VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - When a "Ride the Ducks" tour boat collided with a barge on July 7th in Philadelphia, Virginia Beach-based sailors who were in town for Navy Appreciation Day helped rescue nine people.

Now back home at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, 10 On Your Side spoke with members of the military team Wednesday about their heroic efforts.

"Behind me, what you'll see is a Zodiak-470, which we refer to as a 'combat rubber raiding craft,'" SCPO Charles Weaver of Special Boat Team 20 (SBT-20) told WAVY News 10. "This is the vessel we used to pick people up from the water."

Weaver, along with 11 other Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewmen (SWCC) were docked nearby on a MK V Special Operations Craft when the Duck Boat capsized after being struck by a barge on the Delaware River. The SWCCs were in Philadelphia to participate in community relations events.

"We heard a distress call while preparing to get the boats underway,"said Weaver, who quickly ordered his crew to respond to the call for help.

They discovered several people in the water with lifejackets on and deployed their rubber raiding craft to assist the Coast Guard and local authorities with the rescue.

"The Zodiac, then at that point, recovered three people from the water," said Weaver. "Simultaneously, I had four crewmen from our second boat, who were land-based, assisting from the floating pier at Penn's Landing."

"We were able to get most of the people out of the water," PO1 Steven Gribayedoff, of SBT-20, told 10 On Your Side.

Gribayedoff was one of the SWCCs directing the rescue efforts from the pier.

"We were actually able to grab some things, a fire hose that was on the side, and throw it out to some of the victims and then help them out of the water that way," he said.

The SWCCs did not wait for orders to respond to the distress call.

"I have the authority from my senior chain of command in time of emergency to do what I need to do to get the job accomplished as quickly as possible," said Weaver.

For that authority, and the quick response of 12 locally-based sailors, nine tourists visiting Philadelphia are grateful.

Two people were killed in the accident, but 35 others were rescued.