THE BLACKTHORN TRAGEDY - Terror Came in the Night

[BuoyJumper]

I received a very nice email yesterday from Renee Ad****, the widow of ET1 Jerome Ressler
that I wanted to share with the forum.  



First just a little about ET1 Ressler from his mother that she posted on his  Arlington National Cemetery Website.   

He was married to Renee Elliott on June 24, 1978.  He is the son of Master Sergeant Edgar Ressler (United States Air Force, retired) and Mrs. Ressler of San Antonio, Texas. He is survived by three sisters, Devlynn Tanner, Fairborn, Ohio, Loretta Mays, Lewisville, Texas, and Stephanie Iuliano, San Antonio, Texas.

Here is Renee's email:

Hello, my name is Renee.  In 1980 I was 17 1/2 years old and I was married to Jerry Ressler (Jerome).  I have read many stories about the collision and like you never got the true picture of what happened there and the feelings of the men on board that ship.  Your story was wonderful and really touched me.  It's been 28 years and sometimes the emotions overwhelm me still.  I will never forget that day.  Thank you so much for writing the story. 
 
Renee (Ressler) Ad****

Renee ... On behalf of all of the Coasties here we are truly sorry for your loss.  The BLACKTHORN tragedy is one that has touched all of us as a Coast Guard family.  Rest assured that your husband and his shipmates while departed from us many years now, will not be forgotten.  Let their sacrifice serve as a reminder to all of us, that in the day to day jobs we do as Coasties we must always be "SEMPER PARATUS".

Respectfully,
Ron

[BuoyJumper]

Press Release
Date: January 28, 2009
Contact:  District 7 Public Affairs

Coast Guard Cutter Blackthorn
memorial service to be held

 

ST.PETERSBURG, Fla. - The public is invited to attend a memorial service for the 23 Coast Guardsmen lost in the sinking of the Coast Guard Cutter Blackthorn on Jan. 28, 1980.  The ceremony is scheduled for 11 a.m. Jan. 28, at Blackthorn Memorial Park off Interstate 275 on the north end of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in St. Petersburg.

The Blackthorn sank after colliding with the tanker Capricorn near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.  Twenty-seven Blackthorn crewmembers were able to escape the Coast Guards worst peacetime disaster and 23 crewmembers died.  A memorial inscribed with the names of the 23 crewmembers that perished now stands two miles north of the accident site.

Wednesday's ceremony will consist of an aerial salute by Coast Guard aircraft, posting of the Colors, reading of the lost crewmembers' names, a cutterman's salute and remarks by Rear Adm. Steve Branham, Seventh Coast Guard District commander.

The Blackthorn tragedy provided the impetus for the establishment of the Command and Operations School at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.  The school offers courses to prepare command-level officers and senior enlisted members for command duty afloat.  Commanding officers are now required to formally assess risks such as transiting an unfamiliar port at night and are given full discretion and encouraged to say no if they feel the risks involved are unnecessary.

Additionally, the Coast Guard developed new training requirements, spent more money on safety equipment and made changes to the navigational aids in and around Tampa Bay.

Press Release

[BuoyJumper]

Newsroom
30th Annual Service of
Remembrance for USCGC BLACKTHORN
Wednesday, January 13, 2010


Admiral Thad Allen

The public is invited to attend a memorial service for the 23 Coast Guardsmen lost in the sinking of the Coast Guard Cutter Blackthorn January 28, 1980.  The ceremony is scheduled for 28 January and will consist of an aerial salute by Coast Guard aircraft, posting of the Colors, reading of the names of the crewmembers, placement of a memorial wreath by the St. Petersburg Council of the Navy League and remarks from local and Coast Guard leadership.  Admiral Thad Allen, Commandant of the Coast Guard, will be our guest speaker.  The service will begin 1t 11:00 A.M. at the Monument in BLACKTHORN Memorial Park, US 19S/I-275S. 

The BLACKTHORN sunk after colliding with the tanker Capricorn near the Skyway Bridge.  A memorial inscribed with the names of the 23 crewmembers who perished now stands two miles north of the site of the accident.  Twenty-seven Blackthorn crewmembers were able to escape the Coast Guard's worst peacetime disaster. 

Announcement

[BuoyJumper]

Press Release
Date: January 28, 2010
Contact:  District 7 Public Affairs

30th anniversary of Coast Guard
Cutter Blackthorn memorial

 
Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen speaks during the 30th anniversary memorial service of the Coast Guard Cutter Blackthorn collision Jan. 28, 2010. The Blackthorn sank after colliding with the tanker Capricorn near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, in St. Petersburg, Jan. 28, 1980.  Following the service the Admiral spoke with the media.  (U.S. Coast Guard photos by Petty Officer 3rd Class Rob Simpson.)
 
VIDEO WITH ADMIRAL ALLEN

ST.PETERSBURG, Fla. — More than 300 Coast Guardsmen participated in the 30th anniversary  memorial service of the Coast Guard Cutter Blackthorn collision Thursday, at Blackthorn Memorial Park, in St. Petersburg.

The ceremony consisted of remarks by Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen, a cutterman's salute by Rear Adm. Steve Branham, commander of the Seventh Coast Guard District, an aerial salute by Coast Guard aircraft, posting of the colors and reading of the lost crewmembers' names.

 
Seaman Matthew Sowders above left, a crewmember from the Coast Guard Cutter Nantucket, prepares to place a rose on the Coast Guard Cutter Blackthorn Memorial.  Petty Officer 1st Class Zach Little, a Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater crewmember, holds a rose to be placed on the Coast Guard Cutter Blackthorn Memorial.  (U.S. Coast Guard photos by Petty Officer 3rd Class Rob Simpson.)

The Blackthorn sank after colliding with the tanker Capricorn near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge on Jan 28, 1980.  Twenty-three of the Blackthorn's 50 crewmembers lost their lives during the Coast Guard's worst peacetime disaster.  A memorial inscribed with the names of the crewmembers that perished now stands two miles north of the accident site.

 
Coast Guardsmen hold roses to be placed on the Coast Guard Cutter Blackthorn Memorial Jan. 28, 2010, during the 30th anniversary memorial service of the Blackthorn collision. Seaman Jonathon Villerreal, a Coast Guard Cutter Resolute crewmember, holds a rose to be placed on the Coast Guard Cutter Blackthorn Memorial.  (U.S. Coast Guard photos by Petty Officer 3rd Class Rob Simpson.)

The Blackthorn tragedy provided the impetus for the establishment of the Command and Operations School at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.  The school offers courses to prepare command-level officers and senior enlisted members for command duty afloat.  Commanding officers are now required to formally assess risks such as transiting an unfamiliar port at night and are given full discretion and encouraged to say no if they feel the risks involved are unnecessary.

Additionally, the Coast Guard developed new training requirements, spent more money on safety equipment and made changes to the navigational aids in and around Tampa Bay.

Press Release

[BuoyJumper]

iCommandant

Web Journal of Admiral Thad Allen
Sunday, February 07, 2010

CGC Blackthorn Memorial (Tampa, FL): A Post Script  



Guardians,

Many of you commented on our Facebook page regarding the BLACKTHORN Memorial. In my remarks I mentioned a friend that I lost in the tragedy, CWO BOSN Jack Roberts. Jack had served with me when I was Operations Officer on GALLATIN (1975-77). Following the ceremony one of the BLACKTHORN survivors came up to me and talked about how much he admired Jack. I offered him the chance to tell all of us and his guest post follows.

ADM A

Admiral Allen -

Let me begin by saying what an honor and a pleasure it was meeting you and speaking with you last week in St. Petersburg at the Blackthorn Memorial Service. This annual commemoration is a fitting tribute to our shipmates. I cherish my memories of each of them and it's so hard to believe that thirty years has passed. At the service you requested that I share some of my memories of CWO2 Jack Roberts with you. I was assigned to Blackthorn coming out of Boot Camp in 1979. Going aboard a buoy tender as a Seaman Apprentice straight out of boot camp was quite an indoctrination into the Coast Guard - to say the least.

I'm sure you'll agree they are some of the hardest working Coast Guard units afloat. Mr. Roberts was the head of our deck department. He made an immediate impression on me as a hard-working, experienced, and tenacious Coast Guardsman. He ran a tight deck department and expected nothing short of excellence from all of us. His salt and pepper hair and well trimmed beard gave him the look of experience and wisdom - both of which he had. His South Mississippi dialect was very distinctive and just added more to his unique character and demeanor. Mr. Roberts related well to the enlisted men, he had definitely walked in our boots. On the night of the collision, I was standing watch during the special sea detail as a lookout on the forecastle with Mr. Roberts.

We were both ready to get back to Galveston, and together we stood watch for the last time. As the special sea detail was relaxed to a modified special sea detail, Mr. Roberts suggested I lay below to get some rest for the impending sea watch that I was to stand as we cleared the sea buoy leaving the Tampa shipping channel. Following the collision and my escape from the capsized and flooding Blackthorn, I would encounter Mr. Roberts one last time. He was unconscious and unresponsive as we struggled to keep him afloat. These memories are painful. Again, I cherish my memories of Jack Roberts and our other twenty-two shipmates that perished that night. I take solace in knowing that they "sail with one more divine."


Respectfully yours,

Steve Coleman
USCG Veteran
USCGC Blackthorn survivor

Original Blog Post
 

[BuoyJumper]

SHIPMATES ... I have received numerous newspaper photos and articles from retired BMC Ben Critchley that have not seen the light of day since he cut them out of the St. Petersburg Times in February 1980.  The acid in the paper has made some of the articles pretty difficult to read.  It may be a while before I will have all of them restored or rewritten as close as possible to the original format.  Also for the first time I have a list of the entire crew of the BLACKTHORN as it was in January 1980.  Here is the complete crew list and just a few of the articles I thought you might like to see that I have restored.

[JekelKat]

  to those lost.


   to those saved.