In late 2013 the Coast Guard Cutter Waesche had been on patrol in the Bering Sea for three months when they were called to help the Alaska Mist, a large fishing vessel that lost propulsion and started drifting near Amak Island with 22 persons on board. The Waesche reached the fishing boat on November 11 and made the decision to get all non-essential personnel off the Alaska Mist using the cutter’s small boat, a 24-foot Zodiac.
Petty Officer Travis Obendorf, a 28-year-old Idaho native, was assigned to the small boat when it gathered five non-essential fishermen off the Alaska Mist and started to take them back to the Coast Guard cutter. According to the Coast Guard’s investigation report, they faced rough seas – worse than what the rescue boat was rated to operate in and that made it hard steer the back into the stern launch and used by the Waesche.
The rescue boat was halfway inside the stern launch when a series of swells washed in behind it. The boat slid underneath the capture net, and the net shoved Obendorf backwards. He was slammed into the center console of the rescue boat and lost consciousness. Obendorf had been wearing a helmet, but he still had severe head injuries. A medical crew aboard the Waesche responded as soon as possible and called for a medevac.
Obendorf was then medically evacuated from the Waesche and taken to Cold Bay, followed by Anchorage, then Seattle for continued care. On December 18, he died in a Seattle hospital.
| Name | Rating | Duty Station | Date |
| Obendorf, T. | BM3 | USCGC Waesche | 12/18/2013 |