Bearing Drift Author:Peter Eident 20 October 1978: the USCGC Cuyahoga training vessel collided with a foreign freighter in the mouth of the Potomac River, killing 11 Coast Guardsmen. At the time of the sinking, the Cuyahoga disaster was declared the worst peacetime accident in the US Coast Guard's history. Fifteen months later, the USCG Blackthorn collision resulted in an even g... more »reater loss. Thirty years later the author, who stood on the bridge as the Cuyahoga went down, tries to find meaning in the loss of his shipmates. The catastrophic sinking of the Cuyahoga and the USCG Blackthorn forever changed the direction of the Guard. This is a story about heroism and mistakes, humor and sadness, and human history you won't find on the official Coast Guard website; a story about the brave men and women who lived by the creed, "You have to go out, but you don't have to come back.« less