Fighting towering waves, the Coast Guard crews try various methods to get the stranded men off the ships. Toward This book tells the true story of a 1952 Coast Guard rescue mission off the coast of Cape Cod, where two oil tankers, the Fort Mercer and the Pendleton, each broke into two sections, thirty miles apart, in the same storm. The story shifts between the two rescue efforts, telling the tale through eye-witness reports and interviews with survivors. This book tells the true story of a 1952 Coast Guard rescue mission off the coast of Cape Cod, where two oil tankers, the Fort Mercer and the Pendleton, each broke into two sections, thirty miles apart, in the same storm. Not all of the eighty-four men caught at sea in the midst of that brutal storm survived, but considering the odds, it's a miracle-and a testament to their bravery-that any came home to tell their tales at all.more The spellbinding tale is overflowing with breathtaking scenes that sear themselves into the mind's eye, as boats capsize, bows and sterns crash into one another, and men hurl themselves into the raging sea in their terrifying battle for survival. 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.
These wooden boats, manned by only four seamen, were dwarfed by the enormous seventy-foot seas. 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. The Finest Hours is the gripping, true story of the valiant attempt to rescue the souls huddling inside the broken halves of the two ships.
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. 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. As the weather wreaked havoc on land, the freezing Atlantic became a wind-whipped zone of peril. Built with "dirty st In the winter of 1952, New England was battered by the most brutal nor'easter in years. With early air stations using aircraft that could land on water, boat and air stations could work together to make sure that maximum help could be provided in time of need.In the winter of 1952, New England was battered by the most brutal nor'easter in years. The advent of air stations beginning in 1920 meant that some stations would become obsolete, as air coverage and improved technology were better able to supplement the rescue of mariners in remote regions. Over the next six years, further stations were built, although they were loosely managed. " During that same year, the Massachusetts Humane Society received funds from Congress for life-saving stations on the Massachusetts coastline. This act allowed Congress to appropriate $10,000 to established unmanned life-saving stations along the New Jersey coast south of New York Harbor and to provide " surf boat, rockets, carronades and other necessary apparatus for the better preservation of life and property from shipwreck. Development of stations were started with the 1848 signing of the Newell Act. Many of the stations listed date from the 1800s, during the existence of the United States Life-Saving Service. Although many of the stations have been located on shore, floating stations have been based on the Ohio River and Dorchester Bay. There are currently many stations located throughout the country along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific Ocean and Great Lakes. This article contains a list of United States Coast Guard stations in the United States within the United States Coast Guard's nine districts. It was operational from 1872 to around 1964. Coast Guard Station Tom's River, pictured as a life saving station.