Benjamin B. Dailey

Benjamin Baxter Dailey
Benjamin Dailey, via the NPS.
Benjamin Dailey, via the NPS.
Born(1844-05-23)May 23, 1844
DiedNovember 19, 1914(1914-11-19) (aged 70)
OccupationKeeper of United States Life-Saving Service lifeboat stations
Known forLeading the rescue of the crew of the Ephraim Williams.

Benjamin Baxter Dailey (1844–1914) was the keeper of several lifeboat stations for the United States Life-Saving Service—one of the precursor services to the United States Coast Guard. On December 22, 1884, when he commanded the Cape Hatteras Lifeboat Station, he led the rescue of nine men from the barkentine Ephraim Williams. The stranded men had been shipwrecked in a heavy storm for 90 hours, five miles,[1] or alternatively seven miles,[2] (sources differ) off the coast of Cape Hatteras.[3][4][5]

For this rescue, Dailey and his six-man crew were awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal.[3][1] Of the twelve Gold Lifesaving Medals awarded by the Life-Saving Service in its first thirty years, seven were awarded for this rescue.[6] According to Life magazine Dailey apologized to superiors for the lateness of his report on the rescue, explaining that he wasn't able to write for seven days because his hands were too injured from the exertion to hold a pen.[2]

The US National Park Service has preserved Dailey's medal at its Hatteras Museum.[7]

David Stick, author of Graveyard of the Atlantic: Shipwrecks of the North Carolina Coast, describes how, when Dailey was keeper of the Creed's Hill Lifesaving Station, he and his crew made their wills prior to setting out to rescue the crew of the A. B. Goodman in the pre-dawn hours of April 4, 1881; they knew that unless the current offshore wind changed, they would be unable to return. In the event, the wind shifted to onshore as the Goodman began to break up, allowing them to row to safety with her four surviving crewmen.[8]

In 2014 the Coast Guard announced that the 23rd Sentinel class cutter would be named after Benjamin Dailey.[3] All the Sentinel class cutters are to be named after men and women who have been recognized as heroes serving in the US Coast Guard, or a precursor service.[9] The USCGC Benjamin Dailey was commissioned in Pascagoula, Mississippi on July 4, 2017,.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b "Who are some of the heroes of the Coast Guard?". USCG. 2014-08-26. Archived from the original on 2014-03-15. Retrieved 2026-04-29. In one of the most daring rescues by the Life-Saving Service since its organization, Dailey's 7-man crew pulled for two hours through a heavy sea to reach the vessel five miles offshore.
  2. ^ a b "Rowboats to choppers, tales of rescue at sea". Life magazine. 1967-07-15. p. 50. Retrieved 2026-04-29. When Keeper Dailey submitted his report to headquarters a week later he apologized for the delay, explaining that until then his hands had been too raw to hold a pen.
  3. ^ a b c Christopher Havern (2014-01-23). "Benjamin B. Dailey". USCG. Archived from the original on 2014-08-28. Retrieved 2014-08-28.
  4. ^ "Two Tales of Bravery from the U.S. Life-Saving Service". CarolinaOuterBanks.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-28. Retrieved 2014-08-27.
  5. ^ "Hatteras Island Lifesaving Stations". NCBeaches.com. Archived from the original on 2014-09-03.
  6. ^ David Stick (1989). "Graveyard of the Atlantic: Shipwrecks of the North Carolina Coast". University of North Carolina Press. pp. 112–115. ISBN 9780807842614. Retrieved 2026-04-29. During the first thirty years of operation of the Lifesaving Service on the North Carolina coast a total of twelve Gold Lifesaving Medals, highest such award made by our government, were presented for exceptional bravery in saving life. Of this number, seven--more than half--were awarded to the lifesavers from Cape Hatteras and Creeds Hill stations who rescued the crew of the barkentine Ephraim Williams.
  7. ^ "The U.S. Lifesaving Service". National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2014-07-15. Retrieved 2014-08-27. Cape Hatteras National Seashore preserves the history of the U.S. Lifesaving Service on the Outer Banks. Walk the same beaches that Rasmus Midgett once patrolled or stop and see what Keeper Dailey's medal looks like at the Museum of the Sea near the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.
  8. ^ David Stick (1989). "Graveyard of the Atlantic: Shipwrecks of the North Carolina Coast". University of North Carolina Press. pp. 108–109. ISBN 9780807842614. Retrieved 2026-04-29.
  9. ^ "U.S. Coast Guard announces name for first Sentinel-class cutter". 2010-03-22. Archived from the original on 2010-03-25. Retrieved 2013-02-01. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen approved the change of the cutter's name to allow this class of vessels to be named after outstanding enlisted members who demonstrated exceptional heroism in the line of duty. This will be the first class of cutters to be named exclusively for enlisted members of the Coast Guard and its predecessor services.
  10. ^ "Coast Guard commissions 23rd fast response cutter". Deputy Commandant for Mission Support. Pascagoula, Mississippi: United States Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security. July 5, 2017. Retrieved April 29, 2026.

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