Three Coast Guardsmen were drowned and two other men were lost when a Coast Guard boat, which had gone to the aid of a sinking barge, capsized on the Yaquina bar on February 26, 1935. Ihe barge sank in heavy weather on the bar and the tug Mellville, of Astoria, which was towing it, was in distress when the two boats put out from the Coast Guard station. Numerous approaches were made toward the disabled, battered wreck and finally the smaller boat managed at great peril to work to the lee. Caught in heavy seas however, one Coast Guard boat capsized, throwing its five occupants into the water. The boat and the men drifted toward the jetty rocks where George Meadows was recovered, but efforts at artificial resuscitutlun failed. Two other members of the lifeboat crew, William Stultz and George Elkins, were lost and their bodies not recovered.
Surfmen Eldred Halsey and John Hart were the only survivors.
| Name | Rating | Duty Station | Date |
| Elkins, G. L. Jr | Surfman | STA Yaquina Bay, OR | 2/26/1935 |
| Meadows, G. A. | Surfman | STA Yaquina Bay, OR | 2/26/1935 |
| Stultz, W. L. | Surfman | STA Yaquina Bay, OR | 2/26/1935 |
Source: The Bend Bulletin