Remembering Valor at Sea
By Matthew Belson

Richard Livesey wasn’t a household name around the Lower Cape, and before his death last week at the age of 77, he had lived in Florida. But his bravery here, back in 1952, will long be remembered by the Coast Guard and by those he helped rescue as a crewmember aboard the CG36500, the lifeboat that is displayed every summer at Rock Harbor. He is the second of the four crewmembers to die.

Livesey, along with his crewmates, earned Coast Guard gold lifesaving medals for braving a brutal winter storm the night of Feb. 18, 1952 and rescuing 32 men from the stricken tanker Pendleton, which had split in half off the coast of Cape Cod.

Battling 60-foot waves and a 70-knot headwind, Livesey and fellow shipmates, coxswain Boatswain’s Mate First Class Bernard Webber, Seaman Irving Maske (who died in 2004) and Engineman Third Class Andrew Fitzgerald, crossed the infamous bar at the mouth of Chatham Harbor in the 36-foot motor lifeboat to try and find the Pendleton. Its compass lost in the wind and rain, the Coast Guard crew located the Pendleton, and its remaining 32 crewmembers were plucked from the vessel and crammed into the lifeboat. Once loaded, Webber turned the boat back to the Cape and headed once again through the turbulent seas and wind toward Chatham.

“Richard and three others made the decision to risk their own safety so that others would live,” said Peter Kennedy, coxswain and officer in charge of the CG36500 that has been restored and is now operated as a working museum through the Orleans Historical Society. “The rescue of the 32 men from the Pendleton was but one example of the courage of Coast Guard men and women through the years to save mariners in peril.”

Kennedy said the crew of the Motor Lifeboat CG36500 defined valor at sea.

“The Orleans Historical Society is privileged to be the caretakers of this historic boat on which Richard served and we are saddened to learn of his passing,” he said. The daring rescue made international headlines.

Following the rescue, Livesey continued his career in the Coast Guard and retired as a petty officer first class. Last September Livesey was given an honorary promotion to the rank of chief petty officer by Charles Bowen, the master chief petty officer of the Coast Guard.

At Coast Guard Station Chatham the legacy of the actions of Livesey and his shipmates is visible from the photographs on the wall and memorabilia of the rescue. Senior Chief Petty Officer David Considine, the officer-in-charge of the station, said one of the lessons from the Pendleton rescue he tries to instill in the young men and women assigned to the station is the importance of working together as a crew.

“It takes a boat crew to do a successful mission,” said Considine.

Livesey died Dec. 27. He lived in Englewood, Fla., and is survived by his wife, Virginia, six children and several grandchildren.

Reprinted from The Cape Codder

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Bernie Webber's eulogy for Richard Livesey

I first met Richard Livesey around 1950 when he arrived for duty at the Chatham Coast Guard Station on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Richard was a personable young coast guard seaman first class, squared away, full of fun, ready and willing to serve and do anything the service required of him. I was a Boatswain Mate First Class.

Richard and I spent many days out to sea together in fog rain sleet and snow In calm seas and in seas rougher than we could ever have imagined pursuing coast guard duties answering distress calls from those in peril upon the sea and in support of other coast guard operations such as Lightship Logistics, and the maintenance of Aids to Navigation.

Richard was one to never complain no matter how tough the job how rough the sea. He was one of those rare individuals who was in awe of mother nature and would become excited at the prospect of being able to save a human life. He would even get excited during a routine Lightship run in rough weather when the cargo or groceries we carried were safely deposited on board and the exchange of personnel accomplished without incident.

I never understood it but Richard had a habit of saying thanks Webb every time we accomplished a mission or finished a job.

In time I found that Richard was willing to go far beyond the call of duty. Such was the case 56 years ago yesterday. The occasion two T-2 type Tank Ships the Fort Mercer and Pendleton split in half during a great Northeast Snow Storm out in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Cod Massachusetts. The winds blew 70 MPH with freezing cold weather and high seas unlike any of us had ever seen before.

I was ordered to crew a coast guard motor lifeboat the CG36500 and proceed to the aid of the Pendleton I needed volunteers for the mission. Immediately from Richard I heard "I'll go with you Webb." I also heard from two others Engineman Andrew Fitzgerald and Seaman Ervin Maske they also volunteered for the perilous mission.

Richard and the others without regard for their own personal safety time and time again placed themselves in a life threatening posture to save the lives of Pendleton crewmen leaning far out over the lifeboats rail to haul them in helping them any way he could into the lifeboat without hanging on until 32 of the 33 crewmen from the tanker Pendleton were on board the overcrowded heavily laden motor lifeboat.

Once the the mission was over and the survivors safely in the warmth of the Chatham Coast Guard Station, or had been taken to a hospital. Richard once again turned to me in his usual cheerful manner and said "Thanks Webb."

I say today as does the United States Coast Guard THANK YOU HONORARY CHIEF RICHARD LIVESEY your service will always be remembered may you now and forever more rest in peace God be with you.

Bernie Webber 2/19/2008