The U.S. Coast Guard and Navy rescued a 47-year-old woman, her 7-year-old daughter and their pets to safety from a disabled sailboat off the coast of Hawaii on Wednesday.

The rescue operation took place over several days and involved multiple agencies that dealt with various challenges posed by severe weather conditions, according to the Coast Guard. press release.

The rescue effort began when the Coast Guard's Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) in Honolulu received a distress alert from a vessel about 925 miles east of Honolulu at approximately 12:33 p.m. Saturday.

The alert was issued by the Albroc, which was sailing under the French flag, and upon arrival, the crew of a Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft spotted the sailing vessel and received a mayday call for help. (Related: U.S. Coast Guard seizes Iranian weapons bound for Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Red Sea)

According to a press release, a woman on board reported that she and her daughter had been caught in bad weather, that there was a deceased man on board, and that rescue was needed. The Coast Guard was not able to make direct contact, but they saw two flares being fired and a sailboat “drifting sideways through the waves.” The area was experiencing six-foot waves and winds of up to 20 mph.

JRCC Honolulu requested assistance from the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet and Third Fleet. The Navy sent the destroyer USS William P. Lawrence to the scene. JRCC also secured assistance from the Singapore-flagged gas tanker Seri Emperor.

According to a press release, another Hercules crew member flew to the scene at 9 a.m. Sunday and saw “the woman and girl waving and then retreating into the cabin.” Attempts to contact them were unsuccessful. The Seri Emperor reached the boat at 5:20 p.m. Sunday but were unable to rescue the mother and daughter due to the approach of Hurricane Girma.

The William P. Lawrence arrived on the scene at 5 a.m. Monday, at which point the Seri Emperor departed. With sea levels expected to rise by more than 25 feet within hours, Navy crews faced a slim window of opportunity to mount a small-boat rescue.

“I am extremely proud of the professionalism of our crew as they developed and executed a plan to safely rescue our two crew members aboard the disabled vessel as conditions deteriorated,” U.S. Navy Commander Bobby Weiland, commander of the William P. Lawrence, said in a press release.

The severe weather conditions meant it was not possible to recover the dead animals, but with the cooperation of the Coast Guard and Navy, they were able to rescue a woman, a child, a cat and a turtle.

“While we are saddened by the death of the sailboat's captain, we could not be more proud of the joint efforts of the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy that saved the lives of the two other passengers,” U.S. 3rd Fleet commander Vice Adm. John Wade said in a press release.