Rescue of the 36500

Bill Quinn quit high school to serve in the Navy during World War II. At the end of the war, he finished high school and attended Tufts College. He became a TV news photographer and took the first images of the collision of the motor vessel Stockholm and passenger liner Andrea Doria in 1956, and the grounding of the oil tanker Argo Merchant in 1976. He has written several books on maritime and Cape Cod history.

In 1997 Bill was honored by the U.S. Coast Guard for maritime history work, and efforts to preserve and restore the Coast Guard rescue boat 36500.

Meritorious Public Service Award to MR. WILLIAM P. QUINN, SR The Commandant of the Coast Guard takes great pleasure in presenting the United States Coast Guard Meritorious Public Service Award to Mr. William P. Quinn, Sr., in recognition of his exceptionally dedicated service to the Nation and his exemplary support of the Coast Guard as a maritime writer and historian. His close association with the Coast Guard began when he filmed the wreck of the liner Andrea Doria in 1956 and continued through his recording of the grounding of the tanker Argo Merchant in 1976. His greatest accomplishment came with the preservation of the Coast Guard motor lifeboat 36500, which, while assigned to Station Chatham, was used to rescue 32 crewmen of the crew of the tanker Pendleton. This rescue was one of the most difficult and celebrated of the post World War ll rescues and the crew of the lifeboat earned the Gold Lifesaving Medal. Mr. Quinn was responsible for organizing and coordinating the acquisition and restoration of the historic lifeboat so that future generations will be able to appreciate the role of the Coast Guard in saving life along our nation's shores. Mr. Quinn has authored numerous works on maritime affairs, including many on shipwrecks and rescues along the Atlantic coast. He has included the positive role played by the Lifesaving Service and the Coast Guard in each, thereby increasing the public's knowledge of the nation's premiere maritime service. The positive impact on the public's perceptions of the Coast Guard as well as on the morale of Coast Guard personnel will have a lasting influence. Mr. Quinn's exacting professionalism, intense personal commitment, and unwavering devotion to duty are most heartily commended and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Coast Guard.