The record for the most people rescued at sea is 4,296 Japanese civilians who were rescued by the crew of the American cargo ship USS Brevard (AK-164) commanded by Lt. John Elliott on 23 January 1946.

The civilians were rescued while their cargo ship, the Enoshima Maru, was sinking after the struck a mine off Shanghai, China, in the Yangtze estuary just after the end of the WWII. The record was claimed by a friend of Frank Ottersbach, one member of the USS Brevard crew.