Coast Guard, Navy team up for daring rescue of mother, daughter and pets near Hawaii

As Hurricane Gilma approached Hawaii, a mother, her daughter and their pets found themselves dangerously in its path while sailing through the Pacific Ocean.

Raging seas and high winds battered the stranded vessel, which bore a French flag. A man, who authorities later said was the sailboat's captain, was dead.

For the woman and her child, the situation was growing increasingly dire. But in a climactic moment that could have come straight from a blockbuster disaster film, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Navy teamed up for a daring rescue in the middle of a turbulent storm.

By the end of the treacherous, days-long operation, both the woman and the girl were rescued, as were their pet cat and tortoise, the Coast Guard said in a news release.

Stranded sailboat sends distress signal to Hawaiian Coast Guard

Stranded about 925 miles off the coast of Honolulu, the sailboat sent out a distress alert on Saturday, Aug. 24 that reached the Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu around 12:33 p.m. local time.

An airplane crew rapidly took off from the Coast Guard's Barbers Point air station near Honolulu to locate the 47-foot vessel, named Albroc. In a mayday call, the 47-year-old woman aboard the sailboat reported that she and her 7-year-old daughter were beset by weather and in need of rescue.

The woman also reported that a dead man was on board.

The plane's crew could not make direct contact with the woman, but they did see her light two flares. At the time, winds were reaching up to 20 miles an hour and waves were rising up to 6 feet tall, the Coast Guard reported.

Because of the tumultuous conditions – a result of Hurricane Gilma, which has since dissipated over Hawaii – a rescue would not be easy. The situation left the Coast Guard with no other choice but to seek aid of its own, prompting the service to request additional crews from the Navy.

Navy responds to pull off daring rescue

The next morning, a Coast Guard airplane crew observed the woman and girl waving their arms before retreating back inside the sailboat's cabin. Though the air crew attempted to reach them via radio, they still were not able to make contact.

By 5:20 p.m. that evening, a tanker crew flying a Singapore flag arrived from 290 miles south, having responded to the Coast Guard's call for assistance. Yet while the tanker got near the boat, its crew were unable to rescue the woman and daughter as weather conditions continued to worsen amid Gilma's approach.

It wasn't until Monday morning, Aug. 26, that the Navy's USS William P. Lawrence, a guided-missile destroyer, arrived to attempt a rescue of the stranded civilians.

But the window for getting the woman and child to safety was quickly closing: The impending weather and deteriorating Albroc vessel gave crews an estimated six hours to safely pull off a rescue.

Woman, daughter and pets brought to safety

Within hours of the Navy's arrival, a small boat crew embarked from the destroyer and headed for the sailboat, where they were able to rescue not only the woman and her daughter, but the pair's cat and tortoise as well.

The Navy ship then arrived and moored Wednesday evening at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, where the mother and daughter received care.

The body of the man, identified as the vessel's master, could not be recovered because of the dangerous conditions, the Coast Guard said. His body remains on the sailboat Albroc, which is adrift at sea approximately 1,000 miles east of Honolulu.

It's not clear how he died or why the boat was in the path of the hurricane in the first place.

“I am extremely proud of the crew’s professionalism in planning and executing the safe recovery of two persons at sea on a disabled vessel in worsening conditions,” U.S. Navy Cmdr. Bobby Wayland, commanding officer of William P. Lawrence., said in a statement. "Very cool to see the Navy / Coast Guard team work together so smoothly.”

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com