Abandon Ship: The F/V St. Patrick Disaster

August 28, 2024EpisodeAbandon Ship, Alaska Podcast, Commercial Fishing, Commercial Fishing in Alaska, Fishing Vessel St. Patrick, Murder Podcast, Mystery Podcast, Robin Barefield, St. Patrick Disastermurder-in-the-last-frontier

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When crew members decide to abandon a floundering ship in the North Pacific in the winter in twenty-foot seas, they know they are unlikely to survive, even when they do everything right. If the captain can send out a May Day, everyone dons a pristine survival suit and seals it around their face, and they deploy and enter a life raft, they still face a long list of things that could and often do go wrong. Proper gear, training, and the captain’s strong, calm, logical voice significantly increase the crew’s chances of survival. The crew of the F/V Saint Patrick had none of these things, and they paid a horrible price for their decisions.

In the mid-1970s through the 1980s, the death rate for commercial fishermen soared to seventy-five times the U.S. national average for deaths on the job, and the mortality rate for fishing in Alaska in the winter peaked twenty-five times higher than the death toll for the rest of the commercial fishing industry. It was nine times more dangerous for an individual to take a job fishing in the winter in Alaska than to become a miner or logger, the two following most hazardous jobs. Strict changes in government oversight of mandatory safety equipment and crew training brought these numbers down. Many commercial fishermen did not welcome new regulations in their industry, but the Saint Patrick disaster demonstrated the necessity of these safety measures.

Sources:

Moore, Anthony. “F/V St. Patrick that sunk in Women’s Bay, Kodiak in 1989 is leaking.” August 19, 2021. Radio Kenai.

Resneck, Jacob. “Kodiak’s ‘ghost ship’ Saint Patrick remains pollution hazard decades later.” September 2, 2021. KTOO.Org.

Sullivan, Toby. “The romance of the sea wears thin – The St. Patrick disaster, December 1981.” November 23, 2016. Kodiak Maritime Museum.

Walker, Spike. Nights of Ice. “Journey of no return.” 1997. New York, NY. St. Martin’s Press.

Walker, Spike. Working on the Edge. Part Four: “The deadliest season: fishing the Gulf of Alaska aboard the Elusive and watching as Tragedy strikes the Alaskan Fleet.” Chapter 8. 1993. New York, NY. St. Marten’s Press.

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Robin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.

Robin invites you to join her at her website: https://robinbarefield.com, and while you are there, sign up for her free monthly newsletter about true crime in Alaska. Robin also narrates a podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. You can find it at: https://murder-in-the-last-frontier.blubrry.net

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Murder North of the Arctic Circle

August 14, 2024EpisodeAlaska Podcast, Kiana, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier, Murder in Alaska, Murder Podcast, Robin Barefield, Triple Murder, True Crime, True Crime in Alaskamurder-in-the-last-frontier

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People imagine snow, ice, and bitter cold when they think of Alaska in January, but Alaska is a big place. I live on Kodiak Island in the southern part of the state, and the winter temperature here averages around 35⁰F (1.7⁰C). That may seem cold if you are from California, South America, or Australia, but is not a harsh winter temperature for most of the United States. The following story, though, gives you a feel for Alaska at its coldest. This brutal crime occurred north of the Arctic Circle in January, where the temperature hovered at -50⁰F (-45.6⁰C) when someone shot three men on a caribou hunting expedition and left them to die in their tent.

Sources

Brennan, Tom. 2001. Murder at 40 Below. Chapter 3: “The caribou murders.” 2001. Kenmore, WA: Epicenter Press.

Francis, Alfred. “Lone survivor says driver of snowmobile did shooting.” January 27, 1970. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

“Court upholds murder charge, overturns drug conviction.” June 16, 1973. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

“Defense seeks insanity ruling in killing of 3.” December 16, 1970. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

“Johnson charged in triple murder.” January 30, 1970. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Supreme Court of Alaska. 511 P.2d 118 (1973). Johnson v. State. Justia.com.

“Trooper investigating shootings on way to question lone survivor.” January 29, 1970. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

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