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The structure that was once home to the Coast Guard Rescue Boat CG36500, which was the vessel piloted by a heroic crew under the command of Bernie C. Webber in the daring 1952 rescue of the crew of the SS Pendleton, has been moved and saved from demolition.
The building, located near Chatham, Massachusetts, was scheduled for demolition to make way for the construction of a new home. However, Jay Cashman, a local businessman, felt the structure needed to be saved. He was quoted as saying, “The boathouse has assisted in so many rescues and helped save so many lives, that we feel it’s important to preserve it as a testament to the hard work of the U.S. Coast Guard.”
Out of his own pocket he arranged to have the building stabilized, carefully lifted, moved and brought to a storage area until a new location for the building could be located and where it could be restored. The cost of moving the 35-ton building, which was floated by barge through the Cape Cod Canal, was estimated to cost over $100,000. Mr. Cashman is a true patriot and is to be commended.
On May 7, 1952 the five-man crew of the Coast Guard rescue boat CG-365000 were all awarded Gold Life-Saving Medal for the daring rescue in 60 foot waves of thirty-two of the thirty-three-man crew of the wreck of the SS Pendleton.
This story appeared in the
April 2009 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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