I’m not sure how many actually went to the link and read the summary of the mission. The Prinsendam maritime rescue was one involving the overcoming of a lot of logistics and command-and-control hindrances. It will perhaps remain one of the more important and significant in history due to its distance from land, distance from infrastructure of major cities (ports and airfields), isolation from major shipping lanes and a host of geographic, climate, and weather environment reasons. That all crew and passengers were rescued also contributes to its success significance.
The mission summary I put together put minimal emphasis on the efforts of the two USAF pararescuemen in the water and subsequently in life boat six resulted in the first official recommendation the US Coast Guard establish a helicopter rescue swimmer capability. Something that wasn’t acted on until the failure of the Coast Guard to rescue the survivors of the M/V MARINE ELECTRIC which sank off the coast of Virginia on the evening of 10 February 1983.
http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/USCG_Rescue_Swimmer_History.asp
USCG Rescue Swimmer history
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Marine_Electric
SS
Marine Electric
http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2012/02/the-marine-electric-tragedy-so-others-may-live/
USGC-the Marine Electric Tragedy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1ImWaZewOI
The "Marine Electric" Disaster
All 34 survivors in the water were severely hypothermic by the time the Coast Guard helicopters got there. The survivors were unable to grab the lowered rescue basket and floundered helplessly. Only three of the 34 crewmembers would be rescued.
As a result of this unsuccessful rescue The US Congress mandated in the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1984 that "The Commandant of the Coast Guard shall use such sums as are necessary, from amounts appropriated for the operational maintenance of the Coast Guard, to establish a helicopter rescue swimmer program for the purpose of training selected Coast Guard personnel in rescue swimming skills."
There were many lessons learned from the Prinsendam maritime rescue to include its influence in the origins and development of the Incident Command System (ICS). ICS developmental history gives emphasis it was developed in the 1970s in response to a series of major wildland fires in Southern California. Very little mention is given to other contributing event incidents. The Prinsendam maritime rescue would and should be mentioned in any serious history of how and why ICS developed into what it became.
