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Virginia Beach Surf & Rescue Museum facts for kids
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U.S. Coast Guard Station
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 Location in Virginia
Location in the United States
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| Location | Atlantic Ave. and 24th St., Virginia Beach, Virginia |
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| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1903 |
| NRHP reference No. | 79003304 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | July 11, 1979 |
The Virginia Beach Surf & Rescue Museum celebrates and protects the history of Virginia's ocean heritage. It also tells the stories of coastal towns, the United States Lifesaving Service, and the United States Coast Guard along the Atlantic coast.
Contents
The Early Days: Revenue Cutter Service
In 1790, the United States Congress asked Alexander Hamilton, who was in charge of the country's money, to build ten special boats called cutters. These boats helped collect taxes from foreign ships visiting American ports. These ten cutters were very important because they collected 92% of the young nation's money from these taxes. In just six years, the country was able to pay off its debts to other countries.
The job of the Revenue Cutter Service grew over time. It started to protect the country during times of danger. This service was even put under the control of the United States Navy when needed, a practice that still happens today. The way the United States Coast Guard is set up, with its ranks and organization, is similar to the Navy for these kinds of emergencies. The officers and crew of the Revenue Cutter Service used to get a part of the money collected from fines and penalties.
In 1878, a new law was passed by Congress. It brought together the Revenue Cutter Service and the United States Life-Saving Service. Their goal was to help people whose ships had crashed. This teamwork was a big success. In 1882, Sumner I. Kimball, who led the Life-Saving Service, wrote that the Revenue Cutter Service made their work even better. He said that the Life-Saving Service succeeded because brave people joined it. Later, the efforts of these two services helped create the United States Coast Guard. Between 1881 and 1885, the Revenue Cutter Service helped save 87 people from drowning each year and assisted 208 ships in trouble.
The United States Life-Saving Service
On December 14, 1854, the United States Congress passed a law to better protect lives and property from shipwrecks along the coasts. However, the American Civil War slowed down the creation of the United States Life-Saving Service. In 1870, a huge storm caused many deaths. Newspapers then called for changes to stop the terrible number of deaths off America's dangerous coasts.
In 1871, the United States Life-Saving Service was officially formed. It was part of the United States Department of the Treasury. The Treasury Department chose a lawyer named Sumner Increase Kimball to lead its Revenue Marine Division, which included the Life-Saving Service. By 1878, there were so many Life-Saving Service stations that it became its own separate agency.
Kimball brought much-needed organization and rules to the USLSS. Before him, it was mostly run by volunteers. In those early days, only the "keepers" of the stations were paid a small amount each year. The rest of the crew were unpaid volunteers. Thanks to Kimball's leadership, more Life-Saving Service stations were built to help rescue shipwreck victims. The rough coastlines of the Northeast caused many shipwrecks and losses. Because of this, there were more USLSS stations in the Northeast than in the warmer, calmer areas of the Southeast.
The USLSS served the United States bravely for 44 years. Its success can be seen in how it helped the economy and, more importantly, in the many lives it saved. In those 44 years, the USLSS helped 28,121 ships and saved an amazing 178,741 lives.
Life-Saving Stations and Their Tools
In November 1889, Sumner I. Kimball reported that there were 265 life-saving stations across the United States. These stations were open during the "active season," which was usually from October to March. This depended on what was needed in each area. Each station had a "keeper" who was in charge of the building and the "Surfmen." The keeper and Surfmen were responsible for patrolling the beach and watching for ships in trouble. These patrols happened 24 hours a day during the active season.
The stations had important equipment like a surfboat, an apparatus cart, a Lyle gun, and a breeches buoy.
In the Virginia Beach area, there were five stations: Cape Henry, Seatack, Dam Neck, Little Island, and False Cape.
These five stations in Virginia Beach were about two to five miles apart. The Surfmen would patrol the beaches in all kinds of weather. When storms or darkness made it hard to see from the watchtower, the surfmen would walk the beach. They would leave at a set time and walk towards the next station. When two surfmen met, they would exchange a "check." This "check" was a metal piece shaped like a modern police badge. Sumner Kimball said that exchanging these checks made sure the patrols were done correctly. Stations in isolated areas used a patrol clock to record their patrol times. The clock would mark the time when the surfmen reached the end of their patrol. All patrols were recorded at the Life-Saving Station.
If a surfman saw a ship in trouble during a patrol, he would signal the ship with a Coston flare to let them know help was coming. The flare would also alert other surfmen on watch or at the station. The surfmen would then get the apparatus cart ready. They would pull and push this heavy cart, which weighed over 1,400 pounds, through wet sand, strong winds, and high waves to help shipwreck victims. If conditions were too bad for the cart, they would use the surfboat. The surfboat was also placed on a wheeled cart to travel to a wreck. When they arrived at the shipwreck, the station's keeper would decide the best way to rescue the people.
The Seatack Station and the Diktator Shipwreck
The first station at Seatack was built in 1878. The station you see today, built in 1903, replaced that earlier building. It is now the museum at 24th Street, next to the boardwalk in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The name "Seatack" has two possible stories. One less likely story is that local soldiers fought off a sea attack from the British during the War of 1812. The more likely story is that when sailors passed Cape Henry, they would make their first turn, or "sea tack," there.
Many local heroes came from Seatack Station #2. One of them was Surfman John Woodhouse Sparrow. On December 21, 1900, a powerful storm caused the ship Jennie Hall to crash ten miles south of Cape Henry. A surfman from the Dam Neck station saw the Jennie Hall in trouble and alerted his station. The Seatack Station was also told, and they worked together. The Jennie Hall was completely destroyed, but the surfmen saved some of the crew. Four sailors from the Jennie Hall were rescued by surfboat. For his brave actions, John Woodhouse Sparrow from Seatack Station received the USLSS Silver Lifesaving Medal. The wreck of the Jennie Hall is just one of many that happened off the coast of Virginia Beach. The museum displays photos, stories, and items from various wrecks, including the Diktator. The Virginia Beach coastline is part of the famous Graveyard of the Atlantic.
The Seatack Station has been linked to the shipwreck of the Diktator for many years. On March 27, 1891, the Norwegian ship Diktator crashed off the beach near the Seatack Station. A surfman named John L. Robinson, who was assigned to Seatack, shared the story of the rescue. The ship wrecked around 10 AM. The station's keeper, Captain Drinkwater, told his men that the ship was "coming ashore." He ordered them to "man the apparatus cart and get ready to go to the wreck." Robinson remembered that the storm was so bad they couldn't use the beach for the cart. They had to use a "country road" that was partly blocked by fallen trees. The surfmen had to travel about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to reach the beach. They arrived where the ship lay sideways off the beach. He described how waves were crashing over the ship, causing more damage. He also said the wind was so strong that the Lyle gun was fired three times without success. The line from the Lyle gun can usually reach about 695 yards (635 m) in perfect conditions, but the wind was so severe that the line kept falling short.
The sailors on the ship saw the Lyle gun attempts fail. They threw a wooden barrel overboard with a line attached. The barrel reached the shore, and the surfmen put the line for the breeches buoy into the barrel. The Diktator crew then pulled the line to their ship and got ready for the breeches buoy. A breeches buoy is a life-ring with "britches" (like shorts) sewn onto it. This device would slide along a strong rope called a hawser line. The ship's crew and the surfmen would work together to bring shipwreck victims from the ship to the shore.
The surfmen managed to bring three people from the Diktator safely to the beach. But then, wreckage from the ship tangled the hawser lines. The crew and surfmen worried that they were running out of time for more rescues, as night was coming fast. The Captain of the Diktator decided that he and his crew had to leave the ship soon. The Captain lowered a small boat from the Diktator with four crew members. The small boat flipped over in the huge waves, and the crew fell into the cold water. The crew started to swim for shore, and the large waves pushed them towards the beach. The surfmen had made fires on the beach to show any survivors where they were. Robinson said that, amazingly, all four Diktator crew members made it to the beach alive.
He also described how the Captain of the Diktator made his way to the beach. The Captain survived, but others did not, including his wife and their four-year-old son. The Captain explained that he decided to try to swim to shore. He took a ladder from the ship and put life-preservers on it. The Captain, his wife, and their son would hold onto the ladder, hoping to be washed to shore. A wave crashed over the ladder, and he never saw his wife again. The Captain heard his son crying and told him to hold his breath when a big wave came. A large wave came and crashed over them, and that was the last time he saw his son.
The Captain was the last person to survive from the Diktator. In total, ten people survived, but the ship was completely lost, and eight people drowned. In 1962, the Norwegian town of Moss sent a copy of the figurehead (a carved figure from the front of a ship) from the Diktator to the people of Virginia Beach. A plaque on the figurehead explains how the people of Moss, Norway, remember everyone who died during the Diktator rescue. This figurehead is about 100 yards (91 m) north of the Old Coast Guard Station Museum.
The United States Coast Guard Today
In 1915, the United States Lifesaving Service became the United States Coast Guard. The USLSS and the Revenue Cutter Service joined together to form this new organization. The Seatack Station #2 then became Coast Guard Station #162. Today, the United States Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
The Seatack Station was closed by the Coast Guard in 1969. The building was empty for ten years and was planned to be torn down. But then, people in Virginia Beach gathered public support and created the Virginia Beach Maritime Museum in 1979. The museum's name was changed to the Life-Saving Museum of Virginia in 1988, and then to the Old Coast Guard Museum in 1996.
The Seatack Station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, recognizing its important history.
Other Coast Guard Museums
- Coast Guard Museum Northwest
- Port Orford Lifeboat Station Museum
- Sleeping Bear Point Coast Guard Station Maritime Museum
- USCGC Tamaroa (WMEC-166) (museum ship)
See also
- Military Sea Services Museum
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Virginia Beach, Virginia
- List of maritime museums in the United States