![]() But Andy had a different opinion: “I had great faith that Bernie could get us over the bar, and I had faith in the boat itself. So when Bernie himself was ordered out, at a later time in the day, when evening was approaching, he felt his chances of success were even more of a long-shot than Bangs’. He thought the odds of Bangs coming back alive were quite long, even though Bangs left from Stage Harbor instead of Chatham Fish Pier, and was thus able to avoid the Chatham Bar. Bernie said he was shocked when Cluff first sent Donald Bangs out into the storm on another 36-foot motor lifeboat. One of the few points that Bernie Webber and Andy Fitzgerald differed on was whether or not they had indeed been sent on a “suicide mission” when commander Daniel Cluff ordered them to take the CG36500 out to the Pendleton. Interview notes: The Men Behind the Rescue During the next several hours, before it was finally discovered by a Coast Guard aircraft, the stern hulk of the ship was pushed by the seas toward the dangerous shoals off Chatham, Massachusetts. At just 33 years of age, chief engineer Raymond Sybert had now become the de facto captain of the stern section of the Pendleton. With their captain now gone, the survivors on the stern whispered a prayer for their comrades’ safety and then looked toward their ranking officer for guidance and hope. The men stationed in the stern section of the ship jumped out of their bunks and struggled to climb topside, where they watched in horror through the driving snow as the bow section was swept away into darkness. The sudden impact tore the ship apart between the number-seven and number-nine cargo tanks. ![]() The crewmen braced themselves as the gigantic tanker rose out of the turbulent ocean and came crashing back down. Just prior to the Pendleton cracking in two, her captain had been forward with several of his officers on the bridge, atop the bow section, when they heard a roar echoing from the bowels of the ship.
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