Frank F. reviewed The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue on + 351 more book reviews
Just, OK. Lots of filler story of backgrounds and after the event. A story once again of corruption between the boat owners and the government inspection services. These Liberty ship should never have been used after the war. The dirty steel and welded construction made them unsafe ships, but they used them anyway.
Cheryl (boomerbooklover) -
Matter-of-fact telling of an account of the rescue efforts of the Coast Guard during a horrific winter storm. Two tankers in the same area were split in two by the 70 ft. waves. One was able to issue an SOS signal; the other was spotted by a rescue plane. Cape Cod area Coast Guard units braved the bitter cold/winds to rescue survivors of both ships.
jjares reviewed The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue on + 3284 more book reviews
This is a true story written without the hyperbole that accompanies so many heroic adventures. An incredible February storm attacks the Eastern Seaboard, dumping snow, sleet, ice and hurricane-force winds -- almost without warning. It is 1952,before the days of high tech body coverings like neoprene. Sailors only had old-style rain-slick wear and perhaps wool gloves.
This is truly an adventure of man-against-Mother-Nature. With horrific seas hurling 70 foot waves, two relics of the second World War (built with 'dirty-steel'), break in half at stress points. During WW II, ships were built with all speed, because the Germans were sinking them so fast. Short-cuts were taken in their construction. After the war, the ships were retrofitted to be oil tankers. After the ships' break up, their cargo was oozing out of their holds in the freezing rain and huge waves. The ships broke so that the officers were in the forward part of the ship and the crew was in the aft.
Into this melee, the Coast Guard sends 36 ft. boats to rescue anyone still alive on the ships. The impossible was done just to get to the ailing ship hulks. And then the real work began.The two writers tell the story, often in the sailors' own words. This is truly a unique story.
One engaging aspect of this book is that the authors finished the story. They tell what happened to the Coast Guard men after the rescue and give sketches of their remaining lives. The tribunal conducted after such a large loss of live was also covered.
The rescuers were stunned by the accolades and awards sent their way, 'just for doing our jobs.' The work these young men did was all the more admirable because of their humility.
The book is lean at 224 pages. However the authors' research was obviously extensive. I happened to have 'read' this book via a library 'talking book.' I was disappointed with the narrator; his reading was bland. Without a doubt, this is one story that stays with the reader.
This is truly an adventure of man-against-Mother-Nature. With horrific seas hurling 70 foot waves, two relics of the second World War (built with 'dirty-steel'), break in half at stress points. During WW II, ships were built with all speed, because the Germans were sinking them so fast. Short-cuts were taken in their construction. After the war, the ships were retrofitted to be oil tankers. After the ships' break up, their cargo was oozing out of their holds in the freezing rain and huge waves. The ships broke so that the officers were in the forward part of the ship and the crew was in the aft.
Into this melee, the Coast Guard sends 36 ft. boats to rescue anyone still alive on the ships. The impossible was done just to get to the ailing ship hulks. And then the real work began.The two writers tell the story, often in the sailors' own words. This is truly a unique story.
One engaging aspect of this book is that the authors finished the story. They tell what happened to the Coast Guard men after the rescue and give sketches of their remaining lives. The tribunal conducted after such a large loss of live was also covered.
The rescuers were stunned by the accolades and awards sent their way, 'just for doing our jobs.' The work these young men did was all the more admirable because of their humility.
The book is lean at 224 pages. However the authors' research was obviously extensive. I happened to have 'read' this book via a library 'talking book.' I was disappointed with the narrator; his reading was bland. Without a doubt, this is one story that stays with the reader.
Leo T. reviewed The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue on + 1775 more book reviews
This is an easy to read offering by experienced authors of popular books; note their skill in the two page prologue. Published in 2009 it was made into a film in 2016 but someone else got to write the script; however I am sure they had a good payday. This book was included for free by Ms. Clampit of Bastrop in an order of nonfiction for the old soldiers' home and I am sure someone will pass a few hours with it.
Substandard steel found two tankers breaking in two off Cape Cod in 1952: the Fort Mercer and the Pendleton. This resulted in the greatest ever Coast Guard rescue operation in small boats. This will remain the largest rescue of US mariners ever in that in 1950 there were 50,000 such and only 10,000 in 1990 (per a long article I read in a 1990 New Yorker). They contended with a February nor'easter that brought seventy foot seas and it was terribly cold and snowy.
Sample: "The Yakutat crewmen, helpless to assist the men in the water, watched as Fahner and Guldin struggled in the breaking seas, desperately trying to get a firm grip on the raft before hypothermia made their limbs useless. For a moment it looked as if the ocean would claim two more victims, but the men fought valiantly, and both managed to grab hold of the raft, flip it right side up, then climb aboard, collapsing on the bottom."
Appendix with a paragraph on the later life of several of the principals.
Bibliography, no index (and so I deduct one star from my review).
Substandard steel found two tankers breaking in two off Cape Cod in 1952: the Fort Mercer and the Pendleton. This resulted in the greatest ever Coast Guard rescue operation in small boats. This will remain the largest rescue of US mariners ever in that in 1950 there were 50,000 such and only 10,000 in 1990 (per a long article I read in a 1990 New Yorker). They contended with a February nor'easter that brought seventy foot seas and it was terribly cold and snowy.
Sample: "The Yakutat crewmen, helpless to assist the men in the water, watched as Fahner and Guldin struggled in the breaking seas, desperately trying to get a firm grip on the raft before hypothermia made their limbs useless. For a moment it looked as if the ocean would claim two more victims, but the men fought valiantly, and both managed to grab hold of the raft, flip it right side up, then climb aboard, collapsing on the bottom."
Appendix with a paragraph on the later life of several of the principals.
Bibliography, no index (and so I deduct one star from my review).
