Negligent Navigation: The Tragedy of USCGC Blackthorn

I listened to this on my way home. Crossing the Sunshine Skyway bridge south lanes. I could look out and see the site of the collision.

Well done, thank you.
I was part of the Blackthorn crew after transferring from the Gentian which was decommissioned when the Blackthorn arrived at Base Galveston. I was onboard her for about another 6 months before I was transferred to the Search and Rescue unit at the base and then completed my tour of duty and left the Coast Guard in 1978.

My Dad was on this ship in the early 60’s when he was stationed in Mobile AL. I was in 3rd-5th grade.

I love these videos

this is so disturbing. the ignorance and abcence of professionalisim is stunning. what on earth were they thinking. simple routine procedures keep people safe.

Prime example of Murphy's law. A whole lot of things that could go wrong were going wrong. Sadly, 23 sailors had to perish in an accidant that needn't to happen.

"We're really getting into the maritime weeds here, sorry."

My friend, if I did not want to be in the weeds, I wouldn't be watching an hour long video. You do not need to apologize for that 😂

I served on one of her sister ships, the Iris, out of Astoria.

Poor nekkid guy taking a shower 🚿😟damn near gave him a heart attack!!!

I live there and remember it well very sad

Thank you for a very interesting video

I first read about this incident in Readers Digest in 1981/82. Though not assigned to her, I spent some time aboard the 180 Blackhaw while stationed in San Francisco in the late 80's. I couldn't help but remember the Blackthorn every time I looked at her. It was always a bit eerie.

About the whistle signals... It's always fascinated me how much information ships can convey to the crew and other ships simply by going "toot toot".

Excellent presentation. As I was listening to your presentation, I was crossing the Skyway bridge, On the way back I stopped at the Blackthorn memorial and placed my hand on the anchor. I was absolutely astonished to learn of the factors leading up to this tragedy.

i didn't know about the whistle thing. i learned something today.

Extremelywell done. Thank you.

R.I.P. Those lost from The USCGC Blackthorn.

You should do a video on the 2019 fire and sinking of the MV Conception, a dive boat that due to a variety of factors including poor design and crew negligence killed 34.

Semper Paratus

The Captain and First Officer got away with basically what amounted to a pinky slap on the wrist. The Captain should have been stripped of his rank and given a harsh prison sentence because, due to his incompetence, those men died needlessly. The military has a long history of protecting their brass asses which is why, especially in cases like this, I have absolutely NO respect for ANY military officer outside of a small hand full.

the documentary is detail i love it

Great episode! Have you looked into the recent 34 death dive boat tragedy off the coast of central California? Captain of the "Conception" just got convicted.

I received orders to report to the Blackthorn but they were changed just a short time beforehand.

“You keep training on the fundamentals until you’re sick of them, then you train them some more”
That’s why I can still recite the “five paragraph order” and “six troop leading steps” from Marine boot camp, 1987. The acronyms “SMEAC” “BAMCIS”, etc….we’d get so nauseated having to constantly sound that stuff off. It definitely worked though.

Former WLB sailor here. The remark from the "USCG Aviation veteran" is out of line.

The place of honor for the national ensign on a ship is at the gaff, NOT the masthead.

This is one instance in which it is correct for the US flag to be physically lower in height than another flag.

Brick Immortar, you are correct.

The dude was an Airedale, he has enough problems already......

When this video came up on my suggested videos to watch in YT I had chills run up my spine for reasons I will explain.
The C.O. of the Blackthorn has been a close family friend since the mid-1960s as our fathers worked together at Northrop Aircraft.
G.J. (Jim) Sepel, The C.O. was as I recall did graduate from the Coast Guard Academy. "Jim" also dated my older sister in the late 60's, can't remember for how long.
His parents would come to our house once a week while Jim's much younger brother (Marty) was attending a cadet program for young people at Los Alamitos
Naval Air Station. Accidents at sea or in the air can/do/and will point out major problems in a system that has become complacent in it's ways. This is very evident in Aviation accidents as each accident investigated comes with better procedures and training for flight crews and maintenance personnel. Over my 26 years as a Corporate Pilot I have read many NTSB accident reports/final causes and recommendations. I do believe today's technology does make flying easier for flight crews and also safer at the same time. With the mandatory requirement of flight data and cockpit recorders (most commercial aircraft) much is learned from these accidents and changes made to training or new equipment installed make aviation much safer. My guess that much that same type of changes have come to boats/ships at sea. The biggest one I can think of is AIS, had that been around in Jan 1980, this would have saved the lives of many brave sailors of the Blackthorn, RIP Fellow Veterans.

I love Coasties. On a boat delivery we got slammed by a humpback trying to breach. It was a protected zone so the Coasties laughed at us. Humpback broke our rudder off and 2/3 of the folding prop. Until they towed us in, I never knew that there is a Fort Bragg California.

Another great video from Brick Immortar. I particularly appreciate the historical accuracy of the digital models, particularly with regards to flag placement.

Would you ever consider doing en episode on the Andrea Gail? I've got a LOAD of research, and am awaiting potential blueprints from the OG designers, Eastern Shipbuilding

What a preventable tragedy. I wonder how many more sailors would have been saved if the emergency equipment and response were covered prior to leaving. We were in the same vehicle every for a year and still practiced our roll over drills, checked safety equipment, fire equipment, and check emergency air bottles at least weekly. Heck, I've even made my kids practice getting out of the car in the event of an emergency.

These stories about the Blackthorn are always hard to watch. I served aboard her and had been transferred to ANT Galveston a year before the Blackthorn’s trip to Tampa for refit. I knew every man aboard and some were good friends. I actually went to boot camp with Gary Crumly who was one of the most squared away guys I ever met. Every time I go to Galveston I make trip to the Blackthorn Memorial at Base Galveston to remember my shipmates.

Boosting for the algorithm 🙌 Love your work, keep it up! 🌻🐝

My first assignment was to a 180 buoy tender in Galveston 15 years after this incident. I arrived shortly after they returned from Tampa for dry dock and I heard endless stories about the Blackthorn as I worked to get qualified. I remember getting yelled at by the Captain while I was on lookout because I called out one tanker and not the one directly behind it. I was a nervous wreck until a friend told me after that they had it on radar long before it was in sight but they wanted to keep me on my toes. 😅

These are my favorite bedtime stories

Thank You. This is so sad. No reason for this to happen. I live in Halifax, and this I do know for a fact that NO ship may enter or exit the Harbor without a Maritime Pilot being onboard. Captains have no say in the matter, and no captain can ever refuse it. If they do refuse it then they will never get out or into the harbor.

After the Halifax Harbor Explosion in 1917, it was made sure that it would never happen again.

Tremendous investigative work. As an ex-navy Sailor, I have to say that the USCG Captain got off totally. He takes Charge of and Responsibility for every one of his Crew. Such Arrogance and obvious Ignorance under Training. However there's a considerable amount of Blame to be Heaped on his Superiors and not least the Postings Department. 😮😮😮

I'd like thank BrickImmottor for covering this tragic incident the Coast Guard suffered.
I'll refer to it on the multiple Coast Guard groups I'm a member of on Facebook.

One gross mistake made towards the end of this episode is the image of the Blackthorn with the Coast Guard ensign flying above the U.S. flag.
Thst would absolutely never happen at or on any Coast Guard facility or vessel.
The Stars are Stripes are always above all other flags.
As a Coast Guard Aviation Veteran I have to set that straight.
It's a diservice towards the memory of the Blackthorn and her lost crew themselves and itself.

I had the duty that night at Coast Guard Airstation Miami as the ready Sikorski HH52a Seaguard amphibious helo Flight Mechanic/Hoist Operator.
They had us fly over to St. Pete Airstation to do body searches.
St. Pete only had 2 helos and had to keep one available for possible SAR flights and Miami had 4 so the loaned us over to them.
We got there, landed and fueled up.
While the pilots got briefed I did a quick walk around preflight inspection and grabbed some box lunches from their galley they'd offered us plus a couple of large thermos's of coffee with sugar and creamer packets I remembered to grab.
Also a very large thermos of hot soup and crackers.
We already had several sets of field kits to use to eat from.
Actually Army WW II surplus.
We flew out as the sun was coming up searching outside the channel approach area gulf side in case the outgoing tide had taken crew members out.
At that point they still hadn't accounted for all the crew members yet.
I've only just begun watching this so I don't know if he has mentioned the young recently from Boot camp SA who saved 26 of his crewmates handing out lifejackets before loosing his life as the Cutter rolled over on top of him.
He was awarded the Coast Guards highest honor medal later.
The Distinguised Service medal.
We never spotted any of the crew.
I had nightmares about it for a long time.
The brain can play tricks on you like that.
They finally called off the air search and after refueling we flew back late the following night to Miami.
I got 2 days liberty to recoup.
I'd rather have went back to my regular duties as the P.O. in charge of the ground support shop.
It was a very gloomy time for the Coast Guard.
Lots of tears.
Especially crewmates at Miami Beach station where a lot of guys had served with some of the Blackthorns crew.
A few of the "black shoes" on at our Airstation as well.
Coast Guard aviators are refered to as brown shoes.
Non aviators black shoes.
Goes back to the early days of flying as a tradition.
I also flew body search when the Tampa bay Skyway bridge got knocked down.
That one was another bummer mission.
Thankfully, no bodies spotted as they'd also had us searching outside in the gulf approach area as well.
I hope the small boat SAR crews didn't end up with service related issues from either events.
Especially the survivors of the Blackthorn

They were lucky that that shrimp boat was just behind them to rescue a fair few of them.

Incredible job as always

The 1970s and 90s were tough for the USCG, too little funding, using old equipment poorly

Two Die After a Coast Guard Boat Capsizes on Patrol in Lake Ontario. In 2001, a 21 ft. USCG patrol boat flipped, sending 4 crewmen into icy Lake Ontario. They remained there for 4 hours and two died of hypothermia. This tragedy changed safety protocols, just like Blackthorn.

Thank you so much for these videos, the production quality is second to none!

I absolutely thank you for the idea 💡 of, 'reviewing oneself ad nauseum on the basic principles behind the execution of important duties,' because that's how muscle and neurotransmitter automatic memory is formed. The brain and body will go into accurate, informed, and calmer reactions--which resulting in the likelihood of more accurate and creative problem solving as the person responds to that which has 'just hit the fan' 😮
Makes sense for piloting on/in land, sea, air, and space. Also makes sense for medical/psychiatric care, engineering, first responders, etc. Really anyone who can endanger and/or rescue others...

You gave such a coherent, organized, and interesting account of an event that I probably heard about in 1980 but didn't remember.

🇺🇸🎖️ Also a good reminder with Veterans Day 🪖🎖️ coming up that true grace and courage is evident in our troops whether in war or peacetime 🫡

I was stationed at Pier 91 Seattle Wash. and assigned to The USCGC Wachusett=W-44 in 1968 and served in Vietnam during Operation Market Time and this video really stuck in my craw to have seen all the incompetence and lack of training aboard the Blackthorn and all the other ships and as a Radarman 3rd Class aboard The Wachusett I considered our Crew as well trained and our Officers and Chiefs on board were outstanding and our CO was Lt. Cmdr. Lucas and was always seen on our Bridge and around the ship and all of us were full of pride and conviction and I cherish all the memories created on that Great Old Cutter. Glad to see the Seaman Flores Memorials and the Reef made by The Blackthorn as was The Wachusett also. It must have taken extreme effort to make this video and I applaud you for taking the task and I subscribed today. Semper Paratus~!

Well researched and very well presented. This video did not make the mistake of rushing the subject to fit into a shorter format. As for the mishap, I find it more than embarrassing that the rules were not followed by this USCG vessel. The USCG should be held to a higher standard. That the commander got a slap on the wrist is even worse.

The level of amateurishness is very surprising. A tragic loss of life all because of a lack of communication and people making assumptions.

Thank you for this video. Very well done. It makes me want to figure out where safety items are kept at my place of employment.