Corinthians Annapolis Fleet Learns about Life Saving

The Corinthians Annapolis fleet watches a Breeches Buoy demonstration The Corinthians Annapolis fleet watches a Breeches Buoy demonstration

On March 16 of this year, a group of a dozen Corinthians Annapolis Fleet members visited and toured the restored Indian River Life Saving Station in Rehoboth Beach, DE.

The U..S Life Saving Service was founded in 1876 to provide sea rescue services along the coastal shipping channels around the U.S., and The Indian River Station was built in 1876. After a major restoration during the 1990s, it was made part of the Delaware State Park system and is now open to the public. The Life Saving Service was the precursor of the U.S. Coast Guard (created in 1915). which actively operated the station as a barracks until 1962.

The tour provided a fascinating and somewhat frightening picture of sea rescue during the 19th and early 20th century at a time when the modern communication and navigation systems, which we now all take for granted, were decades away from development.