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jpg (image/jpeg)
First Name:
Robert
Last Name:
Gullickson
Type: Lightship Personnel
Image Source:
LV 103 Huron Museum
Collection / Donor:
Middle Initial:
J.
Born:
1937.01.09
Died:
1958.05.07
Vessels
Associated Vessel:
Title / Position:
Seaman
Year Ended:
1958
Cause of Termination:
More Information
Entered by:
Entered Date:
Jun 17, 2022
By Wayne Arnold, Site Manager, Huron Lightship Museum, Port Huron, Michigan. Website: www. phmuseum.org
On October 6, 2000, the Lightship Sailors Association presented to the Huron Lightship Museum a plaque in memory of Seaman Robert Gullickson, age 21, who drowned while serving in the U. S. Coast Guard aboard WLV-526. Forty-two years after his death his sister visited the Lightship to view the memorial to her brother who lost his life while serving his country.
She was only sixteen when, on May 7, 1958, her brother and two other sailors boarded the ship’s liberty boat for a six-mile journey to the Ft. Gratiot Coast Guard Station in Port Huron, Michigan. They were to pick up groceries, mail and pay chits. However, upon arrival they learned that the groceries had not yet been delivered to the station; so, according to Fireman (FM) Neil Hamilton, he asked SN Gullickson and Chef (CS) Vincent Disch to go ahead and deliver the mail and payroll to the ship and he would wait for the groceries and bring them out later. They set out for the Lightship at 10:45 a.m.
On their journey back to the Lightship, a large wave swamped the liberty boat. Bob endeavored to bail the water out but the boat sank. They floated for 45 minutes in their life jackets, talking and holding hands, blowing whistles trying to hail a tugboat and a freighter that passed--all to no avail. After a wave separated them Bob made the decision to swim to shore to get help. The water temperature was 47 degrees F, and hypothermia had already set in as he struck out for shore. It was his last decision. At noon the lightship radioed the station to find out why the sailors had not returned. The station immediately dispatched another boat that found CS Disch at 1:07 p.m. in semi-conscious condition with his arms raised ready to slip from his life jacket into the cold depths of Lake Huron. Amazingly he survived, but Bob Gullickson's body was never found. He was the only crewman lost during the 35 years the Lightship guided freighters safely into the narrow channel leading to the St. Clair River.