Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2015 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ =========================================================================== Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== Ludington Daily News Friday, November 15, 1940 WHERE'S THE ESCANABA? All of us have some friends who are fine people and all that, but they are not the people we would count on in an emergency. It is the same with ships. Oddly enough, one such ship - fine ship and all that but apprarently not be counted on too much in time of greatest need - is the coast guard cut- ter Escanaba. Where was the Escanaba, supposedly the coast guard rescue ship of this region, during and after Monday night's gale? Well, she was in drydock at Manitowoc getting some new gadget installed. Any sailor on the Great Lakes who carries even able seaman's papers knows that November is the month of likely gales on the lakes. It is the month when the worst storms come - the one month out of the year, of all months, when the Escanaba should be ready for service. Apparently every sailor knows that fact excepting those officials who are in charge of the movements of the Escanaba. It is no credit to them, whomever they may be. The Escanaba has been at Manitowoc since Oct. 6. If she can manage to stay until spring, her white paint won't be scratched or her fabled silver marred by such uncomfort- able events as November gales or the rigors of winter navi- gation. The Escanaba, as we recall it, was built specifically as an all-around highly efficient ice breaker and rescue ship for this region. It was ordered after the disastrous storms of Lake Michigan when more than 100 lives were lost. People clamored for something more substantial in the way of all- weather coast guard equipment. They got the Escanaba. But they didn't get the Escanaba Monday night or Tuesday or Wednesday when it was most needed. There may be a perfectly good explanation, we don't know. It may have just happened. But taking the Escanaba out of service in November, when they probably had all summer to make any necessary repairs, doesn't stack up well. Is the Escanaba a nice white parade ship chiefly for summer celebrations or is it a sturdy rescue vessel, ready and available when most likely to be needed? We believe the responsible coast guard officials should make up their minds. This week's absence of the Escanaba, at least to the tax-paying laymen, smells of inefficiency and mismanage- ment. Maybe somebody should cut through some of the rules and red-tape and find out just what the official ex- planation is. ===========================================================================