Bailey Taylor Barco (February 14, 1846 - November 4, 1901) was a stationkeeper and Captain with the

United States Life-Saving Service The United States Life-Saving ServiceDespite the lack of hyphen in its insignia, the agency itself is hyphenated in government documents including: and was a United States government agency that grew out of private and local humanitarian eff ...

—one of the agencies later merged into the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

. He led a rescue at his station Dam Neck Mills in present-day

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the List of cities in Virginia, most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeaster ...

, on December 21, 1900. A severe storm had grounded the schooner ''

Jennie Hall Jennie may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Jennie'' (film), a 1940 American drama film * ''Jennie'' (musical), a 1963 Broadway production * ''Jennie'' (novel), a 1994 science fiction thriller by Douglas Preston * '' Jennie: Lady Randolph C ...

'', which was being beaten to pieces on its sandbank. Barco decided the surf was too severe to launch his station's surfboat. But his crew was able to send a line to the vessel, and bring off most of the surviving crew with a breeches-buoy. The last surviving crew member was too numb with cold, and required assistance. Attempts to carry a rescuer out to the schooner with the breeches-buoy were unsuccessful, so Barco and one of his crew made several attempts to use the surfboat to reach the stranded man. They finally succeeded, and were able to put two rescuers aboard the vessel, who were able to assist the last man to mount the breeches-buoy. Barco was awarded the

Gold Lifesaving Medal The Gold Lifesaving Medal and Silver Lifesaving Medal are U.S. decorations issued by the United States Coast Guard. The awards were established by Act of Congress, 20 June 1874; later authorized by . These decorations are two of the oldest me ...

on October 7, 1901. Barco was a fisherman, machinist, boat builder, and wrecker by trade. With his wife, Virginia Williams Barco, he had nine children, seven of whom survived; many of their descendants continue to live in the Virginia Beach area. Barco oversaw construction of the Chapel by the Sea in

Dam Neck Training Support Center Hampton Roads is, since 2004, the name of the facility in Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA, which was long-known as "FTC Dam Neck". It is the home of the Fleet Combat Training Center Atlantic of the United States Navy. Hi ...

, a daughter church of the Eastern Shore Chapel where he is buried.

Legacy

In 2010,

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard The master chief petty officer of the Coast Guard (MCPOCG) is the senior enlisted member of the U.S. Coast Guard and the principal advisor to the commandant of the Coast Guard on all enlisted personnel matters. The holder of this position is ...

Charles "Skip" W. Bowen, the

's senior enlisted person at the time, lobbied for its new

Sentinel-class cutters The Sentinel-class cutter, also known as the Fast Response Cutter or FRC due to its program name, is part of the United States Coast Guard's Integrated Deepwater System Program, Deepwater program. At , it is similar to, but larger than, the leng ...

to be named after enlisted Coast Guardsmen, or personnel from its precursor services, who had distinguished themselves by their heroism. The USCGC ''Bailey Barco'' was the 22nd cutter to be launched.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barco, Bailey T. 1846 births 1901 deaths United States Coast Guard enlisted United States Life-Saving Service personnel People from Virginia Beach, Virginia Recipients of the Gold Lifesaving Medal