by Michael Maynard
1/16 USCG Motor Lifeboat 36500 (Scratchbuilt)
On the night of February 18, 1952 the crew at Chatham Coast Guard station found themselves in a struggle to save the crew of the SS Pendelton, a 500' WWII built T-2 tanker bound for Boston. In a raging Nor'easter on the out side of Cape Cod the tanker experienced a series of rouge waves, breaking the ship in half. Adding to this disaster another T-2 tanker, the SS Fort Mercer, broke in half 10 miles away at the same time. With a number of CG cutters rescuing the Mercer's crew the Coastguards at Chatham were directed to "assist" the Pendleton. BM1 Bernie Webber and a 3 man crew set out from Chatham boathouse aboard the motor lifeboat CG 36500. Built in 1941 the 36 foot wooden boat was powered by a 90 hp Buda 4 cylinder gas engine and carried a 2 way radio. Having no radar or Loran, these tough little boats were constructed of cedar, ash and oak. A 5 ton bronze keel assured the boat would right itself if capsized. At 5:30 PM the 36500 crossed the Chatham bar and sailed into 20 foot seas. A wave smashed the steering station, breaking the windshield and washing the compass overboard. With white out conditions keeping visibility to zero and no compass to steer by, Bosun Webber stopped his lifeboat and "sensed" their was an object close by. A spot light revealed the stern section of the stricken tanker 50 feet ahead, the lifesavers had almost run into it! Webber moved the 36500 around the tanker's stern near a Jacobs ladder. Immediately the tankers crew men descended the rope ladder like ants piling into the pitching lifeboat. All told 36 men were jammed into the 36500, a boat only designed to carry 10 survivors plus a 3 man CG crew. With all crewmen aboard Bosun Webber fought the raging storm and was able to locate the harbor, a huge wave pushing the lifeboat across the bar. When he moored at the state pier the waiting townspeople gave out a cheer, the CG-36500 came home. BM1 Webber received the Gold Lifesaving medal, the last Coastguardsman to be awarded this honor. Grateful for being alive and embarrassed with all the notoriety, Bosun Webber summed it up simply as "a miracle, just a miracle". THE MODEL--Using blueprints from CG Headquarters, the model is 32" long, and is constructed of balsa strips with baltic birch plywood frames. The wheel, rudder and spotlight are all built from brass stock. It is powered by a dumas 6 volt motor and uses a 2 channel radio taking 6 months to complete. PS I had the good fortune to take a "cruise" on the real CG 36500, now a floating museum owned by the Orleans historical society.
