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Chief Warrant Officer Daniel Webster Cluff (July 4, 1916 – March 5, 1989) led one of the U.S. Coast Guard’s largest small-boat rescue operations in the midst a New England winter storm on February 18 through 19, 1952, as Chatham Lifeboat Station’s officer-in-charge. Warrant Officer Cluff’s expertise in small-boat life-saving operations and confidence in his men's abilities resulted in Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat 36500 crew’s rescue of thirty two survivors from the stern of the S.S Pendleton “only minutes before it capsized.”〔Letter of Commendation from Vice Admiral Merlin O’Neil, USCG Commandant, to BOSN Daniel W. Cluff, dated April 16, 1952〕 The rescue of survivors from S.S. Pendleton's stern was not the only rescue operation underway by the Chatham station in this storm. Cluff also oversaw the rescue efforts of another Chatham motor lifeboat that spent twenty two hours at sea assisting in several attempts to locate and rescue survivors from the bow of the S.S. Pendleton and the S.S. Fort Mercer. Simultaneously, while coordinating and directing all phases of Chatham’s rescue operations, Cluff stayed in communication with the Coast Guard’s First District, assisted local fisherman, and maintained cooperative relations with a large number of the press who reported on the rescue from the Chatham Lifeboat Station. Chatham’s rescue efforts during those two days were part of an even larger rescue operation overseen by the Coast Guard’s First District that resulted in the rescue of seventy mariners—including those from the S.S. Pendleton’s stern—without any loss of life of the eight men from Chatham who risked their lives by heading out to sea in thirty-six foot motor lifeboats. The media reported on this rescue operation extensively and pressed the Coast Guard for real-time information as rescue operations unfolded. Cluff, who grew up in the fishing and Coast Guard community of Chincoteague, VA, was the son of a thirty-year career Coast Guardsman. Cluff served 13 years as an enlisted small-boat, life-saving operator and a combat tour in the Pacific as a World War II assault-boat coxswain before his promotion to warrant officer and assignment as officer-in-charge of Chatham Lifeboat Station in 1950. ==Early life and education== Cluff was born in Chincoteague, Virginia, and grew up on the water as a Coast Guard dependent. His father was a career Coast Guardsman. After attending high school and business school, Cluff enlisted in the Coast Guard on December 17, 1936 in Chincoteague, Virginia.〔Id.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Daniel Webster Cluff」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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