ALCOAST 408/18 - DEC 2018 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LOSS OF USCGC WHITE ALDER

R 060844 DEC 18
FM COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC//CG-751//
TO ALCOAST
UNCLAS //N05700//
ALCOAST 408/18
COMDTNOTE 5700
SUBJ: 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LOSS OF USCGC WHITE ALDER
A. Marine Casualty Report, USCG WHITE ALDER-SS HELENA (TAIWAN) COLLISION IN THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER ON 7 DECEMBER 1968
1. At 1829 on December 7, 1968, Coast Guard Cutter WHITE ALDER (WLM 541) collided
with Motor Vessel HELENA, a 455-foot Taiwanese Freighter, near a 550 yard-wide bend
in the Mississippi River called the Bayou Goula Bend. The collision occurred at a
combined relative speed of 20+ knots with the Commanding Officer and a lookout on
the bridge. Within less than a minute, WHITE ALDER sank in 75 feet of water taking
the lives of all but three of her 20 person crew. Fourteen members remain entombed
in the sunken cutter at the bottom of the Mississippi to this day.
2. Today we remember and commemorate the sacrifices of our WHITE ALDER shipmates,
and we re-emphasize that our daily work in the Coast Guard carries inherent risk.
The critical decisions which surrounded this event spanned a mere nine minutes,
from when the HELENA made an initial Ch. 13 Securite broadcast as it approached the
bend, to WHITE ALDER’s ill-fated change in course. After the loss of WHITE ALDER,
along with the later sinking of CGC CUYAHOGA (WIX 157) in 1978, and CGC BLACKTHORN
(WLB 391) in 1980, the Service made sweeping improvements to standardize cutter
policy, doctrine, and training. We created the Prospective CO/XO/OIC/XPO Afloat
Course, mandated that all CO/XO/OIC/XPO/OODs pass the Deck Watch Officer
Examination, required prospective CO/OINCs to conduct underway familiarization
rides, and promulgated Commandant Cutter Navigation Standards. The generation before
us took deliberate steps to improve proficiency and safety in our afloat operations,
and we must continue to make the same effort. Today this casualty is as relevant as
ever, and as professional mariners we have a responsibility to ourselves and our
shipmates to remain proficient and always ready.
3. 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. MSU Baton Rouge will hold a formal observance ceremony
at the Estuary at the Water Campus, 1110 River Road S., Baton Rouge, Louisiana at
11:00 a.m. CST Friday, December 7th, 2018. 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.
5. The costly lessons that the Coast Guard learned from this and other casualties
must never be forgotten. All hands are encouraged to review the full Marine Casualty
Report at the site below:
https://cg.portal.uscg.mil/units/cg751/SitePages/Professionalism.aspx
6. RDML Michael P. Ryan, USCG, Assistant Commandant for Capability, sends.
7. Internet release is authorized.