Tag Archives: Station Yaquina Bay

Newport, Oregon: Motor Lifeboat Victory’s last voyage

At about 2 a.m. Wednesday, the 52-foot motor lifeboat Victory left the boathouse at U.S. Coast Guard Station Yaquina Bay for the final time — nearly 65 years to the day of when she first arrived in Newport. The storied vessel did not leave under her own power but was towed behind a 47-foot motor lifeboat.,, For decades after arriving in Newport at the end of 1956, she was the station’s workhorse, capable of towing more than 750 tons and holding 40 survivors. She is self-righting and self-bailing and could motor through towering seas in hurricane-force winds, and countless local fisherman and other mariners owe their lives to her crews over the past seven decades. >Video, photos, click to read< 12:11

Newport, Oregon: Fishing vessels collide at sea in thick fog

U.S. Coast Guard crews safely escorted two small fishing vessels, one of which was taking on water, back to the dock after they apparently collided in thick fog about 12 miles offshore early Wednesday morning. The Coast Guard will investigate the cause of the incident, which was called into Station Yaquina Bay shortly after 5 a.m. Both fishing boats, F/V Chief Joseph and F/V Linda were still operable, but the Linda sustained damage to its hull and was taking on water. The Coast Guard crew passed over a pump in case it was needed to keep the fishing vessel afloat. >click to read< 13:54

Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat Victory placed on restricted duty

For more than 60 years, one name was the best hope for large commercial vessels stranded or imperiled at sea off the central Oregon coast. Victory. The 52-foot motor lifeboat Victory came to Newport’s Station Yaquina Bay in 1956 (although it remained nameless until the 1970s). It was the first of four steel 52-foot vessels built by the U.S. Coast Guard to replace its aging wooden lifeboats, Invincible and Triumph, and was joined in the early 1960s by the Intrepid, Invincible II and Triumph II, stationed at Grays Harbor, Coos Bay and Cape Disappointment, respectively. The four boats are the only named vessels smaller than 65 feet in the guard’s fleet. “Right now, we’ve basically restricted the use of all four of our 52-foot special weather boats here in the Pacific Northwest,” >click to read< 11:18

Coast Guard crew rescues fisherman from surf near South Beach State Park

A Coast Guardsman swam from shore to rescue a fisherman from the surf near South Beach State Park early Tuesday morning after his vessel ran aground and began taking on water. The fisherman was forced to abandon ship after the vessel began breaking apart in 10-foot surf. At approximately 11:40 p.m., Coast Guard Sector North Bend watchstanders received the initial mayday call from a fisherman over VHF-FM radio. The lone mariner aboard a 44-foot commercial fishing vessel, F/V Legend, Commercial Fisherman Matt Davney requested assistance, reporting he was on the south jetty at Newport. >click to read< 14:53

Coast Guardsman swims from shore to rescue mariner south of Newport – A Coast Guardsman swam from shore to rescue a fisherman from the surf near South Beach State Park early Tuesday morning after his vessel ran aground and began taking on water. The Coast Guard said the fisherman was forced to abandon ship after the vessel began breaking apart in 10-foot surf. 3 photos, >click to read< 10:36

August is Coast Guard Month in Newport

Newport City Council proclaimed August as Coast Guard Month in the city of Newport. Mayor Dean Sawyer read a proclamation honoring the United States Coast Guard at the regular meeting Monday evening, encouraging “all residents and visitors to celebrate and thank the U.S. Coast Guard and Station Yaquina Bay and its individual members for protecting our shores for 230 years.” Sawyer continued, “The United States Coast Guard plays a vital role in the city of Newport and the state of Oregon. Station Yaquina Bay personnel work diligently, keeping safe the commercial fishing fleet, recreational mariners and locals and visitors in their use of the ocean and beaches.” >click to read< 13:14