In the late 19th century, Bald Head Island became home to a critical outpost of the U.S. Life-Saving Service (USLSS), established in response to the numerous shipwrecks along the perilous North Carolina coast. The service’s primary mission was to "help those in peril upon the seas," and a life-saving station was built on Bald Head Island in 1883, situated on East Beach near the treacherous Frying Pan Shoals. Though the station is no longer standing, you are standing close to its original location, where brave men risked their lives to save others.
 

The Life-Saving Techniques: Lyle Gun and Surfboat
The crews of the USLSS employed innovative methods to rescue sailors in distress. For ships stranded within 400 yards of the beach, the crew used a Lyle gun, a device that fired a projectile with a line attached to it over the distressed vessel. Once the line was secured to the ship, the crew launched a Breeches Buoy—a life-saving apparatus with pants sewn into it—using ropes and pulleys. Sailors would climb into the Breeches Buoy and ride it back to shore, often facing stormy seas and strong winds, while the buoy was sent back out for the next crew member.
For vessels stranded farther out, such as those in deeper waters or beyond the reach of the Lyle gun, the crew had to launch a 27-foot-long, 1,000-pound "surfboat," a man-powered vessel that could withstand heavy surf. The crew would row out to the shipwreck, battling fierce waves to rescue the stranded sailors.
 

A Heroic Rescue: The Charles C. Dame
One of the most remarkable rescues carried out by the Cape Fear Life-Saving Station occurred on October 14, 1893, when the schooner Charles C. Dame ran aground on Frying Pan Shoals, approximately 8 nautical miles offshore. The storm-ravaged seas made the rescue particularly perilous.
 

At 6 a.m. that Saturday, a lookout spotted the distressed vessel, and Keeper John L. Watts immediately alerted the Oak Island station for assistance. The crew of the Cape Fear station faced daunting conditions as they struggled to launch their surfboat into category 3 hurricane-like breakers. After multiple failed attempts and the mockery of a tugboat captain, the crew pressed on and managed to launch the boat around 7 a.m.
 

The surfboat crew battled the violent waves for eight hours, pulling their oars with incredible endurance and determination. Upon reaching the wreck, they found the schooner partially submerged, with the crew huddled together on the jib-boom—the only place they could escape the surging sea. Within minutes, the life-saving crew had successfully pulled all of the crew members aboard their boat.
 

After another four hours of harrowing rowing against the waves, the crew safely returned to shore, completing the rescue of all crew members of the Charles C. Dame.
 

Legacy of the Life-Saving Service
From 1883 to 1914, the Cape Fear Life-Saving Station rescued 642 individuals from 54 shipwrecks, and not a single life was lost in their daring operations. In 1915, the U.S. Life-Saving Service was absorbed into the newly established U.S. Coast Guard, and a new Coast Guard station was built on Bald Head Island’s south beach. The station operated until 1937, but its legacy lives on, embodied by the courage and heroism of the men who risked everything to save lives along these treacherous shores.
 

 

To learn more about the U.S. Life-Saving Service and the heroic rescues that took place on Bald Head Island, visit the Old Baldy Lighthouse and the Smith Island Museum of History. Discover the stories of these brave men who dedicated their lives to saving others on the high seas.