Customer Reviews

Two Tankers Down: The Greatest Small-Boat Rescue in U.S. Coast Guard History

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As the author of the book, I'm fine with people not liking my writing style or subject matter, but when it is suggested that the book is misleading and factually incorrect, I feel a need to reply. The two-star reviewer says the book exaggerates the dangers of T-2s and the wrecks and I cannot for the life of me determine what he is talking about, unless he, like many engineers prior to the mid-1960's, believe the steel in these vessels was just fine. Study after study showed that the steel was flawed and tended to crack when cold. The ships were fine above 50 degrees. Below that, some could and did crack in two at the pier. For a detailed accounting of this phenom and the public policies that sent old ships to sea in unsafe conditions, see "Until the Sea Shall Free Them." If the reviewer is suggesting that the rescue itself is overblown, I would say that it is understated and no one could properly capture the huge risks faced by the men on the ship and those moving through the blizzard to rescue them. He does a great disservice to those men who lived and died during the wrecks of the SS Pendleton and SS Fort Mercer. I've noted this in comments several times now, and Amazon keeps removing them. I believe an author has SOME right of reply when the basic facts of the book are at stake. Please keep this comment up, Amazon, or take the ill-informed review down.

While the rescues of the crews of the Pendleton and Fort Mercer are the main focus of the book - it's about more than that. The book isn't simply a retelling of the events surrounding the rescue - which the author does a good job of. The book is also a look at the life of Bernie Webber the coxswain of the CG-36500 who displayed outstanding seamanship during the rescue and with the assistance of his crew managed to save the lives of 32 men that day. He went out in conditions that exceeded the limits of his motor lifeboat, packed aboard many more survivors than his boat was rated to carry - and brought them all back to safety.

The story could have begun and ended with the Pendleton and the Fort Mercer - but it didn't. There was more to Bernie Webber than just this rescue. This rescue had a profound impact on Bernie Webber's career - and the way the senior CG leadership treated him in the following years affected his opinions of the service for years to come.

"Two Tankers Down" is the third book about the T-2 tanker disasters of February 1952, and the only one that delves into the break-up and rescue of the crew of the Fort Mercer. Robert Frump (who wrote "Until the Sea Shall Free Them" about another T-2 disaster in 1983) has done a magnificent job of bringing together all the known facts about the Pendleton rescue and some new information heretofore unknown. "Two Tankers Down" is a great contribution to the literature of marine safety and maritime rescues. Anyone who loves the sea will appreciate this gripping tale.

THIS IS A GRIPPING TRUE STORY THAT YOU MUST READ. It is exceptionally well researched and well written.

An interesting book, related more to the individuals involved than the disaster itself. It is not a book written with depth of research, and some items discussed seem to be written without the author's real understanding of the subject. This leaves those without maritime knowledge confused, and the seaman thinking that the author vastly overstated and mis-stated his descriptions of events.