AWARDED DFC: 1
CONFLICT/SPACE FLIGHT/EVENT:  Alaska
MODEL:  HH-3F

Citation:  1.) The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Lieutenant Commander Robert A. Knapp for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight on 4 October 1980 while serving as pilot and aircraft commander of Coast Guard HH-3F 1472 engaged in the rescue of survivors from the stricken passenger liner M/V Prinsendam which had caught fire 120 miles south of Yakutat in the Gulf of Alaska. Dispatched from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka, Lieutenant Commander Knapp was a member of the relief crew that took over HH-3F 1472 in Yakutat and transported 800 blankets and an Air Force medical team to the T/V Williamsburgh, where survivors from the lifeboats of Prinsendam were being taken. He then commenced a search for lifeboats in the deteriorating weather. Upon locating a storm-tossed lifeboat filled beyond capacity, Lieutenant Commander Knapp maneuvered the helicopter over the lifeboat, despite the lifeboat's pitching and rolling wildly in the 25 to 30 foot seas and heavy salt spray, as the survivors were hoisted aboard and transported to Williamsburg. Before exhausting on scene fuel endurance, 21 persons were hoisted to safety. After delivering three survivors to Yakutat and refueling, the aircraft was returned to the scene and advised that all survivors had been rescued and their assistance were required to transport the Captain and three officers of Prinsendam from Williamsburg to USCGC Boutwell. Maintaining safe clearance from all obstructions on deck, Lieutenant Commander Knapp landed the helicopter, the four men were embarked and transferred to Boutwell. Three survivors were then hoisted from Boutsell and flown to Air Station Sitka. Lieutenant Commander Knapp's innovative actions, expert aeronautical skill and valor were instrumental in the rescue of 21 victims. His courage, sound judgment and unwavering devotion to duty are most heartily commended and are in keeping with the hightest traditions of the United States Coast Guard.