Rasmus Midgett was patrolling the North Carolina coast during a hurricane when he heard voices somewhere beyond the dark surf. The barkentine Priscilla, a type of sailing ship with three or more masts, had run aground and begun breaking apart; its wooden hull splintering and collapsing under the pounding surf. Ten survivors remained aboard. Midgett was alone, and returning to the Gull Shoal Life-Saving Station for help would cost several hours they might not have. Instead, he went into the water. Midgett directed seven men to jump from the wreck one at a time, catching them as the waves carried them toward shore. The final three were too injured or exhausted to follow his instructions, so he carried them from the ship himself. All 10 survived. Midgett later received the Gold Lifesaving Medal. The rescue occurred in 1899, before the modern Coast Guard existed. The service traces its history to Aug. 4, 1790, when Congress authorized 10 revenue cutters to enforce the young nation’s trade laws. The Revenue Cutter Service merged with the U.S. Life-Saving Service in 1915, placing generations of surfmen such as Midgett inside the Coast Guard’s family tree. As the service marks its 236th birthday Aug. 4, here are 10 rescues from that history that sound less like official reports and more like scenes rejected from an action movie for being remarkably difficult to believe.