Public invited to ceremony honoring lost Coast Guard cutter

Posted Jan 26, 2012 by TBO.com

Updated Jan 28, 2012 at 04:02 PM

Saturday will mark the 32nd anniversary of the U.S. Coast Guard’s worst peacetime disaster – the sinking of the Coast Guard Cutter Blackthorn near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

The public is invited to a memorial service in honor of the 23 crewmembers who died that day when the Blackthorn collided with the tanker Capricorn.

The ceremony is set for 11 a.m. Saturday at Blackthorn Memorial Park, located along Interstate 275 at the north end of the Sunshine Skyway in St. Petersburg.

The ceremony will consist of an aerial salute by Coast Guard aircraft, posting of the colors and reading of the lost crew members’ names.

The sinking of the Blackthorn prompted changes in Coast Guard training and safety operations, according to a news release. After the disaster, the Coast Guard established the Command and Operations School at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.

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.

Each rose represents an individual Coast Guardsman
that lost their life after the Blackthorn./ U.S. Coast Guard

Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer James Angevine salutes
after presenting a wreath from the Coast Guard Chief
Petty Officer’s Association./ U.S. Coast Guard

A Coast Guardsman salutes in front of
the Coast Guard Cutter Blackthorn
memorial./ U.S. Coast Guard