Mark Fluet On the USCGC MORGENTHAU (Tiwaneese Fishing Vessle Incident)

 Mark Fluet was on the mess deck of the United states Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau, awaiting another long Alaskan Patrol. What he noticed, as well as a lot of the crew, was the skies were not Gray, they were blue, and the water was beautiful.

 The crew started to notice that they were heading in the opposite direction. Mark R. Fluet reported to the engine room for duty and asked the Engineering Officer, but of course he was not told anything.

  Well around chow time that evening, a broadcast came over the radio, it was commander Kyle that informed the entire ships company that they were chasing a Taiwanese fishing vessel for catching chum salmon illegally.

 The Morgenthau came up on the boat fast, but to Mark's surprise as well as the entire crew the Executive Officer ordered the helmsman to circle around the ships.

 Now You know that a 378 foot high endurance cutter is no small boat but that did not stop the crew from following orders. What happened next was the Taiwanese vessel made a run for it. Now the diplomats sure do not get anything done fast, and the Captain followed protocol.

The Captain radioed Pacific Command and they notified the President, at that time it was George Herman Walker Bush. That diplomatic red tape lasted approximately 4 weeks.

During that time the United states Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau was in pursuit and out of the United States. They followed them through the fog banks, it was easy to stay behind them even if they could not see them the motor on the Taiwanese vessel was so loud it always told them where they were.

After almost four weeks of pursuit, the Captain got the orders to go ahead and stop the boat to board it, oh but there was one condition to this story all you folks out there. The Coast guard Cutter Morgenthau will do a joint boarding with the Japanese Coast guard, and the entire batch of fish will be confiscated and turned over to the Taiwanese Government.

The Fuel Bug

The Fuel Bug

It was the day after the Boarding of the Taiwanese Fishing Vessel, and Mark and the crew were taking some shore leave. They had a blast in Yokuska, Japan and they enjoyed themselves. Mark found out what a club overseas was really like. It was not as lame as the clubs in the United States.

The time came for the ship to get underway, this was going to be the last actual voyage on the United States Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau because it was scheduled to be revamped at the FRAM in Seattle Washington.

The ship departed the dock and was en route to Alameda, California. The engineers sat on the mess-deck and got ready to go to the recreation deck, when all of a sudden the entire ship went dark. Mark Fluet and the engineers not on watch scrambled through the dark with only the emergency lighting to help them. The engineers were at the main control room and the duty crew discovered that it was the number 1 ship service generator. The oilman on watch turned on the number 2 ships service generator.

Mark Fluet was assigned the task of assisting the cleaning of the fuel tank and getting the generator back on line. It was just in the nick of time too because as soon as they were done, the ship went dark again. This time the number 2 generator went off line. The same crew had to get the number 2 generator checked now. Mark and the duty section was on it.

The Engineering Officer assigned Petty Officer Jackson to figure out what was causing this. It took absolutely no time at all when they centrifuged the test sample of the fuel. It was discovered that a tiny parasite was in the Japanese fuel tanks. This parasite was a microbiological parasite feeding on the fuel particles and leaving the water. We all know that engines do not run on water well.

The Morgenthau made an emergency port call cleaned out both the tanks and got both generators back on line and in 14 days returned home to the Coast Guard Island Alameda, CArecreation deck, when all of a sudden the entire ship went dark. Mark Fluet and the engineers not on watch scrambled through the dark with only the emergency lighting to help them. The engineers were at the main control room and the duty crew discovered that it was the number 1 ship service generator. The oilman on watch turned on the number 2 ships service generator.

Mark Fluet was assigned the task of assisting the cleaning of the fuel tank and getting the generator back on line. It was just in the nick of time too because as soon as they were done, the ship went dark again. This time the number 2 generator went off line. The same crew had to get the number 2 generator checked now. Mark and the duty section was on it.

The Engineering Officer assigned Petty Officer Jackson to figure out what was causing this. It took absolutely no time at all when they centrifuged the test sample of the fuel. It was discovered that a tiny parasite was in the Japanese fuel tanks. This parasite was a microbiological parasite feeding on the fuel particles and leaving the water. We all know that engines do not run on water well.

The Morgenthau made an emergency port call cleaned out both the tanks and got both generators back on line and in 14 days returned home to the Coast Guard Island Alameda, CA