Special Outer Banks, NC Events
Special Events From fishing tournaments, to outdoor festivals, art shows, softball and baseball tournaments and more, the Outer Banks hosts a variety of special events throughout the year. A special on-line calendar of events is available to help you find the events which interest you most. Also, mark your calendar for the following special events:
Midgett's Honored
MK3 Daniel Hockaday of the United States Coast Guard recently visited his service’s history at the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station Historic Site & Museum in Rodanthe on Hatteras Island, centerpiece of North Carolina’s fabled Outer Banks on the AtlanticCoast. On the other coast due west is the United States Coast Guard Cutter Midgett, whose homeport is Seattle, Washington. She was the 12th and last of the 378-foot High Endurance Cutter in the Hero Class. Appropriately classed, for her namesake was Chief Warrant Officer John Allen Midgett, Jr., Officer in Charge of the Chicamacomico Station in Rodanthe. He was born and raised in a home still standing just a stone’s throw from the 1911 Life-Saving Station. His men affectionately referred to him as “Cap’t Johnny.”
On August 16, 1918, after a six-and-a-half hour ordeal, he led his USCG rescue crew of five in their 26 foot Surfboat No. 1046 on a 14 mile offshore odyssey to save the crew from the British tanker SS Mirlo. The tanker was carrying over 6 ½ thousand tons of gasoline and petroleum products and had been torpedoed by German submarine U-117. The ensuing inferno was indescribable and an ordinary rescue would have been impossible. But the “Mighty Midgetts of Chicamacomico” were far from ordinary and did the impossible by rescuing 42 of the 51 crewmen of the S.S. Mirlo. It became the most highly-awarded maritime rescue in the history of our nation.
The Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station Historic Site & Museum is one of the many sites on the Historic Albemarle Tour and the National Outer Banks Scenic Byway. To learn more about Chicamacomico, its exciting activities and offerings, visit www.chicamacomico.net, or email at [email protected] or call 252-987-1552.
Need Additional Information?
Call our Chamber office at (252) 441-8144,
8:30 am - 5:00 pm, Monday-Friday, EST.
