Description:
An incredible story of men against the sea and the U.S. Life Saving Service of the 19th century. Dramatic events culled from documented reports describe the forgotten service that saved lives from ships foundering on Rhode Island’s shores. Included are synopsis of Rhode Island’s worse marine disasters as the passenger steamer SS Larchmont in the dead of winter was holed and sunk by the schooner Harry Knowlton with a loss of 145 lives, to the rumored purposeful shipwrecker’s on Block Island who decoyed wayward vessels to their doom to salvage wreckage and cargo. Dozens of shipwrecks and rescues by the men assigned to the Life saving stations are covered with direct words from the rescuers themselves. Varoujan Karentz describes the nine Life Saving Stations along Rhode Island’s southern ocean shore and on Block Island. The men’s feats who’s motto “you have to go out, but you don’t have to come back” often resulted in acts of heroism. For over 40 years they lived an extraordinary drama while at the same time made maritime history, which somehow faded into the past and disappeared. The author brings this all back coupled with actual reports from the Life Saving Service’s archives. At each station its crew lived together and individually walked as a beach patrol looking for vessels in danger and signaling them to change course or summoning beach apparatus or launching their surfboat to attempt a rescue. Stories include the successful use of the breeches buoy where passengers or crew were hauled ashore directly from stranded vessels. The stations were manned during the winter months where severity of storms were maximum often mixed with snow and ice. Frostbite, exhaustion and boredom was common as was the fear of the sea. Karentz brings this all back in a realism of a variety of actual shipwreck events which happened at each station. The Life Savers with its saga of men who’s stories are told event by event captures the imagination of brave men and thankful survivors. It is meaningful reading of yesteryear and how men suffered to save another unknown human being from the ravages of the sea.
