Mirlo Rescue, Marker B-30
Posted by: 
showbizkid
N 35° 35.740 W 075° 28.053
18S E 457646 N 3939204
This marker commemorates a remarkable act of heroism by the crew of the Chicamacomico Coast Guard Station. The Coast Guardsman who took place in the rescue received the Medal of Honor from the U.S. and a Gold Medal from King George V of Great Britain.
Waymark Code: WMG4G
Location: North Carolina, United States
Date Posted: 07/01/2006
Views: 34
On August 16, 1918, a mine or torpedo struck the British tanker, "Mirlo", ripping the vessel apart and rattling the windows of the Chicamacomico Coast Guard Station. The explosion tore the bottom out of the Mirlo, spilling acres of oil about her and making the Atlantic a raging hell.
Captain John Allen Midgett and his lifesaving crew left the station to save the survivors. In miraculous fashion, they managed to pull 42 men to safety from the rings of flame surrounding them. With eyebrows singed and hands blistered, Captain Midgett and his crew backed their power surfboat into the wall of fire. One of the Mirlo's lifeboats had capsized and was drifting into the flames with men still clinging to it.
The men were rescued and by now the Mirlo had sunk. When she went down, there were underwater explosions which caused new fires. It was night and a brisk wind shifted the burning pools of oil over the sea like fiery phantoms, trapping two more lifeboats behind them. "Boys," Captain Midgett said, "It's no use to fool around any more. We've got to take those other two lifeboats in two and run through the fire again."
Unbelievably, the Coast Guardsmen backed through the menacing flames to make a rescue. The intense heat in the surfboat's gasoline tanks rumbled as she slowly pulled two loaded lifeboats through openings in the flames to safety. Each of the Coast Guardsmen aboard the boat was awarded the Medal of Honor. They also received a Gold Medal from King George V in recognition of their heroism.
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