U.S. Coast Guardsman using inflated sea bag to stay afloat, WWII (26831786504)

Lot-741-4: U.S. Coast Guard, WWII. Coast Guardsmen Learn to Swim For Lives. Jumping overboard without a life jacket, a seaman abandoning ship can make a “balloon” out of his seabag that will keep afloat for hours, Coast Guardsman Robert F. Penaluna demonstrates. The seabag can be inflated, Coast Guardsmen are taught in a functional swimming course at Miami, Florida, either by holding the open end down while jumping from the ship or by swinging it over the head in a wide arc after the survivor is already in the water. U.S. Coast Guard Photograph. Courtesy of the Library of Congress. Photographed through Mylar sleeve. (2016/06/03).