Wakeboarding - June 01, 2018

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PHOTO: COURTESY U.S. COAST GUARD

SAVING

THE SEAS

Acushnet, a Coast
Guard cutter involved
in one of the most
famous rescues in the
history of the service
branch, is being re-
commissioned to help
save the oceans.
The 213-foot diver-
class vessel actually
got its start in World
War II as the USS
Shackle, a salvage and
rescue ship based out
of Pearl Harbor that
completed 55 salvage
and rescue operations
in the Pacific Theater
— its crew was dec-
orated several times
over for its service.
After World War II,

the Coast Guard

recommissioned the

vessel as Acushnet,

beginning its second

life as a search-and-

rescue cutter, as well

as an ice-patrol boat

monitoring icebergs,

based out of Portland,

Maine. Acushnet was

involved in the rescue

of several crewmen

after two tankers

split in two during a

blizzard off the coast

of Cape Cod in 1952.

The larger story of

that rescue, involving

local Coasties in a

small boat, became

the basis of the 2016

movie The Finest

Hours. The cutter

served with distinction

until the Coast Guard

decommissioned it

in 2011.

Now a nonprofit

conservation group

called Ocean Guardian

is repurposing the

venerated cutter to

help in its mission of

cleaning and protecting

the ocean and its

natural resources.

With the help of the

National Maritime Law

Enforcement Academy

and the International

Maritime Law Enforce-

ment Academy, Ocean

Guardian is refitting

Acushnet to assist

in deterring illegal

fishing and dumping,

as well as recovering

plastics that have been

building up in our seas.

The old cutter will

also be used for law

enforcement training.

The ship will be based

in Anacortes, Washing-

ton. —Pete McDonald