This Day in Coast Guard History – July 30

1966- When the Coast Guard Station at Belle Isle, Michigan, received a report of a cabin cruiser afire at a boat dock, patrol boats were dispatched to the scene by radio.  Within minutes, they were alongside the burning vessel, spraying water on the fire.  The entire cabin cruiser was in flames, since its gas tanks had already blown up.  The patrol boats, to minimize the damage to nearby facilities, towed the burning craft out of the marina. When notified that a woman was still on board, two Coast Guardsmen boarded the flaming cruiser and checked the cabin, only to find no one.  As it turned out, the woman had already jumped overboard and made her way to shore safely.  The fire was eventually brought under control, but not before the expenditure of many gallons of foam.

(Source: USCG Historian’s Office)