When I was a young man, as I have often relived on this blog, I spent four years in the United States Coast Guard most of which stationed at the Umpqua River Lifeboat Station in Winchester Bay, Oregon. It was an adventure that far surpassed any adventures I've managed to be involved in since then. It was also a time when I purchased my first 35mm camera and began to explore the world of creative photography with quality equipment, at least with what I could afford at the time. That camera was a Fujica ST701 with a 50mm f/1.8 lens plus a Vivitar 135mm f/2.8 lens. My only regret was...I wish I had taken more photos of our station's operations. This photo of the CG44331 was probably the best one.
If I remember correctly, I was shooting Kodachrome color slide film probably ASA (ISO) 25 or possibly 64, I don't rightly remember, using that Vivitar 135mm lens. The events that led up to the capturing of this image began early one foggy morning as our commanding officer Chief Boatswain Mate John Whalen decided the conditions were right for what we called Breaker Drills.
The Umpqua River Bar can be one of the roughest bar crossings on the west coast. Over the years, there have been many vessels lost on or near this body of water where the Umpqua River spills into the Pacific Ocean. When conditions are right, multiple layers of massive breakers can form across the width of the bar which was at the time (circa 1974) bounded on the North and South by rock jetties with a training jetty a bit further inside the bar directing the river flow outwards. At its widest it spanned about 300 yards from the tip of the South Jetty to the end of the North Jetty. That training jetty has since been extended all the way to the tip of the South Jetty forming one continuous channel and river flow directing structure.
On training days, the conditions were usually moderate with a 12 to 15 foot breaker line forming across the shallower north spit and middle ground areas leaving the south entrance channel mostly clear. These kinds of conditions were suitable for realistic training without presenting a high risk level to the crews.
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| Fujica ST701 |
If I remember correctly, I was a bit late arriving on site and had to scramble across the beach to reach the black rocks at the backend of the south jetty, then make my way along the top of the jetty by hoping from boulder to boulder trying not slip and fall. The training ops were winding down as a few moments before I arrived the 331 managed to experience a 360 degree roll. The young somewhat inexperienced operator had gotten himself turned broadside to the breakers and caught one across his starboard side. Over she went, hung for a moment, then righted herself as she was designed to do without stalling the engines or flooding the interior. I did not get any photos of the rollover as it happened before I got there.
The 331 did suffer some damage losing a ring buoy and having a radio antenna break off along with having some internal gear tossed around and some bilge water and oil thrown around inside the engine room, but otherwise she was in pretty good shape. Roll overs are not how you are supposed to do it for obvious reasons.
As the 331 made her way back toward the calmer waters deeper inside the channel and then eventually back to the station for cleanup and repairs, I snapped the original transparency image...a single moment in the history and timeline of a fine vessel and crew. Many years later, I converted it to a black and white digital image which I believe more realistically captures the drama of the moment.
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