Lifeboat Sailors: Inside the U.S. Coast Guard's Small Boat Stations

by Dennis L. Noble

This the first book on the distinguished past, hazardous present, and uncertain future of an organization whose roots extend back nearly 200 years. Each year, the Coast Guard's powerful motorized lifeboats and other small water craft respond to over 37,000 calls for assistance and help in saving more than 4,000 people in imminent danger. Despite the fact that the small boat stations are the very symbol of rescue upon the water, the public knows little about what takes place in them and about the professionals who put their own lives at risk in this way every day. A retired member of the Coast Guard, Dennis Noble traveled from unit to unit capturing the stories of their brave crews, riding the waves with the lifeboat sailors who accepted him as one of their own. Movingly he tells of witnessing the tragic deaths of three Coast Guardsmen on a rescue mission - deaths he believes did not have to occur. Lifeboat Sailors bears witness to the courage of a unique breed of seaman and sounds an alarm for the rescue of a cherished American institution.

234 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1998

About the author

Dennis L. Noble retired from the U.S. Coast Guard as a senior chief petty officer and is the author of Rescue of the Gale Runner.