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The Pendleton Disaster off Cape Cod: The Greatest Small Boat Rescue in Coast Guard History
Get a first-hand account and fascinating new details of the story behind The Finest Hours , the film portraying the harrowing rescue of the SS Pendleton in 1952. On February 18, 1952, off the coast of Cape Cod, a fierce nor'easter snapped in half two 503-foot oil tankers, the Pendleton and the Fort Mercer. Human grace and grit, leadership and endurance prevail as Theresa Mitchell Barbo and Captain W. Russell Webster (Ret.) recount the historic, heroic rescue of thirty-two merchant mariners from the sinking Pendleton by four young Coast Guardsmen aboard the 36-foot motor lifeboat CG36500. A foreword by former Commandant Admiral Thad Allen (Ret.) and an essay by Master Chief John ""Jack"" Downey (Ret.), a veteran of thousands of modern-day small boat rescues, round out the special third edition of this classic work on Coast Guard history.
160 pages, Paperback
First published September 10, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 6, 2022
On February 18th, in a nor'easter with sheering winds and towering 60 foot waves, four brave men went out directly into the storm and, facing almost insurmountable odds against survival, rescued 32 men from the SS Pendelton, a T-2 tanker that had broken in half in the early morning hours of that day. Bernie Webber, Andy Fitzgerald, Ervin Maske and Richard Livesy conducted one of the Coast Guard's most famous and difficult rescues in the history of the service.
Much has been written, documented, stated, misstated, rumored and talked about regarding this rescue. The Finest Hours is probably the most famous book about the rescue. The subsequent movie made from that book, Hollywoodized the story, as all movies from books do.
I wish I could give this book a better review. I really do. The title suggests this is the story, from the Coast Guard's perspective, entirely of the rescue. It's about maybe half that. Considerable pages are spent detailing Bernie Webber, the coxswain of the CG36500 (the rescue boat he piloted and maneuvered to get those men off the Pendleton.) Bernie has always been considered the hero of the Pendleton rescue. And that wouldn't be incorrect. And it's not a mark against the book that his story is a large portion of it. I enjoyed learning more about him.
The main problem with the book is that it's poorly written. Too much repetition, an undercurrent scattered here and there of childlike writing, disorganized paragraphs, incomplete sentences and unnatural paragraph breaks combine to sink this book from a what could have been a compelling story, told in its own right, to often times just words on pages.
The writing and presentation give off a strong sense of being rushed through an approval process, most likely reviewed by higher up CG officials who are poor writers. This is common. It's a shame the book was not moved through a real editorial process.
Much has been written, documented, stated, misstated, rumored and talked about regarding this rescue. The Finest Hours is probably the most famous book about the rescue. The subsequent movie made from that book, Hollywoodized the story, as all movies from books do.
I wish I could give this book a better review. I really do. The title suggests this is the story, from the Coast Guard's perspective, entirely of the rescue. It's about maybe half that. Considerable pages are spent detailing Bernie Webber, the coxswain of the CG36500 (the rescue boat he piloted and maneuvered to get those men off the Pendleton.) Bernie has always been considered the hero of the Pendleton rescue. And that wouldn't be incorrect. And it's not a mark against the book that his story is a large portion of it. I enjoyed learning more about him.
The main problem with the book is that it's poorly written. Too much repetition, an undercurrent scattered here and there of childlike writing, disorganized paragraphs, incomplete sentences and unnatural paragraph breaks combine to sink this book from a what could have been a compelling story, told in its own right, to often times just words on pages.
The writing and presentation give off a strong sense of being rushed through an approval process, most likely reviewed by higher up CG officials who are poor writers. This is common. It's a shame the book was not moved through a real editorial process.
January 10, 2020
On February 18, 1952, off the coast of Cape Cod, a nor'easter snapped in half two 503-foot oil tankers, the Pendleton and the Fort Mercer. Human grace and grit, leadership and endurance are used in the historic, heroic rescue of thirty-two merchant mariners from the sinking Pendleton by four young Coast Guardsmen aboard the 36-foot motor lifeboat CG36500.nInteresting but can read a little like a history book.
June 22, 2019
A little disorganized, and a lot of random information that had nothing to do with the rescue, but the rescue itself is really an interesting story.
February 2, 2025
Interesting story about four men from the Coast Guard successfully rescuing over 30 men after their ship broke in two by the same storm that wrecked a similar ship.
March 1, 2012
I was interested in this story because I live on Cape Cod and have friends and family associated with the Coast Guard. It certainly was a heroic a rescue. You just can't imagine how they survived in their small boat under the circumstances. I would have given it more stars, but I didn't enjoy the drier portions of the book. I wouldn't mind taking a trip to see the actual boat to try to imagine how they squeezed 32 persons into the small space and brought them tsafely back to shore.
March 16, 2016
This is another book that covers the rescue by four Coast Guardsmen of 32 survivors from the wrecked SS Pendleton in a small motor lifeboat and subsequesntly received the Coast Guard's Gold Live Saving Medal. It is a nice read and does contain some new information that I had not known before and contains a number of new photos that you might find interesting.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews