COAST GUARD STATION TYBEE
|
BMCM G. Wilson
Officer In Charge
Welcome, and thanks for visiting
Coast Guard Station Tybee. We hope to show you a little about our station and our Coast Guard during your visit.
Coast Guard Station Tybee is located 12 miles east of historic Savannah Georgia on the east side of the Savannah river. The station is co-located with the Coast Guard Cutter Key Largo and the Coast Guard Tybee Aids to Navigation team. Fort Pulaski Na
tional Monument is also located on the island. Fort Pulaski was designed by General Robert E. Lee and completed in 1847 to protect the the port of Savannah from waterborne attacks. Deer and other wildlife are often seen along the scenic drive through the
national park enroute to Station Tybee.
The station has 28 permanent party members. Station Tybee responds to approximately 300 search and rescue cases per year and is also in Enforcement of laws and treaties. Station Tybee's area of responsibility stretches approximately 75 coastal m
iles from St Helena Sound, S.C., to Sapelo Sound , GA, which includes endless miles of rivers, tributaries and marshes, locally known as the "Low Country ". .
Please follow these links for more information about who we are and what we do:
The Station
Coast Guard Station Tybee was built on Cockspur Island in 1983 to meet the growing needs of the boating public as well as the station. The station has a full complement of watercraft, including a 41 foot utility boat, 24 foot Boston Whaler, an
d one 20 foot Whaler. The 41 is used primarily for coastal search and rescue, while the 24 and 20 foot boats are used for fast response as well as shallow water response.
The summer search and rescue season has been a very busy one so far. The station played host to eight 41 foot vessels and hundreds of Coast Guard personel all in support of the summer olympic yachting events , which went off without any problem
s. The olympics were not the only thing keeping the station busy this summer. The station responds to numerous cases every week ranging from boats aground to people needing immediate assistance. The station is similar to a fire station there is always som
e one there 365 days a year. When the alarm goes off we immediately respond no matter what time of night or day it is. Our main job is to protect and serve the peolple of this area 24 hours a day,7 days a week, and 365 days a year.
The Missions
The mission of Coast Guard Station Tybee is to operate and
maintain the watercraft and support facilities to accomplish Coast Guard missions,
and to be an integral member of the Seventh Coast Guard District Team.
Primary missions include:
- Search and Rescue (SAR)
- Enforcement of Laws and Treaties
- Aids to Navigation
- Marine Environmental Protection
- Coast Guard wide statistics
- 784 boating fatalities in 1994
- Eight out of 10 fatalities occured on boats less than 26 feet in lenght.
- All statistics were quoted from the "Boating statistics 1994" publication.
- Here at Station Tybee we have completed 216 Search and Rescue cases since Oct 1, 1995.
This is our 24 foot whaler I mentioned earlier.
Interested in joining the Coast Guard or want more information? Contact your local recruiter or call 1-800-424-8883 extension 5005.
Bm2 Bill Walsh
Created: July 20th, 1996
Updated: January 3rd, 1997