Artell B. Crowley Jr

Artell B. Crowley, Jr enlisted in the Coast Guard September 30, 1936 serving 30 years before retiring in 1966. He served the Coast Guard in many capacities before coming to Nantucket including the South Pacific during WWII.

During his time in command of Brant Point Coast Guard station, there was much activity around Nantucket involving the Coast Guard including the sinking of the Andrea Doria. He was transfered in 1957 to the Cross Rip Lightship, an important way point in Nantucket Sound before being named Group Commander of all Coast Guard Life Boat Stations from Salem to Portsmouth, N.H.

To the delight of his family, it was discovered in 2015, that Artell Crowley Jr was mentioned in the book Lightships, Lighthouses and Lifeboat Stations: A Memoir and History by Bernie Webber, who had been awarded The Gold Lifesaving Medal and inspired the movie, The Finest Hours. Bernie mentions Artell under the chapter, Shenanigans, Tomfoolery and Practical Jokes showing the lighter side of Lightship life. “Boredom-busting fun was very much a part of lightship life. There is nobody I can think of who was more a character and practical joker than one Chief Warrant Officer Artell B. Crowley, USCG – he was fun, clever, and to be approached with caution. It was a challenge to get him with a practical joke; more often than not, he could out-fox the best of us.”-Bernie Webber

A preview of Lightships, Lighthouses and Lifeboat Stations: A Memoir and History by Bernie Webber can be found at the following link. The chapter Shenanigans, Tomfoolery and Practical Jokes and Bernie’s story of Artell and his practical jokes can be found under preview this book page 80.

https://books.google.com/books/about/Lightships_Lighthouses_and_Lifeboat_Stat.html?id=BSYlCwAAQBAJ