In February 1952, a ferocious Nor’easter ripped the 500-foot-long oil tanker Pendleton in half off the Cape Cod coast. Twenty miles away a second oil tanker, the Fort Mercer, was also split in half. On both tankers men were trapped on the severed bows and sterns, and all four sections were sinking in frigid waters. Standing between these stranded seaman and the Coast Guardsmen sent to rescue them were towering seas, blinding snow, and one of the most dangerous shoals in the world—the dreaded Chatham Bar. To find out what happened in this harrowing sea tale, come to the Providence Boat Show to meet Michael Tougias— coauthor of the book The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Most Daring Sea Rescue, which tells the riveting story. The Disney Corporation is making a film based on the book to be released later this year.
Says Tougias of his presentation: “I like to transport the audience into the heart of the storm so that they ask themselves, What would I have done?” Come to the boat show to meet Tougias and watch this tale unfold in his multimedia presentation about this dramatic story of heroism and tragedy at sea.
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