Farther back in the convoy, Argo had also made radar co ntact w ith the darke ned ranker and the cutter's OOD repo rted the target to LTJG Winslow in the captain's cabin . W inslow ordered the target's positio n transmitted to the St. Augustine by the coded talk-between-ship (TBS) system . Argo's radiom an sent the m essage and received ackn owledgm ent from the lead escort. Meanwhile, Argo's looko uts made vis ual contact with the ship and no ted that the St. Augustine had left her convoy statio n, steamed toward the mys tery vessel, and chall enged the ship by blin ke r signal and by Hash ing running li ghts.Argo's OOD altered co urse to allow the cutter to swing wide aro und the stern of the ship cross ing ahead, and he presumed that St. Augustine had executed a similar course change. Th e St. Augustine, however, had actual ly al tered course in fro nt of the ta nke r, settin g the two vessels on a collisio n course. W ithin a few short minutes, thro ugh the darkness, Argo's OOD could see the bow of the 300-foot St. Augustine rise o ut of the water at an odd angle, fall back in to the wa ter, and disappear. G iven th e state of the stormy seas, he and the oth ers o n the bridge assumed the escort had ridden up a large wave and dropped back in to th e acco mpanying tro ugh. H owever, the m en on Argo's bridge had actually witn essed th e demise of the St. A ugustine as th e tanker ramm ed into the 300-foot patrol gunboat amidships, cutting deeply into the esco rt's hull, and pushing the mortally wo unded ship bri efl y befo re separati ngwith her. Th e St. Augustine fl ooded and slipped below the waves, va nishin g in fewer tha n five m inu tes. Still mil es away fro m the scene of the disas ter, Argo's OOD asked his radarman if he still had St. Augustine on the screen. The radarman indicated that he no lo nger h ad a contac t for the patrol gunboat. 1hetis tried to raise the St. Augustine by voice radio with no success, so Argo's O O D tried to co ntact the vessel by T BS. TI1 e darkened tanker cam e to a stop and threw o n all of her runn ing lights, an act normally p rohi bited du ring wa rtime in wa ters known to harbo r U- boats. By chis time, A rgo's OO D feared the worst; he called LTJG W inslow for assisrance and ordered Argo's crew to general q ua rters. 32
Aerial view ofthe ill-fated patrol gunboat and converted yacht, USS Sc. Augustine (PG-54) W inslow swung in to acti o n the mo- scene th at morning befo re steaming back m en t he stepped on the bridge. H e o rdered to Cape M ay to survey the damage to a co urse change straight fo r the unid entified her hull. M eanwhile, the navy and Coas t vessel, brightly illuminated in th e heavy seas G uard laun ched a m assive search-anddead ah ead. H e also o rdered the signalman rescue o peration, involving ships, planes to communicate with the vessel by blinker to and blimps, in an effo rt to locate m o re find o ut what h ad ha ppened . Afte r repeated survivors. A1go had rescued twe nty-three q ueries, the tanker blinked back "survivo rs of St. Augustine's survivors, while 1hetis to the left of yo u." After several mo re unan- acco unted for anoth er seven. In addi tion , swered signals, the ranker respo nded that it the search -and- rescue effo rt located sixcyhad rammed the esco rt and was taking on seven bodi es o ut of the patro l gunboat's coral losses of 106 crewm embers. water. A board of inquiry, conve ned to deAfter pounding th ro ugh heavy seas for nearly twen ty minutes, Argo arrived at termine the cause of the accident, fo und the scene of the disaster. The cutter's crew greatest fa ul c in che faral maneuver chat began sighting groups of survivors on life put USS St. Augustine in the path of the rafts and individuals floating in the fri gid Camas M eadows. The board also found water waving the red lights attached to their the tanke r's crew too inexperienced , with life jackets. W inslow ordered all of Argo's several h aving no previo us sea time. In searchlights activa ted and began navigating additio n , the board determined chat the th ro ugh the wreckage to collect survivors. ran ker's radioman had little knowledge W inslow focused initial efforcs o n saving of em ergency procedures, and that the those in life rafts an d gro uped together in only crewm embers qualifi ed in signaling the water befo re the sto rm could scatter had take n to thei r bunks, preventing the chem across the w ind-swept seas. Later, Argo tanke r fro m co mmunica ting with the St. located individual survivo rs and, after that, Augustine. Fo r his ro le in the St. Augustine epithrew lines over bodies ro see if they showed signs oflife. If the bodies fai led to react, Argo sode, LTJG W inslow received a commendam oved on to search fo r those who might still tion from Navy Secretary James Forrestal be saved adrift in the heavy seas. for "o utsranding service." Acco rding to the Argo remain ed o n scene during the citation , Winslow maneuvered "his ship early m o rn ing ho urs of 7 January and through heavy winds and debri s-littered thro ugh the rest of the day as W inslow seas" wiith "o utstanding ractical skill. " and the crew search ed fo r m ore survivors. Coast Gi uard Commandant Russell WaeThe Camas Meadows also rem ained on sche alsoo co mmended Winslow, writing,
SE.L A HISTORY 130, SPRING 2010