The fishermen didn’t see the flags posted by the harbor master warning of the big waves slamming Newport Beach’s coast.
Their vessel, Thelma, was capsized after being battered by the turbulent swells when the engine failed; 17 people were tossed overboard into the raging sea.
The men were left to the mercy of the high surf that morning, historian Paul Burnett recounted to a crowd gathered on the bluffs in Corona del Mar on a recent day. But thankfully, quick-thinking surfers braved the wild water to save their lives.
Surfer Duke Kahanamoku, a Hawaiian Olympic gold medal swimmer who frequented the rolling waves at the now-extinct surf spot, is said to have quickly grabbed his wooden surfboard, hauling victim after victim to shore.
Three fellow surfers ran to the bathhouse on the beach to get their boards to join the rescue effort, in all saving a dozen men that day. Kahanamoku brought in eight on his own.
The “Great Rescue,” as it has been dubbed, has now been honored with a plaque overlooking the very spot where lives were saved on June 14, 1925.
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