Based on the Coast Guard Historian’s timeline, https://www.history.uscg.mil/research/chronology/
With inspiration from Mike Kelso

November 15

Minot’s Ledge ighthouse in a storm

1860  The light in the massive stone Minot’s Ledge Lighthouse, which was built on the original site of the one lost in 1851, was exhibited.  Work on the new lighthouse commenced in 1855 and finished in 1860.  “It ranks, by the engineering difficulties surrounding its erection and by the skill and science shown in the details of its construction, among the chief of the great sea-rock lighthouses of the world.”

1929  The SS Briton came ashore at Point Abino, Lake Erie, and was in danger of breaking up.  Coast Guard patrol boat CG-164, under the command of BMC Clarence C. Kimball, safely rescued all 27 persons on board the stricken vessel.

USCG 41-foot Utility boat

1977  Coast Guard UTB-41332 from Station Cape Disappointment capsized in the Columbia River during a night training exercise.  The UTB sank after the current swept it past the Columbia River Lightship.  Three Coast Guardsmen were killed in the accident: BM3 Greg Morris, BM3 Ray Erb, and SN Albin Erickson.

 “Twenty minutes into a night navigation exercise at Cape Disappointment, Washington, Coast Guard utility boat 41332 tracked off course, strayed into breaking surf, and capsized, trapping eight of its 10-person crew inside a dark, slowly flooding cabin. Over the next hour, the survivors fought their way underwater to the outside. Three students lost their lives.”

USCGC Polar Star. USCGC photo.

1977  CGC Polar Star departed Seattle en route Antarctica for ice tests and operational tasking in connection with Operation Deep Freeze.  Polar Star recently completed installation of modified propellers and open water engineering trails in the Seattle area.