In raging 12-foot waves, a Coast Guard Albatross landed, saved seven fishermen, and lifted off again against all odds.
Out on the ocean, storms and disaster give no warning. In one harrowing mission, the U.S. Coast Guard proved the Albatross's pledge: someone would reach those in peril. In September 1965, a 67-foot fishing trawler with seven crewmen broke down 150 miles east of Nova Scotia amid a gale. Waves surged over its deck, and the Coast Guard scrambled an HU-16E from Air Station Cape Cod. Commander Sam Caldwell flew into fading twilight and howling winds to reach the coordinates. As the "Goat" descended through fog, the doomed vessel with its crew was spotted cresting a wall of gray chop.
Heaving seas: The Albatross streaked in from the starboard side. Its deep-V hull drove the plane through surf, and it skimmed onto the frothing water ahead of the crippled trawler. For a tense moment it floated as waves slammed its sides, the crew in the cockpit clutching the controls with white-knuckled hands.
Desperate rescue: Rescue swimmers climbed into life jackets and slid off the wing into the 12-foot swells. They swam to the trawler, stabilizing ropes under roaring wind. One by one, the seven fishermen were hauled aboard through sloshing decks, coughing and shivering but alive, as the Albatross's crew tossed over food and blankets.
Tense takeoff: Fully loaded with survivors and equipment, the heavy Albatross turned into the wind. Engines strained as it churned through a trough bigger than an apartment building; spray engulfed the cockpit. With full power on its massive props, the seaplane finally clawed its way out of the trough and climbed into the gray sky.
Lifesaving legacy: Every man survived. Back at the station, the captain told reporters, "When those guys saw the Albatross, they knew help had come." This dramatic rescue was one of hundreds performed by the HU-16; each reinforced the promise it represented. To the Coast Guard and to those rescued, the Grumman Albatross was more than metal—it was a pledge fulfilled. Decades later, the story reminds Albatross 2.0 designers that courage and ingenuity can conquer any sea.
