Sunday, October 27, 2013

Former Coast Guard Cutter STORIS Putting Up A Fight For The Right To Go Home

Cutter Storis as it is towed out of the Bay Area
Photo by Tony O'Neill - Oct. 25, 2013
If the legacy of the 64-year service record for the former Coast Guard Cutter Storis, a ship on the National Registry of Historic Places, isn't enough to make a 2-hour made-for-TV movie about... The events that have transpired in the past 24 hours will  be worthy of a movie by itself.

The Storis is currently en route to a Mexican scrap yard in Ensenada. The ship is being towed by the tugboat A.N. Tillet of Pacific Tugboat Services and has just passed the half-way point of the trip, approximately 600 miles.
Just about everyone who had been supporting or following the events that have happened after the ship was sold June 27, 2013 had accepted the fact that there was no hope in saving the Galloping Ghost of the Alaskan Coast.

Former crew member Tony O'Neill who works on a tug in the Bay Area, was waiting on the Carquinez Bridge for his last chance to see the Storis as she gets pulled out on her way to the scrap yard in Ensenada. He got a few last pictures of the ship but, as the tug and Storis were moving away


from where he stood, he noticed something. He posted his thought on the Storis Facebook page. O'Neill said,
"as she got further away she fought more. His wire was too short and sto needed ballast" 
His comment came right after one of the main players with the Storis Museum group, John Nowakowski, had said,
"if you look at the photo STO is fighting, She knows"
This is the same ship that was the first vessel in history to circumnavigate the north American continent. This is a ship that sailed the dangerous waters of the Bering Sea and the brutal storms that kicked up and threw 50 plus ft. waves at her, for DAYS while the area had claimed countless other ships and boats over the years. The Storis was a "rock" for the Coast Guard, Alaska and the area she routinely patrolled for a long time. She was responsible for getting the crew to where help was needed. She had a reputation. She had a persona. She was made of steel but, those who served on the Storis will tell you,
"We always knew she would get us where we had to go and get us back home. She was like a protective mother that we always could depend on."
I was a mere 19-years old when I found myself as the Lookout on the flying bridge of the Storis in January of 1990, on patrol in the Bering Sea. I battled sea sickness most of the time we were underway and the massive winter storm we found ourselves in, hundreds of miles from nowhere was really an adventure that I never will forget. For three days, the ship rocked from one side to the other while the average roll we took each way was about 30 degrees and I recall a few jolts we took that caused the ship to roll sideways at 50 degrees. I knew we were in a place that swallowed other vessels whole and if anything got damaged on the ship, there would be no calling the Coast Guard to save us. We WERE the Coast Guard. During that storm I had been asleep in my rack around 2:00 AM when the lights came on and General Quarters was called. Within a few minutes, the crew was crammed into the dining area while while all of us asked everyone else if they knew what was going on.
"Man overboard" was being determined by counting heads.

All of us had a strobe light attached to our Mustang suits (marine life version of a snow mobile suit). If the suit was to get in the water up to chest level, the light would flip over and the strobe would start to flash, indicating that someone had been thrown overboard. We were being counted because, SN Adrian Taylor had spotted a strobe light blinking in the water as the ship continued to roll from side to side and high winds blew freezing sea spray and snow at Taylor while he kept his arm pointing at the light without taking his eyes off for a second.

Taken as storm was getting stronger. Bering Sea January, 1990
Coast Guard Cutter Storis - (note the angle versus the horizon) 
Back in the galley area, we were told that one of the two main mast supports had snapped loose at the base. With the beating the ship was taking at the time, the mast needed to be repaired right then. The alternative was hoping the other support held up long enough for us to make it back home. I give credit to the DC's because, they went out and managed to weld the broken support in those brutal conditions while deck hands held shields next to them to offer some protection from the wind. We were told... If the other support breaks, then the mast would come down and our chances of going home alive would not be good.

I will never forget the moment I realized we were really in a bad situation and frankly, as a 19-year old kid... I was scared. I remember who was in charge of the crew group I was in was Ensign DuBois. His alert eyes kept scanning the room while he counted us. His eyes were rather large I recall. They looked like they were bugging out and they were a bit puffy. I don't know what he was thinking right then but, when I saw his eyes, they said he might be scared but, what I saw was almost a panicked concern in his eyes. I don't know how much time it took to get a complete head count but, I sat there scared shitless and not knowing if we would make it out alive or not.
When Mr. DuBois had completed his count, the look of thankful relief came across his face as he knew that one of us had not actually gone overboard.

It turns out a strobe light had come loose from a suit or one of the rescue rafts and had been swept into the water and it was too dark to see if the light was attached to a person.

I asked Mr. DuBois as we filed out, if someone had gone overboard, would we have been able to get to them in time or even get to them? He shook his head and said, "It's hard to say." After seeing that look he had in his eyes while not knowing if one of his crew members had gone over... I took it to mean the following... His look would have been much different if he believed we could rescue someone had they gone overboard.

Back to my point.... The Storis was always there for the public, the Coast Guard and  the crew members who sailed on her.
When I read what Tony and John had said, I had a brief thought that 'the Galloping Ghost is coming alive. She knows we can't save her and she is saving herself.'
Hey, it sounds crazy, I know but, that ship performed under some of the roughest conditions on earth and, she always came home.

What is currently going on has to do with contained hazardous materials on board that would be illegal to export if the suspicions are accurate. Click the link below to go to the Storis Facebook page for the original post and the comments that followed.
Storis Facebook Page Post by Jon Ottman

Here is what that Ottman posted last night that got people to start to scramble in hopes that the Storis might not be ready to give up.

Okay. Last ditch effort here. I have received information from a credible source related to PCB content on board STORIS that makes her export for scrapping illegal. We need to find a US Attorney who can get a Federal Judge to sign an order stopping the export of the ship because dismantling the ship outside the U.S. would be in violation of the Toxic Substances Control Act. EPA claimed the ship was PCB free and refused to do anything but what I am reading says otherwise. Reach out people as this is our last chance.
Stay tuned everyone.... This ride is likely to get a little rougher in the next 24-hours and we might get knocked around in the process.
I think it might actually come out okay and we see the Storis saved. It would make for an unbelievable story-book ending if the Storis is saved.
However, at the same time for those of us who served on the Storis, we wouldn't be all that surprised. We all knew we would be ok because, there wasn't a single time in all her years of service when the Galloping Ghost of the Alaskan Coast, didn't make it back home.

I am hopeful once again that the Storis will make it back home... For good.


4 comments:

  1. Storis roll in a glass of water. On the Storis W 38 , 1981 to 1982. Jake mitchell. Any other ship mates still around??!!

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  2. The Storis would roll in a glass of water, I was a seaman on the old Storis. Back in 1981 to 1982. Any former ship mates still around. Jake Mitchell!!L

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  3. This is a big group of Storis vets on Facebook....
    https://www.facebook.com/groups/68902761449/

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  4. Thank you the Info Jim.All the Best Jake!!!

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