U.S. Navy, Coast Guard Save Mother, Child, Cat and Tortoise Stranded at Sea

A ship captain, a 47-year-old woman, her 7-year-old daughter, their cat and their pet tortoise were on a sailboat outside of Hawaii, enjoying a nice float on the ocean ... until things went wrong.

The group encountered some rough weather, which found them stranded. At this point, they were nearly a thousand miles off of the coast of Honolulu, with no help in sight.

Hoping to reach anyone in the vicinity, mom issued some mayday distress calls.

Thankfully, U.S. Navy and the Coast Guard came through.

U.S. Navy, Coast Guard Save Mother, Child, Cat and Tortoise Stranded at Sea

The Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu got a distress call from a boat just after noon. According to MIlitaryTimes.com, the Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu responded by dispatching an HC-130 Hercules airplane crew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point to coordinate a rescue.

This was tough, because when the helicopter was dispatched, they had no way of communicating with the sailboat or its occupants due to interference from Hurricane Gilma, which was happening around them at the time.

Here's where it starts to get nuts: Usually, the Coast Guard handles stuff like this, but since they couldn't reach anyone on the boat in distress, they called in for Naval backup.

So, the pilots of the HC-130 Hercules requested help from the Navy’s U.S. 3rd Fleet and U.S. Pacific Fleet. This is a big ask, but the Navy dispatched U.S. Pacific Fleet’s guided-missile destroyer William P. Lawrence, which is ported in Pearl Harbor.

A giant Navy vessel and a Coast Guard airplane were now in route, trying to find this distressed sailboat more than 900 miles off of Hawaii, with some precious cargo onboard.

Once the Navy destroyer arrived, the waters were too rough (due to that hurricane), so they were unable to perform the rescue. They waited nearby the vessel until they found a perfect window of time to make their rescue.

Sadly, the sailboat remains lost at sea with its captain, who was deceased and not able to be saved or returned.

"While saddened by the loss of the sailing vessel’s master, I couldn’t be prouder of the combined efforts of the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy who saved the lives of two other passengers," Vice Adm. John Wade, commander of U.S. 3rd Fleet, says.

Evan Paul is the host of Taste of Country Nights, a syndicated radio show heard on more than 130 country radio stations nationwide, every night from 7PM to midnight. He plays the best new country music and interviews today's top stars, like Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Dan + Shay, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton, Lady A, + more!