Ernest M. Hull, Jr., 43, marine basin operator, helped to save Russell G. Waddell, 22, electronic technician, and assisted in an attempt to save D. Amos Whittemore, 32, chief engineman, and Guy C. Blucker, 21, boatswain’s mate, from drowning and exposure, Saybrook Point, Connecticut, February 16, 1953. At night during a gale, a 20-foot motor launch occupied by Waddell, Whittemore, and Blucker ran aground on a low rocky breakwater in Long Island Sound 1,800 feet from shore. The men left the boat and climbed to the top of the breakwater, where the water was a foot deep. Air temperature was just below freezing, and high swells moved with great force across the breakwater. The men, who clung to each other for support, maintained precarious footing for more than three hours until the tide receded. All suffered from shock and exposure. By searchlight, the crewmen of an ocean tanker saw the stranded men and transmitted a radio message to shore concerning their plight. In response, Hull and Edward T. Robb boarded their 30-foot motor launch at a dock in the Connecticut River a mile inland from the sound. A member of the Coast Guard volunteered to accompany them. Robb piloted the launch to the sound, maneuvered 2,500 feet through seven-foot swells, and headed the craft toward the windward side of the breakwater. They located Waddell and the others with a flashlight but could not advance close to the breakwater because of the heavy surf. A large swell suddenly struck the launch, and it listed sharply. With freeboard of one foot, Robb regained control of the launch and proceeded to the inner end of the breakwater. Piloting 1,500 feet southwestward in a semicircular course, he slowly edged the launch to a point 100 feet from the breakwater. Hull lowered an eight-foot dinghy overboard and rowed to the breakwater. Making his way 300 feet along the rocks, which rose three feet above the water and were glazed with ice, Hull reached the marooned men. Whittemore and Blucker had lost consciousness. Assisted by Waddell, Hull carried Blucker to the dinghy and rowed with both men to the launch, which pitched in the surf and several times struck the rocky bottom. Water began seeping into the hold through a leak in the hull. The other Coast Guard member lifted Waddell and Blucker to the deck of the launch and joined Hull in the dinghy. Returning to the breakwater with the Coast Guard member, Hull and he carried Whittemore to the dinghy and returned with him to the launch. Robb carefully backed the launch clear of the submerged rocks and piloted it to shore, the entire trip requiring two hours. Whittemore could not be revived and was pronounced dead of exposure. Blucker died two hours later. Waddell suffered severe frostbite of the hands and legs and was hospitalized five weeks. Hull was tired and numbed but recovered. 3859-42790
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