Tag Archives: F/V Mermaid

Lest We Forget: The USCG Lifeboat Triumph-F/V Mermaid tragedy 60 years ago

At approximately 4:15 p.m., on Thursday, Jan. 12, 1961, Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment, at the mouth of the Columbia River, received a radio call from Roy Gunnari, skipper of the fishing vessel Jana Jo. Gunnari advised that he was relaying a mayday call from the fishing vessel Mermaid, a 34-foot crab-fishing boat from Ilwaco, Wash., owned and operated by brothers Bert and Stanley Bergman.  While approaching the mouth of the Columbia River from the Pacific Ocean, the Mermaid lost its rudder near treacherous Peacock Spit. Photos, >click to read< 08:41