'All Available Boats…' | How the '9/11 Boatlift' Helped Ferry People to Safety

On 9/11, hundreds of ordinary boat captains carried out the largest maritime evacuation in history

On 9/11, hundreds of thousands of bystanders were trapped in Manhattan. Ordinary boat captains and sailors came to the rescue.

Bigger Than Dunkirk: Remembering the Great American 9/11 Boatlift

Remembering the Great American 9/11 Boatlift, the largest sea evacuation in history.

'All available boats…' | How the '9/11 Boatlift' helped ferry people to safety

In Lower Manhattan, a fateful call on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, prompted one of the largest waterborne evacuations in history.

Dunkirk got a movie. 9/11’s waterborne rescue was bigger, faster, and American

On September 11, 2001, the bridges were closed, the tunnels were closed, and the subways dead. The call from Coast Guard Lieutenant Michael Day came over the radio: “All available boats. This is the United States Coast Guard. Anyone wanting to help with the evacuation of Lower Manhattan, report to Governors Island.” Ferry captains, tugboat […]

9/11: The Coast Guard Lieutenant Who Launched The Largest Boatlift In History

“All available boats. This is the United States Coast Guard.” The voice of U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Michael Day cut through the static and the chaos as New Yorkers fled to the water’s edge, trying to escape the billowing smoke and ash from the collapse of the World Trade Center — and following that voice, boats came by the dozens. Day was supposed to attend a meeting at Tower One of the World Trade Center that morning, but before he arrived, the cal…