All Blog Posts (6)

Melbourne, Fl. (PRWEB) January 26, 2009 -- Bernard C. Webber, who steered his small boat into the impassable waves of Chatham Bar on an impossible mission to rescue the crew of a stricken tanker off Cape Code, died Saturday at age 80 in Melbourne, Florida. Mr. Webber, one of the U.S. Coast Guard's most fabled and honored rescuers, was stationed in Cape Cod in February of 1952 when two tankers, the Pendleton and the SS Fort Mercer, split in half on the same day in rough weather. "Bernie Webber… Continue

[ Draft ]Hi....Finally was able to locate some archive info on other damaged ships... These will be jpeg images, digital photos of the archives. Continue

As a kid summering on Cape Cod,I had many occasions to visit the stern of the Pendleton by small boat. I never realized the history behind the hulk and wish to complement Mr. Frump on a well written and tremendiously information read. One point: On page 100, the fourth paragraph down which depicts Tiny's demise, it is stated "crushed the big man aganist the stern of the Fort Mercer". It was the Pendleton I believe. Thanks Continue

Excellent job. CTX has added Pendleton and Ft Mercer entries to our tanker casualty database http://www.c4tx.org/ctx/job/cdb/search.html. On page 176, we talk about 18 T2 structural failure by 1963. So far CTX has located only 8: Schenectady, Esso manhatten, Sacketts harbor, Ft Dearborn, Ft Mercer, Pendleton, Pine Ridge, and marine Sulfur Queen. Wud very much appreciate if you could point us to the others. Continue

On pages 9 and 10, I incorrectly identify Bernie Webber's friend as Steve Holden. He should be identified as Milton Anderson. Also, on pages 65 and 66 CG36850 should read CG36383 -- the boat manned by Chief Bangs and crew. On the back cover, promotional notes say 30 lives were saved; it should read 32. My sincere apologies for the errors. Save for the promotional notes, I take full responsibility. The embarrasing explanation is that "Steve Holden" was a "plugged" name I placed in the original q… Continue

Hi Folks...I've taken my best shot at getting "Two Tankers Down" right, but I'm also open to the fact that I may have misinterpreted some points or made outright mistakes in others. This page is devoted to vetting the story post publication and ferreting out any errors or alternate theories or positions. You can post anonymously if you would like, though on the record exchanges might be more productive. Bob Frump Continue