Merchant Patriot Rescue Mission Report

by

Dana Beach, PJ

30 Dec 97

MISSION REPORT: The 301 RQS and 39th RQS (USAF Reserve) Patrick AFB, FL scrambled two HH-60, and one HC-130 Tuesday morning to a destress call for a ship sinking in high seas 250 miles off the coast of Patrick AFB, FL The ship, "Merchant Patriot" was a 493' freighter. It had a crew of 28 sailors aboard. The ship's captain had reported that the ship had ruptured a large water pipe in the ship's sea chest, and that it was taking on water. The engine room was flooding and the crew had abandoned it. Now the ship was dead in the water and sinking. U.S. Coast Guard out of Clearwater had launched three H-60 Jayhawks and a HC-130. The conditions were spectacular for the rescue. The sea state was 30 to 35 feet with large white caps breaking. The winds were 40 to 50 knots. At one point the winds were showing 57 knots. As Air Force Rescue 321 flight went feet wet, the number two helo had to RTB due to a mechanical problem. Lead Bird pressed on along. The crew on 321 was Capt Phillip Kennedy AC, Capt. Al Lupenski CP, TSgt Guillermo Toca FE, SMSgt Dana Beach PJ, SrA Dave Biddinger PJ. The HC-130 was still at Patrick AFB at this time, but they rendezvous with us shortly for our first A/R. While enroute to the ship the Coast Guard H-60 arrived on scene and attempted to rescue the crew from the stern of the vessel using their rescue basket. They reported to us that it was too dangerous to hoist the crew off the ship due to the tossing and rolling of the ship, and the superstructure. They advised the captain to have the crew jump into the seas from the stern, and would be picked up by their basket. They recovered six crewmembers this way. The CG H-60 then flew them to a container vessel some 40 miles away to drop them off. Shortly after this, all of the airborne rescue assets began to arrive. There were two HC-130s and five H-60s. The Coast Guard ran the show from their HC-130. It was a smooth joint operation. When we arrived we were tasked to make our first pick up. The ship was turned side ways to the seas and tossing like a toy boat. Due to the 30 foot waves we chose to be lowered into the sea by the hoist. It was way too rough to low and slow. There were two sailors in the water when Biddinger and I went in. Our plan was to stay together and swim to the sailors. Murphy showed up about this time. As we started swimming towards the ship a huge wave broke on top of me and took me under. When I surfaced, I could not see Dave or the sailors. I swam to a large raft that was tied off the stern of the ship. As I looked around, I spotted Dave with the two sailors about 200 feet away. I motored over to them, and we began the struggle to put these sailors on the penetrator. They were Filipino and Indian sailors. They did not communicate very well, so it was hard to instruct them. Dave worked on getting the strap around the first guy while I worked on getting his legs around the penetrator and his ass on the seat. The FE had his work cut out for him dealing with the swells. With the first guy up, we struggled with the next. He went up with the same ease as the first. We had now drifted too far West of the ship to swim back, so we got picked up by the Jolly. At this point the CG called us off and put their helos in to pick up more sailors. This was because they were unable to air refuel, and they had limited loiter time. Also, as the helos filled with sailors they flew to the Bahamas some 130 miles away. It was just as dangerous putting the sailors back down on the container ship as it was to pick them up. After two CG helos filled up we moved back in. Our learning curve was straight up. We chose to lower one PJ to one sailor at a time. This provided more control and less chance to lose someone at sea. I went down first and picked up two sailors. Next, Dave picked up two more. With a total of six sailors rescued the CG sent us to the Bahamas. We cared for our new passangers enroute. They were not hurt, but were cold, wet, and thirsty. We gave them blankets, water, and cookies. We had to A/R enroute to the Bahamas. The sailors' eyes got as big as fifty cent pieces watching us tailgate the Herc. All 28 crew members were saved that day, and nobody was hurt. It was a great day for Pararescue and Air Force Rescue!

(Ed. Note:  All images are courtesy of Dana Beach.  Thanks Dana!)