New Jersey Scuba Diving

The Sinking of USCG Lightship RELIEF LV-78 / WAL-505

Survivor Bobbie R. Pierce, Boatswain’s Mate 3rd. Class, recalls the collision in his own words. As told to J. F. “Jay” McCarthy with excerpts from the Official U.S.C.G. Joint Marine Board of Investigation into the sinking.

Date: 24 June 1960.

Location: Ambrose Channel Lightship Station …

The station was located in the Atlantic Ocean at the extreme eastern edge of Lower New York Bay at the head of Ambrose Channel, approximately 19-20 miles from the tip of Manhattan, New York City, and positioned nine miles southeast of Rockaway Point, New York, and 10 miles east of Sandy Hook, New Jersey … at 40d-27.1′ north latitude and 73d-49.4′ west longitude.

Weather: Dense fog / zero visibility

Vessel: SS Green Bay Type: Freighter-single screw Built: 1943; Oakland, California Length: 438′ 9″ Tonnage: 6,125 gross

Vessel: USCG Relief LV 78 / WAL 505 Type: Lightship – single screw Built: 1904; Camden, New Jersey Length: 129′ 0″ Tonnage: 566.0 gross

In the early morning hours of 24 June 1960 the United States cargo vessel Green Bay was outbound from Port Newark, New Jersey to Bombay, India, and the Middle East with 8,100 tons of general cargo. After clearing the Narrows and entering Lower New York Bay and Ambrose Channel, visibility decreased to zero in fog and remained so up until the time of the collision.

During this same time period, the U.S. Coast Guard Lightship Relief LV 78 / WAL 505, was anchored on Ambrose Channel Lightship Station. She was relieving Ambrose Lightship WLV 613 which was in USCG Base St. George, Staten Island, New York for overhaul. The vessel was anchored with a 7,500 lb. mushroom anchor and 600 feet of chain out. The foghorn and mast light were ON. The radio beacon was operating properly.

All Times are Approximate:

0345 … aboard Relief LV 78/505 … I, Bobbie R. Pierce, entered the wheelhouse to relieve the mid-watch from Seaman Blaine Kuhn. I discussed the events of the previous watch with Kuhn and reviewed/made logbook entries. A dense fog covered the area, there was a light wind, and the sea was calm with a slight swell. Visibility was zero. The foghorn was on; the mast light beacon and radio beacon were all working properly. I then relieved Kuhn and assumed the deck watch.

0400 … aboard Green Bay… The Green Bay was drifting on a heading of 035d True with engines stopped when the Pilot Boat Launch pulled alongside. Before the Pilot departed, the Master took a radio direction finder bearing on Ambrose Lightship and a radar bearing was taken by the Pilot. Both bearings were determined to be 070d True. The Pilot estimated that at the time he took the radar bearing the range was 3/4 of a mile. The Master, on the other hand, estimated the lightship to be 1 1/2 miles distant, but this was not verified by any means.

0403 … aboard Green Bay … The pilot disembarked.

0404 … aboard Green Bay … The engines were ordered to slow ahead (3.75 knots).

0405 … aboard Green Bay … The engines were ordered to half ahead (7.5 knots), and the helmsman was told to come right to 070d True, in order to “head the vessel directly towards the LIGHTSHIP”.

0406 … aboard Relief LV 78/505 … I went aft on the weather deck, to the radio beacon shack to monitor the radio beacon. On the way, I heard a distant foghorn on the starboard side. I couldn’t see a thing.

0408 … aboard Green Bay … The bow lookout heard the lightship’s foghorn.

0408 … aboard Relief LV 78/505… As I was returning to the wheelhouse, I saw a big black outline with a dim white light heading straight for us on the starboard side. I ran back to the wheelhouse and yelled down the ladder for the duty engineman, Edward J. Rothaug EN3, to come up on deck.

At this time, Rothaug was just below the wheelhouse on the Mess (second) deck, had a cup of coffee in his hand, and was on his way up the ladder to the wheelhouse to check on the weather. Rothaug quickly agreed with me, “a ship was headed directly at us and we were going to be hit”.

0409 … aboard Relief LV 78/505… As I went forward to sound the General Alarm (siren). Rothaug ran down below to wake up Joseph E. Tamalonis, Boatswain’s Mate Chief. BMC Tamalonis was Officer in Charge at the time, as the Commanding Officer, Boatswain Warrant-1, Joseph Young, was ashore on leave.

0409 … aboard Green Bay… The beam of the lightship’s light was sighted dead ahead by the lookout and Chief Mate who was also on the forecastle head. The Chief Mate relayed this information to the bridge by telephone. The Master upon receiving the report of the beam dead ahead went to the wing of the bridge but could see nothing. Moments later the thin loom of the light was visible ahead whereupon he ordered the rudder hard right to 090d True to clear the lightship and the engines FULL AHEAD (11.25 knots), to increase the swing. According to the helmsman the vessel had not yet been steadied on 070d True when this order was received.

Within seconds the light ahead became intense and realizing the lightship was closer than he had originally thought the Master rang up “FULL ASTERN”.

By then it was too late!!

0410 … aboard Relief LV 78/505…Of the nine crewmen aboard, seven had been sound asleep. After I sounded the general alarm, within what I feel, was no more than a minute, all hands mustered on the weather deck (a few arrived wearing only their skivvies) … The exception was Tamalonis, BMC, and Rothaug, EN3, who were still below deck.

As we could see the impending disaster emerge before us, each man was fully awake, alert, and ready to spring into whatever action was necessary to save both ship and shipmates. The discipline was excellent. There was no panic. Survival instincts kicked in!

0411 … COLLISION

Aboard Relief LV 78/505 … Topside, on the weather deck: We all braced ourselves, as we watched in horror, the much taller bow of the freighter first strike and “splinter” the motor lifeboat, then strike our starboard side, just aft of amidships between the letters “R” and “E”. We were struck on almost a 90d angle and rolled about 15d to port as a result of the impact. Directly afterward, I did a quick headcount of all hands on deck; all were OK, with no injuries.

Below, on the second deck starboard passageway: Rothaug was on his way to wake the Chief when the impact occurred. He witnessed the “bow of the Green Bay penetrate inside the hull of the Relief, ” then as the Green Bay backed out, large volumes of water poured in.

Chief Tamalonis awakened by the general alarm, was making his way from his bunk in the stern when the collision occurred. After the impact, he went forward to determine whether all hands had been awakened or if anyone else had been injured. Chief Tamalonis had received minor injuries to his knee and hip. … All hands had been accounted for and there had been no other injuries.

Aboard Green Bay … Shortly after impact, the Green Bay picked up sternway and backed clear of the Relief into the fog. Visual contact with the Relief was lost.

Aboard Relief LV 78/505 … Chief Tamalonis then checked to ascertain the extent of the damage. He determined the impact on the starboard side resulted in a jagged hole, at least 12 feet long and at least 2 feet wide, from what was visible to him. Also, the engine room was rapidly flooding and the ship was sinking! Shortly thereafter, the generator ceased operation. Almost at once, “all the lights went out, the radio died” and the ship changed from a “live vibrant active ship” with the fog horn braying and all the associated normal sounds, to a “dark, strange eerie silence”.

The only sound now was the sea rushing in through the gash in her side.

Take Note: the Relief having been built in 1904 was built without much attention to the subject of watertight compartments. The engine room was mostly one big open space. The (02) deck above the engine room was just iron grating; all open and exposed to the (01) weather deck skylights, from which light filtered down through the open grating into the engine room. It was impossible to make the engine room space watertight!

“The damage was extensive and the flooding so swift, there was no hope to save the ship”.

ABANDON SHIP:

Chief Tamalonis then passed the word to abandon ship. With the motor lifeboat damaged, it was decided that it would take too long to put the pulling boat over the side. The Chief ordered me to launch the “self-inflating rubber life raft” over the port side, aft. Meanwhile, the men who were missing their pants, rushed below deck to retrieve them and their wallets. Without delay, they returned topside to assist in launching the life raft.

0416 … aboard Relief LV 78/505…After launching the life raft, I put the Jacobs ladder over the side and promptly climbed down into the raft, followed one at a time down the ladder by the remaining crew. The Relief by this time had sunk to the point that she was down by the stern, as the last man off the ship; Chief Tamalonis, didn’t use the Jacobs ladder. “He just stepped directly from the deck onto the raft”. We paddled away as fast as was humanly possible with our hands …

The four raft paddles were fastened down to avoid their being washed away during launching, the skipper’s idea was to get away quickly without taking time to unfasten them … The ship was sinking so rapidly, we feared the “undertow/whirlpool” would take us under, or if she rolled over, her masts or rigging might have struck us.

The Relief sank so swiftly, there was “NO TIME TO SEND a MAYDAY”, or to save anything. No Log Books or personal effects were salvaged by the crew. Only what each man had on him.

0417 … aboard Green Bay … Stopped engines.

0421 … aboard Green Bay … Let go the port anchor.

0421 … aboard Relief LV 78/505 survivor’s life raft …

We witnessed “USCG LIGHTSHIP RELIEF LV 78 / WAL 505 SINK” and disappear beneath the waves, approximately 10 minutes after the Green Bay collided with her. The Relief 78/505, being the gallant lady she was, went quietly to her watery grave. She did not pull us under, nor roll over as we had feared. Rather, she remained upright, sank stern first, and went down on a roughly 30-35 degree angle with the bow sinking last.

After the Relief sank, and the adrenaline rush subsided, for a brief time, we felt temporarily paralyzed and just drifted in silence, each of the nine survivors to his own thoughts. We were adrift in dense fog in one of the busiest shipping channels in the world, our ship had just been sunk, and we had no idea what ship had just collided with us.

Shortly afterward, we heard the Green Bay drop anchor, but we couldn’t see her in the heavy fog. Her crew was yelling to us and sounding their horn and bell. We yelled back, blew our hand whistles, and Chief Tamalonis fired flares in an attempt to raise attention to our position. We kept paddling towards the freighter’s sounds. Nevertheless, due to the thick fog, we were unable to locate the Green Bay.

0515 … aboard Relief LV 78/505 survivor’s life raft … During all this time, I stayed fairly calm … However, after about an hour of paddling and drifting, a ship appeared out of the dense fog and almost ran us down. That ship was the “Ocean Liner Queen Elizabeth!” She towered over us and came so close; I could have spit on her side. Chief Tamalonis fired off about 30 flares and the crew blew whistles and yelled in earnest after that near miss. We were able to read her name as she slowly passed by us. She did not stop!

The consensus among us was, the ” Queen Elizabeth’s crew” must have all been looking forward and “They never saw us or our flares”. Her wake rocked our life raft back and forth afterwards … As a result, “I got really scared and life-threatening fear settled in among the crew on the raft”!

0530 … aboard Relief LV 78/505 survivor’s life raft…

Around this time, a motor lifeboat from the Green Bay, located us and towed us over to the freighter Green Bay. Shortly thereafter, the USCG Harbor Entrance Patrol Boat, CG-95308 arrived and took us aboard. The 95-footer then headed back to USCG Base St. George.

0615 … The white hulled CGC Yeaton (WSC-156), equipped with flashing light, radio beacon, and foghorn, took up the vigil and substituted for the lightship until Ambrose Lightship WLV 613 could return to station. Coast Guard officials expressed concern for the Yeaton, because its 125-foot hull was all white and it might not be seen by moving vessels in fog.

0745 … USCG Harbor Entrance Patrol Boat, CG-95308 arrived at USCG Base, St. George Staten Island, New York with the survivors from Relief Lightship LV 78 / WAL 505.

… Later that day, CGC Firebush (WAGL-393), a buoy tender, located the sunken Relief LV 78 / WAL 505. The Relief was located by the sight of the extreme tip of its foremast showing above the water surface. The sunken vessel was marked by a suitable lighted gong wreck buoy.

1600 … Under emergency orders, USCG Lightship Ambrose WLV 613, under tow from the CGC Tamaroa (WAT-166) departed USCG Base St. George en route back out to AMBROSE Lightship Station.

Ambrose Lightship WLV 613, engines were being overhauled in Base St. George when the Relief was sunk; consequently, she could not get underway under her own power.

Note: Yes, that’s the same CGC Tamaroa that 31 years later on the night of 28 October 1991, rescued the Air National Guard helicopter crew that crashed into the sea during the height of the infamous “Perfect Storm”, off the New England coast.

POST-COLLISION INFORMATION:

Survivors: No survivor’s leave was granted. Each man was issued a new seabag, with uniforms, etc. Compensation for personal items lost, varied by individual. I don’t believe anyone received more than $500.00 in recompense. Within a week, one at a time, all survivors were reassigned northward to either Massachusetts or Connecticut. Some went to Boston and were assigned to weather ships, others went to buoy tenders. All received shipboard duty.

The exception was for myself. I remained at Base St. George for three months pulling gate guard duty.

After three months lightship Relief LV 84 / WAL 509, was brought up from the Jacksonville, Florida 6th District. She assumed the duties of Relief LV 78 / WAL 505. Myself and CW01 (BOSN) Joseph Young, former commanding officer of the Relief 78/505 were re-assigned to this ship. “We went back out to AMBROSE Lightship station.” I had apprehension and mixed feelings about returning to that station but stayed on the Relief LV 84/509 until my discharge on 11 August 1961.

Underwater Inspection:

5 July 1960…A U.S. Navy diver made a dive to the Relief. Without entering the Relief, his underwater inspection indicated a jagged hole in the shell plating just aft of frame 29. Starting at the weather deck a hole at least 2 feet wide extended downward to the second deck. Below the second deck, the hole narrowed and ranged in widths from approximately one foot six inches down to approximately five or six inches for a distance downward of approximately 12 feet. The keel area was not visible. The rivets holding the frame had let go …

Commandant’s Action on Joint Marine Board of investigation:

“It is considered that this casualty was caused principally by the Green Bay being directly headed toward the Lightship in zero visibility. Contributing to the casualty was the failure of the vessel to fix her position either by radar or radio direction finder bearing before setting her course. It is considered that half-speed under the existing visibility was an immoderate speed and that the Master was negligent in permitting his vessel to be navigated at such speed. This negligence contributed to the collision between the Green Bay and the Relief and the subsequent sinking of the latter vessel …”

In 1983 the last U.S. lightship weighed anchor and sailed back into port and into history.

Modern maritime technology through the use of light towers, huge buoys, satellites, and GPS are but some of the replacements for these great ships. Of the over 180 U.S. lightships that sailed the seas, from 1820 thru 1983, only about 15 or 16 are left. Of those, about 11 or 12 (mostly in maritime museums) stand the best chance of survival. The remainder are endangered and are being sold or are in various stages of deterioration.

— from Coast Guard historical records