Aerial Salute Planned For Blackthorn Memorial

CLEARWATER, FL — Tampa Bay area residents who notice something unusual near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge on Thursday have no cause for alarm. The U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater is planning an aerial salute to commemorate those lost when the Blackthorn went down 36 years ago.

The aerial salute is just one part of the 36th anniversary memorial service set for 11 a.m. Thursday. The Coast Guard Cutter Blackthorn sank after colliding with the Capricorn, a tanker vessel, near the Skyway Bridge on Jan. 28, 1980. Twenty-three of the 50 crewmembers onboard the Blackthorn died in what has been described as the Coast Guard’s “worst peacetime disaster.”

Thursday’s service takes place at Blackthorn Memorial Park off Interstate 275, just north of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. During the memorial, there will be a posting of the colors and a reading of all lost crewmembers’ names, the Coast Guard wrote in a media release.

At 2 p.m., the Chief Petty Officer’s mess hall at Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg, 600 8th Ave. S.E., will be re-dedicated in honor of Chief Petty Officer Luther Stidhem, one of those lost in the Blackthorn disaster. Stidhem’s widow, Wanda Elaine Stidhem, of Texas is expected to attend.

The Blackthorn disaster served as the driving force behind the creation of the Command and Operations School at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., the guard noted in its release. “Additionally, the Coast Guard developed new training requirements, invested in more safety equipment and made changes to the navigational aids in and around Tampa Bay,” the guard noted.

To learn more about the Blackthorn disaster, visit the Coast Guard online.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard