Daniel Webster Cluff (July 4, 1916 – March 5, 1989) was a United States Coast Guard officer who led one of the U.S. Coast Guard's largest small-boat rescue operations in the midst of a New England winter storm on February 18 through 19, 1952, as Chatham Lifeboat Station's officer-in-charge.[1] Warrant Officer Cluff's expertise in small-boat life-saving operations and confidence in his men's abilities resulted in Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat CG 36500 crew's rescue of thirty-two survivors from the stern section of SS Pendleton "only minutes before it capsized."[2]
The rescue of survivors from SS Pendleton's stern was not the only rescue operation underway by the Chatham station in this storm. Cluff also oversaw the rescue efforts of another Chatham motor lifeboat that spent twenty two hours at sea assisting in several attempts to locate and rescue survivors from the bow of SS Pendleton and SS Fort Mercer. Simultaneously, while coordinating and directing all phases of Chatham's rescue operations, Cluff stayed in communication with the Coast Guard's First District, assisted local fisherman, and maintained cooperative relations with a large number of the press who reported on the rescue from the Chatham Lifeboat Station.[3]
Chatham's rescue efforts during those two days were part of an even larger rescue operation overseen by the Coast Guard's First District that resulted in the rescue of seventy mariners—including those from SS Pendleton's stern—without any loss of life of the eight men from Chatham who risked their lives by heading out to sea in thirty-six-foot motor lifeboats.[4] The media reported on this rescue operation extensively and pressed the Coast Guard for real-time information as rescue operations unfolded.
Cluff, who grew up in the fishing and Coast Guard community of Chincoteague, VA, was the son of a thirty-year career Coast Guardsman. Cluff served 13 years as an enlisted small-boat, life-saving operator and a combat tour in the Pacific as a World War II assault-boat coxswain before his promotion to warrant officer and assignment as officer-in-charge of Chatham Lifeboat Station in 1950.
^Kelleher, Kerri (August 10, 2014). "Surviving rescuer still modest over Cape Cod feat". The Washington Times.
^Letter of Commendation from Vice Admiral Merlin O'Neill, USCG Commandant, to BOSN Daniel W. Cluff, dated April 16, 1952
^Craige, Paul V. (February 24, 1952). "An Epic Rescue". The Boston Globe.
^Craige, Paul V. (February 24, 1952). "An Epic Rescue". The Boston Globe.
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