ALCOAST 354/17 - DEC 2017 49TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LOSS OF USCGC WHITE ALDER

R 060903 DEC 17
FM COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC//CG-092//
TO ALCOAST
UNCLAS//N05700//
ALCOAST 354/17
COMDTNOTE 5700
SUBJ:  49TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LOSS OF USCGC WHITE ALDER
1. On December 7, 1968, the Coast Guard Cutter WHITE ALDER (WLM 541)
collided with another ship and sank in the Mississippi River. Seventeen Coast
Guardsmen perished in the tragedy.
2. WHITE ALDER was stationed at New Orleans, Louisiana throughout her Coast
Guard career, which spanned from 1947 until 1968. Her crew's primary assignment
was to tend river aids-to-navigation although they were called upon to conduct
other traditional Coast Guard duties.
3. At approximately 18:29 CST on 7 December 1968, the down bound USCGC WHITE
ALDER collided with the upbound Motor Vessel HELENA, a 455-foot Taiwanese
Freighter, in the Mississippi River at mile 195.3 near White Castle, Louisiana,
and sank in 75 feet of water. Three of the twenty crewmembers were rescued, while
the other seventeen perished. Divers recovered the bodies of three Coast Guardsmen,
but river sediment buried the cutter so quickly that continued recovery and
salvage operations proved impossible. Fourteen Coast Guardsmen remain entombed in
the sunken cutter buried on the bottom of the Mississippi River. A special Aid to
Navigation structure and light, erected in memory of the crew, burns brightly
and marks the location of the sinking near White Castle, Louisiana. Every year,
on December 7th, Coast Guardsmen and surviving family members gather at the site
to observe a wreath laying ceremony.
4. The loss of CGC WHITE ALDER, along with the later sinking of CGC CUYAHOGA
(WIX 157) in 1978, and the CGC BLACKTHORN (WLB 391) in 1980 compelled the
Service to make sweeping improvements to cutter policy, doctrine, training
and standardization. We created the Prospective CO/XO Afloat Course, mandated
that all CO/XO/OODs pass the Deck Watch Officer Examination, required
prospective CO/OINCs to conduct underway familiarization rides, and promulgated
Commandant Cutter Navigation Standards. We took deliberate steps to improve
proficiency and safety in our afloat operations, which are reflected in higher
levels of cutter and crew readiness we see across our service today.
5. We honor the Coast Guardsmen of CGC WHITE ALDER by remembering them on
this anniversary, and honor them each day by focusing on proficiency and
safety of operations. MSU Baton Rouge will hold a formal observance ceremony
at the USS Kidd Veterans Museum, 305 South River Road, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
at 12:30 p.m. CST Thursday, December 7, 2017. For more information please
contact MSTC Kerri Stanley at MSU Baton Rouge, (225) 298-5400 extension 235
or e-mail kerri.e.stanley@uscg.mil.
6.  Semper Paratus.
7.  Ms. Ellen Engleman Conners, Acting Director, Governmental and Public Affairs, sends.
8.  Internet release authorized.