Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat CG-36500 is a historic, 36-foot lifeboat that is berthed at Rock Harbor in Orleans, Massachusetts. Built in 1946, it is notable for its involvement in the 1952 SS Pendleton rescue, one of the most daring such events recorded in the history of the United States Coast Guard. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005, and now serves as a museum boat.
The December 2000 nor'easter was a significant winter storm that impacted the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions of the United States around the end of the month. It began as an Alberta clipper that moved southeastward through the central United States and weakened over the Ohio Valley. However, it redeveloped off the coast of North Carolina and moved northward as it intensified. It moved into central Long Island and eventually tracked northward into New England. The storm dropped heavy precipitation throughout the Northeast, especially in northern New Jersey and eastern New York, where snowfall often exceeded 2 ft (0.61 m). Even so, as it struck on a weekend, its effects were generally minor and mostly limited to travel delays, traffic accidents, and business closures.
The February 1995 nor'easter was a significant nor'easter that impacted the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions of the United States around the beginning of the month. It was the only major nor'easter of the 1994–1995 winter.
The February 1987 nor'easter was a significant winter storm in the US that impacted the Mid-Atlantic States around the end of the month. It delivered 8–12 hours of heavy, wet snowfall to several states from West Virginia to New York between February 22 and February 24. The storm was both preceded and followed by relatively warm temperatures, causing the snow to rapidly melt. The mild conditions were the result of a moderate anticyclone over the region that deteriorated as the nor'easter approached. Cold air damming likely took place prior to the storm's formation.
The February 1969 nor'easter was a severe winter storm that affected the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions of the United States between February 8 and February 10. The nor'easter dropped paralyzing snowfall, exceeding 20 in (51 cm) in many places. New York City bore the brunt of the storm, suffering extensive disruption. Thousands of travelers became stranded on roads and in airports. The storm killed at least 94 people. City schools were closed for several days and some areas of the city remained uncleared for over a week. New York Mayor John Lindsay was criticized for failing to respond to the snowstorm adequately.
The March 18–20, 1956 nor'easter was a significant winter storm in the United States that affected the Mid-Atlantic States and southern New England. The storm ranked as Category 1, or "notable", on the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale. A high-pressure area north of New York State, developing in the wake of another system on March 15–16, provided cold air for the snowfall. It was among a series of snowstorms to affect the region during the month.
The March 18–21, 1958 nor'easter was an unusual late-season winter storm that impacted the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions of the United States. Its snowfall extended from North Carolina through Maine.
The January 1961 nor'easter was a significant winter storm that impacted the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions of the United States. It was the second of three major snowstorms during the 1960–1961 winter. The storm ranked as Category 3, or "major", on the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale.
The December 1960 nor'easter was a significant early-season winter storm that impacted the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions of the United States. Moderate to heavy snowfall fell from West Virginia to eastern Maine, amounting to 10 in (25 cm) or more in parts of 13 states and peaking at 21.4 in (54.4 cm) at Newark, New Jersey. The storm was accompanied by strong winds, gusting to over 90 mph (145 km/h) in coastal New England, and left in its wake a dangerously cold air mass. The storm originated in a weak low pressure area which formed over the western Gulf of Mexico on December 10. A secondary low developed over South Carolina on the next day, supported by the merger of two troughs aloft. Sliding southeast of New England, the new storm explosively deepened to become a full-fledged nor'easter, with a minimum central air pressure of 966 mbar. It began to weaken over the Canadian Maritimes.
The March 1960 nor'easter was a severe winter storm that impacted the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions of the United States. The storm ranked as Category 4, or "crippling", on the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale. Northeasterly flow, combined with the storm's slower forward motion, enhanced snowfall across the region. The cyclone began moving away from the United States on March 5. It took place during a stormy period in the affected region, contributing to record snowfall.
The December 1969 nor'easter was a strong winter storm that mainly affected the Northeastern United States and southern Quebec between December 25 and December 28, 1969. The multi-faceted storm system included a tornado outbreak, record snow accumulations, a damaging ice storm, and flooding rains.
USCGC Bernard C. Webber (WPC-1101) is the first of the United States Coast Guard's 58 Sentinel-class cutters. Like most of her sister ships, she replaced a 110-foot (34 m) Island-class patrol boat. Bernard C. Webber, and the next five vessels in the class, Richard Etheridge, William Flores, Robert Yered, Margaret Norvell, and Paul Clark, are all based in Miami, Florida.
MV C.O. Stillman was an oil tanker that was built by a German shipyard in 1928 for a Canadian-based shipping company. A Panamanian subsidiary of Esso bought her at the end of 1936 and she was sunk by the German submarine U-68 in the Caribbean on June 4, 1942 about 41 nautical miles (76 km) southwest of Isla de Mona, Puerto Rico.
The Finest Hours is a 2016 American action thriller film directed by Craig Gillespie and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. The screenplay, written by Eric Johnson, Scott Silver, and Paul Tamasy, is based on The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue by Michael J. Tougias and Casey Sherman. The film stars Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Holliday Grainger, John Ortiz, and Eric Bana, and chronicles the historic 1952 United States Coast Guard rescue of the crew of SS Pendleton, after the ship split apart during a nor'easter off the New England coast.
SS Pendleton was a Type T2-SE-A1 tanker built in 1944 in Portland, Oregon, United States, for the War Shipping Administration. She was sold in 1948 to National Bulk Carriers, serving until February 1952 when she broke in two in a storm. The T2 tanker ships were prone to splitting in two in cold weather. The ship's sinking and crew rescue is the topic of the 2009 book The Finest Hours: The True Story Behind the US Coast Guard's Most Daring Rescue, by Michael J. Tougias. Tougias' book inspired the 2016 Disney-produced film The Finest Hours with Chris Pine, which focuses on the Pendleton rescue.
SS Fort Mercer was a Type T2-SE-A1 tanker built by Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., at Chester, Pennsylvania in October 1945. SS Fort Mercer, was built under a Maritime Commission contract and launched on October 2, 1945. With World War II ending on August 15, 1945, Fort Mercer did not serve in the war. Fort Mercer was owned and operated by the Trinidad Corporation of New York.
Daniel Webster Cluff was a United States Coast Guard officer who led one of the U.S. Coast Guard’s largest small-boat rescue operations in the midst of a New England winter storm on February 18 through 19, 1952, as Chatham Lifeboat Station’s officer-in-charge. Warrant Officer Cluff’s expertise in small-boat life-saving operations and confidence in his men's abilities resulted in Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat CG 36500 crew’s rescue of thirty-two survivors from the stern section of SS Pendleton “only minutes before it capsized.”
Bernard Challen Webber was a United States Coast Guardsman. He was a petty officer assigned to Coast Guard Station Chatham, Massachusetts, where one of his duties was that of coxswain of Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat CG 36500. Webber and his crew of three rescued the crew of the stricken T2 tanker SS Pendleton, which had broken in half during a storm on February 18, 1952 off Cape Cod. Webber maneuvered the 36-foot lifeboat under Pendleton's stern as the tanker's crew, trapped in the stern section, abandoned the wreck of their ship on a Jacob's ladder into the Coast Guard motor lifeboat.
The United States Coast Guard's series of motor lifeboats included a class of 36 foot motor lifeboats. The Coast Guard built the first of version these vessels in 1929, and retired the last active version, in 1987 as they were replaced by the 44 foot Steel Hull Motor Lifeboat. CG 36500 was retired from active service in 1968, and has since been restored and preserved as a floating museum. These vessels are remembered for the daring rescues Coast Guard seamen performed, using them.
