Rescue at Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse

On March 3, 1947, the coal freighter Oakley L. Alexander ran head-on into a strom so violent that the ship was broken in half. All thirty-two members of the ship's crew managed to clamber aboard the stern section, which continued to float. The accident took place more than eight miles from shore, but luckily for the crew, the wind was blowing toward land. The stern ended up on the rocks near Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse. Using a lifesaving device called a Lyle gun, Coast Guardsman Earle Drinkwater fired a line over the stern and started hauling men ashore. Eventually, he was able to save the entire crew.