A Coast Guard Boat That Helped Evacuate Lower Manhattan On 9/11 Is Now Working Nantucket Waters
David Creed •
As the country acknowledges the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a vessel that played an important role on that historic day currently sits in the dock at Coast Guard Station Brant Point.
Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat 47209 arrived on-island last month. It sprang into action last week to rescue a disabled fishing vessel 13 nautical miles southwest of Tuckernuck. Twenty-five years ago, the same 47-foot vessel completed a very different mission. On Sept. 11, 2001, it was launched from New Jersey to assist in the emergency efforts during one of the darkest moments in American history, eventually arriving in Manhattan to carry out evacuations of New Yorkers following the collapse of the World Trade Center towers.
“It came to us from Station Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and while it was there it responded to 9/11," Station Brant Point Master Chief John Lowell said. "As the towers were coming down it responded to Lower Manhattan and helped coordinate and actually participated in the evacuation of a bunch of people from Manhattan.”
The vessel has been recently refurbished, with the whole power plant and drivetrain being upgraded with new Cummins QSC engines at 530 horsepower apiece, which is almost 100 more horsepower than the engines they replaced. It also has new communications technology, as well as a new navigation suite and chairs to reduce back injuries for the crews.
“It's a newly refurbished motor lifeboat,” Lowell said. “It’s just a better, more capable platform. We just used it on Saturday (in the Tuckernuck rescue) and it was extremely effective.”
Lowell added the vessel can take on surf up to 30 feet and can hit a speed of approximately 25 knots. He said the boat is so powerful, the crew could barely feel the disabled vessel, the FV Rhiley Donn, as they towed it to Martha’s Vineyard last weekend.
Lowell said he is unclear how long it will be on Nantucket but anticipates it will be here for the foreseeable future.
"It's a great piece of Coast Guard history," Lowell said. "We're super proud to have it here, and with the 25th anniversary coming up, it's just something the crew is really, really proud of to have that history here at Station Brant Point.”
