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USCGC Blackthorn (WLB-391) was a 180-foot (55 m) seagoing buoy tender (WLB) which sank in 1980 in a collision near the Tampa Bay Sunshine Skyway Bridge, resulting in 23 crew member fatalities. [1] [2] [3] An Iris-class vessel, she was built by Marine Ironworks and Shipbuilding Corporation in Duluth, Minnesota.
Seaman Apprentice FLORES is cited for heroism on the evening of 28 January 1980 while serving onboard U.S. Coast Guard Cutter BLACKTHORN. Immediately after the collision between SS CAPRICORN and USCGC BLACKTHORN near the entrance to Tampa Bay, Florida, BLACKTHORN rolled to port and capsized before the ship's personnel could prepare for an orderly abandon ship.
She is named after Seaman Apprentice William Ray Flores who died during the sinking of USCGC Blackthorn. At the cost of his own life Flores stayed aboard the capsizing cutter and used his belt to tie open a life jacket locker door. This action allowed life jackets to float on to the water as the cutter went down.
The USCG seagoing buoy tender is a type of United States Coast Guard Cutter used to service aids to navigation throughout the waters of the United States and wherever American shipping interests require. The U.S. Coast Guard has maintained a fleet of seagoing buoy tenders dating back to its origins in the U.S. Lighthouse Service (USLHS).
List of shipwrecks: 2 February 1980 Ship State Description Tom and Al United States During a voyage from Kodiak to Homer, Alaska, with a cargo of shrimp and a crew of two, the 96-gross register ton, 84-foot (25.6 m) motor vessel sank with no loss of life 14 nautical miles (26 km; 16 mi) off the Barren Islands and 8 nautical miles (15 km; 9.2 mi) off Shuyak Island.
USCGC Blackthorn (WLB-391) United States Coast Guard: 28 January 1980 A USCG seagoing buoy tender that collided with the tanker Capricorn in Tampa Bay, in the Egmont channel. The wreck was raised and re-sunk 20 mi (32 km) off Clearwater. [1]
A U.S. Coast Guard cutter on routine patrol around Alaska’s Aleutian Islands came across a Russian ship in international waters but within the U.S. exclusive economic zone, officials said. The ...
January 28 – The 180' coast guard buoy tender USCGC BLACKTHORN collides with the 600' tanker SS CAPRICORN in the Tampa Bay shipping channel. The coast guard vessel capsizes and sinks, after becoming entangled in CAPRICORN'S anchor chain. 23 of BLACKTHORN'S 50 crew members perish in the accident.