Bibliograph

The finest hours, the true story of a heroic sea rescue, Michael J. Tougias and Casey Sherman ; illustrations by Mark Edward Geyer

Type

Label

The finest hours, the true story of a heroic sea rescue, Michael J. Tougias and Casey Sherman ; illustrations by Mark Edward Geyer

Language

eng

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

no index present

resource.interestAgeLevel

Ages 6-9, Henry Holt and Company

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

The finest hours

Oclc number

1242990029

Responsibility statement

Michael J. Tougias and Casey Sherman ; illustrations by Mark Edward Geyer

Series statement

True rescue

resource.studyProgramName

Accelerated Reader AR, MG, 7.5, 6, 163696.

Sub title

the true story of a heroic sea rescue

Summary

In the winter of 1952, New England was battered by the most brutal nor'easter in years. As the weather wreaked havoc on land, the freezing Atlantic became a wind-whipped zone of peril. In the early hours of Monday, February 18, while the storm raged, two oil tankers, the Pendleton and the Fort Mercer, found themselves in the same horrifying predicament. Built with "dirty steel," and not prepared to withstand such ferocious seas, both tankers split in two, leaving the dozens of men on board utterly at the Atlantic's mercy. The Finest Hours is the true story of the valiant attempt to rescue the souls huddling inside the broken halves of the two ships. Coast Guard cutters raced to the aid of those on the Fort Mercer, and when it became apparent that the halves of the Pendleton were in danger of capsizing, the Guard sent out two thirty-six-foot lifeboats as well. These wooden boats, manned by only four seamen, were dwarfed by the enormous seventy-foot seas. As the tiny rescue vessels set out from the coast of Cape Cod, the men aboard were all fully aware that they were embarking on what could easily become a suicide mission

Target audience

pre adolescent

Classification