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Texas Coast Guard members held a memorial service on Jan. 28 in Galveston for the 23 crew members who perished in the Coast Guard Cutter Blackthorn collision of 1980.
Forty-two years ago, the Coast Guard Cutter Blackthorn collided with a tanker vessel and sank in waters outside of Tampa, Florida, with 23 of the cutter's crew passing. This year, the deceased crewmembers were remembered with a reading of a letter penned by Master Chief Petty Officer Ronald Miller, the officer-in-charge of the Coast Guard Cutter Vice at the time of the accident, a ceremonial reading of the crewmembers' names and the tolling of a ship’s bell, according to the Galveston County Daily News.
“As cuttermen and aids to navigation professionals, we share a kinship with the crew of the Blackthorn," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Chris Winters, according to The Daily News. "Gathering each year to remember our shipmates who lost their lives helps ensure we do not forget the lessons learned from their sacrifice.”
The Blackthorn collision is considered the Coast Guard's worst peacetime disaster, with only 27 out of the Galveston-based cutter's 50-strong crew surviving. Following the disaster, memorials inscribed with the names of the crew members who perished were erected two miles north of the collision site and on Base Galveston, according to The Daily News.
“It is an honor to be part of the Coast Guard Cutter Blackthorn memorial ceremony,” Winters continued.
In response to the disaster, the Coast Guard established the Command and Operations School at its academy in New London, Connecticut to prevent future incidents by providing courses to prepare command-level officers and senior enlisted members for command duty afloat. They have also developed new training requirements that put more emphasis on additional safety equipment and changes to the navigational aids in and around Tampa Bay, according to The Daily News.