In February 1952, a large northeaster swiftly swept across New England. The raging storm brought winds exceeding 70 knots and seas larger than 60 feet off Cape Cod. This was not a good time to be out on the water. The Fort Mercer and the Pendleton, two tankers from World War II were in the area. Both ships literally split in half, with crew alive on both  of the forward and aft sections.

A distress call went out and the Coast Guard responded with numerous cutters, aircraft, and two boats. Bernard Webber, a coxswain out of Chatham, MA, launched with 3 other crew on a 36 ft boat, and despite losing his compass when crossing the harbor bar, managed to find the stern of the Pendleton. In a dramatic rescue worthy of the upcoming movie (coming out this spring), his boat saved 33 sailors and safely returned to harbor. This truly is one of the most daring and heroic, not to mention largest, rescues in the history of the Coast Guard.

Webber’s stories, and the other dramatic rescues and actions that were taking during that violent storm, are chronicled in The Finest Hours by Michael Tougias and Casey Sherman. I will leave the details of the story for you to read, but there are a few things that stuck out for me in this book. First, these men risked their lives, in conditions that are rougher than anything I have ever seen at sea, and managed to come back with many of the sailors from the two tankers. They are heroes.

Second, the book is a glimpse into what life was like 60 years ago in the Service. There are plenty of history books about the Coast Guard in general, but few delve into what life was like and how the Coast Guard operated at the tactical level like this. For me, learning about those who have gone before and how they operated was pretty amazing. Many things have changed – but even more things have stayed the same. We still get underway on our ships and save lives and even use some of the same techniques that Webber and the others in this book attempted. One of the cutters that responded to the Fort Mercer, the Acushnet, was still in service until just a few years ago.

The book also shows respect for how mariners, both in the commercial fleet and in the Coast Guard, really knew their ships and the sea. Maneuvering a large vessel (or a small boat) alongside another ship is never easy, and can be extremely difficult in rough seas (much less 70 feet of swells and waves). Webber managed to get his boat close enough to load 33 people onboard from a Jacob’s ladder without damaging his boat alongside the larger vessel. The skipper of the Acushnet literally brought his ship under the arch of the aft section of the Fort Mercer so that sailors could jump onto his stern.

Finally – I learned what a foreflusher was. You should look it up.

Score: 10. These men were heroes and their story is a quick read. I hope the movie is equally good, and equally faithful to the truth.