25 Years Ago, the United States Coast Guard Provided Critical Aid to Manhattan After the 9/11 Attacks
September 11, 2001, started like any other day in Manhattan. A typical Tuesday: bustling traffic, people showing up for work, meetings taking place at the World Trade Center. At 8:46 am, the North Tower was struck by American Airlines Flight 11. By 9:03 am, the South Tower was hit by United Airlines Flight 175.
The two towers collapsed soon after, collapsing floor by floor as smoke billowed into a cloud visible for miles.
Panicked Manhattan workers and residents rushed to the edges of the island, some jumping into the water in an attempt to swim to safety. Vessels in the bay watched as dark, acrid smoke rushed forth from where the World Trade Center once stood. They saw people desperately jumping into the water and knew something had to be done.
“There was a small boat that was at the lower tip of Manhattan,” Michael Day, a lieutenant in the Coast Guard at the time of 9/11, recalled. “I thought the boat was going to flip over because so many people were trying to get on, and as I looked behind, they were just ten deep. That’s kinda what gave us the idea. So we put out the call.”
Suddenly, vessel captains heard over the radio, “All available boats, this is the U.S. Coast Guard aboard the Pilot Boat New York. Anyone wanting to help with the evacuation of lower Manhattan, report to Governor’s Island.”
According to Day, within 15 to 20 minutes, over 100 boats responded to help with the evacuation. Vessels of every shape and size responded: ferries, tugboats, party boats, private boats, and others.
“When that call came on the radio, they were coming,” remarked Robin Jones, an engineer aboard the vessel Mary Gellatly at the time of the attack on Manhattan. “If it floated and it could get there, it got there.”
These boats picked people up from the sea wall all around lower Manhattan, taking their passengers where they needed to go for safe relocation. In under nine hours, Lower Manhattan was evacuated, with a total of over 500,000 evacuees.
That same day, another plane flew straight into the Pentagon. A fourth plane was heading toward the U.S. Capitol or the White House, but a brave band of passengers and crew who attempted to regain control brought the plane down near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Coast Guard units, including Reservists and Auxiliarists, were among the first military units to respond. Coast Guardsmen assisted in the search and rescue efforts as well as the cleanup operations after the attacks.
Watch the YouTube documentary by the NY Waterway to listen to additional details from the heroes of the day.
From this day onward, the Coast Guard’s missions expanded dramatically. Before 2001, the top duties were search and rescue, drug interdiction, and merchant vessel safety. After 9/11, protecting ports, waterways, and coastal security became top demands. As another result of this attack, the Coast Guard was moved from the Department of Transportation to the Department of Homeland Security in 2003.
An estimated 2,753 lives were lost in the wreckage of the World Trade Center.
Without the quick thinking and brave action of the Coast Guard and all the boat crews who rushed to help, many more lives could have been added to the cost of that day.
We honor and we remember. Always.
Title image: NYC (Sept. 11, 2001)- A Coast Guard rescue team from Sandy Hook, NJ, races to the scene of the World Trade Center terrorist attack. USCG photo by PA2 Tom Sperduto.
