Most people rescued at sea, civillians

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.