Media Availability: Coast Guard to dedicate building in honor of WWII hero on Base Portsmouth, Va.

Media Availability

April 30, 2018 U.S. Coast Guard 5th District Mid-Atlantic Contact: 5th District Public Affairs Office: (757) 398-6272 After Hours: (757) 434-7712 5th District online newsroom

Coast Guard to dedicate building in honor of WWII hero on Base Portsmouth, Va.

WHO: Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads personnel

WHAT: Will hold a building dedication ceremony in honor of Lt. Robert Prause, Jr., a Coast Guard WWII hero

WHERE: Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads Command Building, 4000 Coast Guard Blvd., Portsmouth, VA 23703

WHEN: Friday, May 3, 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads personnel are scheduled to hold a building dedication ceremony in honor of a WWII hero at the Sector Hampton Roads Command Building on Base Portsmouth, Friday morning.

Vice Adm. Scott Buschman, commander, Atlantic Area, will preside over the ceremony honoring Lt. Robert H. Prause, Jr., a Norfolk native who served as executive officer of Cutter Escanaba during WWII and posthumously received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal and the Purple Heart Medal for his heroic efforts.

When a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the U.S. Army troop ship Dorchester in the North Atlantic on Feb. 3, 1943, Prause helped save 133 men from the frigid waters by using the tethered rescue swimmer system he had previously developed.

On June 13, 1943, the Escanaba exploded, most likely due to a torpedo attack. Only three survived, including Prause, but he died shortly after the Cutter Raritan crew rescued him. He was buried at sea with full military honors.

For more information on Prause, click here.

Media interested in attending the building dedication ceremony should RSVP by Thursday, May 2, at 6 p.m., by calling Lt. Steve Arguelles at 860-501-3990. 

-USCG-