In this circa 1930 photo, U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Jim Turner, left, captain of the Longport Beach Patrol, stands on the beach in Ocean City with friend Ed Stetser of Longport, center, and an unidentified man.

LONGPORT – It has been almost 80 years since a rescue attempt at sea claimed the lives of five U.S. Coast Guard surfmen – the only members ever lost out of the Atlantic City Station.

The Coast Guard will honor the crew and the lone survivor of that attempt, Capt. Jim Turner of Longport, with a ceremony at the Kretchmer Pavilion on March 6, the anniversary of the incident.

On that day in 1932, a three-man crew went out into frigid water to aid the crew of the fishing ship Anna, which was in trouble in high seas and battering winds 2 miles off Steel Pier.

A nor’easter had dumped 28 inches of snow on the city, and the winds were reported to be gusting up to 64 miles per hour, according to the Atlantic City Evening Union.

Turner would live to tell the story of the daring rescue attempt that claimed Willie Garton, Hal Livingston, Charles Graham, John Barnett and Marvin Rhodes.

According to newspaper articles preserved by the Longport Historical Society, Turner spoke to an Atlantic City Evening Union reporter from his hospital bed, where he was recovering from severe hypothermia.

According to the report, because the USCG was waiting for a new boat to come in, Turner, Garton and Livingston used a 30-foot wooden law enforcement speedboat for the rescue. They left the Atlantic City Station, and at 4 p.m. as their boat neared the Steel Pier, the motor stalled and a wave flipped the boat upside down, tossing all three men in the water.

They climbed onto the keel of their boat, and according to reports, Turner said he felt lucky as the winds began to push them toward the shoreline.

Seeing the men in trouble, workers at the Steel Pier threw life preservers into the water to the men. Turner told reporters that he held onto the life preserver and allowed it to carry him through the pilings under the Steel Pier, and in about a half hour washed ashore. Unconscious when he washed ashore, Turner was revived in the hospital.

His crewmates didn’t make it.

Turner said they were probably so cold they could not hang onto their life preservers any longer and were lost.

The attempted rescue left the men in the water for about 90 minutes. Newspaper accounts credited Turner’s strength and “Herculean physique” for saving his life.

A second crew attempted to complete the rescue when they learned the first boat had failed. Rhoades, Barnett and Graham met the same fate and were all lost at sea.

“Maybe it was our fault for going out in a speedboat,” Turner was quoted as saying. “But there was a boat in distress out there, and we have the traditions of the service to live up to. They cannot say we did not try.”

The crew of the Anna rode out the storm at sea and returned safely the next day, but two other fishing vessels were lost in the storm. One was abandoned on the water, and the other washed ashore at Sacramento Avenue in Ventnor.

Turner lived to the age of 69, dying in 1972.

The USCG will mark the 80th anniversary of the rescue attempt and the heroic efforts of Turner and the five lost men at a ceremony 2 p.m. at the Kretchmer Pavilion at the foot of the John F. Kennedy Bridge in Longport.

A memorial brick will be placed at the Veterans Memorial. All are welcome. A luncheon will follow at Longport Borough Hall.

Longport Historical Society President Lee Karlock, standing, goes over historical photos with Mimi Turner, the daughter of Capt. Jim Turner, who will be recognized March 6 for his part in a rescue attempt at sea.