (Mass.) Historical Society. The society spent more than $300,000 in donated funds and countless thousands of volunteer hours to restore it.
http://www.jacksjoint.com/finesthour.htmI had the honor of meeting Ervin Maske at the Western Great Lakes Coast Guard Reunion in 2002. He was a very quiet and unassuming man, and he shared the history of that terrible night and showed everyone his Gold Lifesaving Medal. He received a standing ovation from the reunion attendees.
