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Joseph Napier, a station keeper for the
Joseph Napier, a station keeper for the United States Life-Saving Service
The United States Life-Saving ServiceDespite the lack of hyphen in its insignia, the agency itself is hyphenated in government documents including: and was a United States government agency that grew out of private and local humanitarian effort ...
founded the lifesaving station at St. Joseph, Michigan
St. Joseph, colloquially known as St. Joe, is a city and the county seat of Berrien County, Michigan. It was incorporated as a village in 1834 and as a city in 1891. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,365. It lies on the shore o ...
in 1876.
He operated the station for many years and was credited with many dangerous and heroic rescues.
Prior to joining the Life-saving service Napier was Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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`s harbormaster
A harbourmaster (or harbormaster, see spelling differences) is an official responsible for enforcing the regulations of a particular harbour or port, in order to ensure the safety of navigation, the security of the harbour and the correct opera ...
, and ship's captain
A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel.Aragon and Messner, 2001, p.3. The captain is responsible for the safe and efficie ...
.
While in Chicago, in 1854, Napier led the rescue of the crew of a wrecked schooner, and was awarded an inscribed gold watch.
The duties of a station-keeper included recruiting and training a boat crew of local volunteers, and, when vessel was a risk, to lead the boat crew in rowing to stricken vessels to rescue their crews.
The station-keeper and his crew were expected to try to rescue mariners even if it meant rowing into gale-force winds, shattering waves, and dangerous currents.
The rescue boat would be kept on a wagon in a special boat house. During a rescue the crew would tow the wagon with the boat to the nearest relatively safe place to launch.
In one heroic rescue, on his crew's third transit to a stricken schooner, Napier was thrown overboard and seriously injured his leg.
He was nevertheless able to lead his crew to rescue the last two stricken seamen.
USCGC ''Joseph Napier''
In 2010 when the Coast Guard decided that all the newSentinel class cutters
The Sentinel-class cutter, also known as Fast Response Cutter due to its program name, is part of the United States Coast Guard's Integrated Deepwater System Program, Deepwater program. At it is similar to, but larger than the lengthened 1980s- ...
would be named after Coast Guard personnel who had been recognized for their heroism Napier was one of those to be honored.
The fifteenth cutter in the class will be named the USCGC ''Joseph Napier''. She will be homeported in San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Napier, Joseph United States Life-Saving Service personnel