"The past actually happened but history is only what someone wrote down." A. Whitney Brown.

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San Juan Archipelago, Washington State, United States
A society formed in 2009 for the purpose of collecting, preserving, celebrating, and disseminating the maritime history of the San Juan Islands and northern Puget Sound area. Check this log for tales from out-of-print publications as well as from members and friends. There are circa 750, often long entries, on a broad range of maritime topics; there are search aids at the bottom of the log. Please ask for permission to use any photo posted on this site. Thank you.

28 December 2022

WRECK; GROMMET REEFER ~~1952

 GROMMET REEFER

246509
Blt. 1944, Duluth, MN
G. t. 3,805.
323.9' x 50.1' x 26.5'



GROMMET REEFER
246509
Seattle, WA. 1948

This year this vessel was moored in
Seattle, classed as a 
US Navy ship but under US Army jurisdiction.

Original photo from the archives of the S.P.H.S.©



GROMMET REEFER
Four US Navy helicopters hover
over the disabled ship.
Leghorn, Italy,
16 Dec. 1952.

AP Wire photo via radio from London,
Archived with S.P.H.S.©


GROMMET REEFER,

Italy, 1952.
From the archives of the S.P.H.S.©

On 16 December 1952 the freighter,  GROMMET REEFER, supplying food to servicemen, ran aground on a rocky reef on the coast of Leghorn, Italy, splitting in two during a violent storm. The first operation involved breeches buoy, small boats, and swimming, with the rescue of 26 crewmen. 
      Next, the Navy helicopters rescued the remaining 13 crew during a daring aerial rescue from wave-lashed decks, as viewed in these two dramatic APWire photos from the S.P.H.S. archives.

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