Andrew Fitzgerald, the last of the four-man crew of the Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat CG-36500, which rescued the crew of the SS Pendleton, has died at the age of 87.

On February 18, 1952, the 36′ motor lifeboat set out from Station Chatham, Massachusetts, to attempt to rescue the crew of the T2 tanker SS Pendleton, which had broken in half in a winter Nor’easter off the New England coast. In the volunteer crew, Andrew Fitzgerald served as the engineman, while Coxswain Bernie Webber was in command, with Richard Livesey, and Ervin Maske serving as seamen.

The lifeboat designed to have a capacity for 12 including the crew, nevertheless, they succeed in rescuing 32 of the 33 survivors in the stern of the T2 tanker a the height of a North Atlantic winter storm. Despite high winds and monstrous seas, the overloaded motor lifeboat made it back to Chatham. Webber, Fitzgerald, Livesey, and Maske were all awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal for their heroic actions. The rescue of the survivors is often said to be the greatest small-boat rescue in the history of the Coast Guard. 

The rescue has been the subject of several books and the 2016 movie “The Finest Hours”.

From the New York Times obituary:  

Mr. Fitzgerald left the Coast Guard eight months after the rescue and returned to the town where he had been born, Whitinsville, Mass., about 14 miles southeast of Worcester.

Andrew J. Fitzgerald Jr. was born there on March 19, 1931, to Andrew and Edna Fitzgerald. He worked at a machine shop, earned an associate degree in engineering at Worcester Junior College and in 1956 married Gloria Frabotta, who survives him.

He is also survived by a daughter, Dawn Huffman; a son, Michael; a brother, Bill; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Read the rest of the obituary here.

Thanks to Alaric Bond for contributing to this post.