Customer Reviews

Until the Sea Shall Free Them : Life, Death and Survival in the Merchant Marine

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

What was the reviewer from Publishers Weekly smoking? I read the excerpt from Men's Journal, read the favorable Washington Post review Sunday and just finished the book. It is wonderfully written and a riveting story. Anyone interested in what really goes on in the Merchant Marine should read this story.

I received the book on Friday in the 4pm mail. Finished it on Saturday, 4 pm. In between I kept stealing time to relish the quick pace of "Until the Sea Shall Free Them." Frump knows his stuff, but doesn't bog the book down with insider jargon. This is journalism, not academia, and it reads like a novel. Too bad the owners of the Marine Electric and the Coast Guard bigwigs wouldn't talk - the lawsuits are all settled and the book would have benefited from their insights. But after reading the book, you won't doubt that this is a ship, like so many other rust buckets, that simply should not go to sea. Thanks in large part to this kind of excellent journalism, they won't, and lives will be saved as a result.

Robert Frump's book is a fascinating, true story that reads like a gripping piece of fiction. It's half sea story, half courtroom-type drama and all page-turner.

It's the tale of a part of American life most people know nothing about, including too many journalists and book reviewers: a saga of 1980s merchant seamen hungry for jobs, of a substandard ship that capsized in the winter sea and killed most of its crew, and of an investigation that would have quietly sunk, too, except for the courage of one of the survivors and a determined Coast Guard officer.

Frump was the lead reporter on a Philadelphia Inquirer team that probed the sinking and the broader system in which it took place. His passion for the subject, even 20 years later, is evident. So, too, is the depth of his research, from details of the sinking to simple things like the feel of a ship's bridge at night.

"Until the Sea Shall Free Them" is well worth a read, whether or not you're a sea-saga aficionado. I covered the maritime industry for a business newspaper and worked in a port trade association for a number of years, and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. My wife, whose tastes run to classics and mysteries, was equally enthralled. Read it.

Robert Frump who with Tim Dwyer wrote an award wining series of articles entitled "Death Ships" about the American Merchant Marine and specifically the loss of the MARINE ELECTRIC for the "Philadelphia Inquirer" in 1983 has completed the story in his just published book "Until the Sea Shall Free Them - Life, Death, and Survival in the Merchant Marine."

This book is a must read for anyone interested in marine safety, and should be required reading for every Coast Guard cadet, officer (including the Commandant), inspector, investigator - anyone responsible for the safety of life and property at sea.

While the book is specifically about the loss of the MARINE ELECTRIC off the Virginia Capes in February 1983 and the survival of just three crewmembers it is more importantly the story of how 'the system' permitted an obviously unseaworthy vessel to go to sea and take the lives of 31 merchant mariners, including one young cadet who was just learning his way around the engine room.

But there are heroes in this story - including the author himself who persevered to write this book. Chief mate Bob Cusick who decide that the truth would set him free and told it. And Coast Guard Captain Dom Calicchio who as a member of the Marine Board was determined to discover what really happened and why. And Navy rescue swimmers Jim McCann who when beyond exhaustion went back and back into turbulent seas to rescue or recover the ill-fated crewmembers. (As a result of this casualty Congress required the Coast Guard to establish its own rescue swimmer program, and required immersion suits (called exposure suits in the original legislation) on all vessels operating on cold waters regardless of whether they had covered lifeboats.

The Marine Board's report on the loss of the MARINE ELECTRIC is the finest casualty report I have every read. But the book gives a behind the scenes look at what was going through the minds of the players.

Enough said. Read the book.

"Until the Sea Shall Free Them" is another in the recent glut of books about nautical disasters that takes the genre one step further by documentating the legal aftermath that resulted in a substantial improvement in maritime safety. Author Robert Frump was the leader of the investigative reporting team from the Philadelphia Enquirer that pursued the larger story behind the February 1983 sinking of the merchant marine vessel Marine Electric. What they found was a civilian service plagued by reliance on ancient rustbucket ships, adherence to the corporate bottom line at the expense of safety, and an inspection system beholden to ship owners that ignored these problems.

The first third of the narrative deals with the sinking of the Marine Electric and the harrowing rescue effort that managed to save only three of the 37 crew members. Most of the remaining two-thirds of the book documents the legal wrangling, political manuvering and Enquirer media pressure that ultimately led to reforms in the system. Several heros emerge along the way, including survivor Bob Cusuik, who risked his career to tell the truth, and Coast Guard Officer Dom Calicchio, who bucked the military bureaucracy to his own detriment. Additionally, the author documents his and his colleague's role without overstating it. He also includes tales of other nautical disasters to serve as a backdrop to the main narrative. The story might lack the concise punch of a book like "The Perfect Storm," but it is still highly readable.

Overall, this is an excellent true nautical disaster tale that will be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys such stories.

This book has everything! There's a harrowing sea rescue, riveting courtroom drama and some genuine American heroes. In this day of dirty corporate deals, executives taking big payouts while leaving their workers broke and out of work, coverups and questionable reporting, it's SO refreshing to read of men who were brave enought to take on the system and tell the truth. There's Bob Cusick- a hero if there ever was one- a 59-yr-old man, who after being dumped into the sea during one of the worst blizzards in recent times, and fighting his way back to life, risked his livelihood and reputation to tell why the ship went down; Jim McCann, a courageous Navy diver who refused to give up; Dom Calicchio, the Coast Guard board member whose ensured that the truth came out, knowing that his career would be destroyed; and the Philadelphia Enquirer team, who kept the story in the public eye- thanks to these men, the lives of countless American seamen have been saved.(Makes you think-next time you turn on a light or have a hot shower, remember the men and women who risked their lives to bring the coal to your power plant.)...As for the writing style, I was up way past my bedtime, I had to force myself to put down the book and turn off the light. The book is an absolute page turner. Personally, I can't wait for the movie- maybe Harrison Ford in the lead role! This is a story that deserves to be read.

Robert Frump has captured a tragic part of maritime history here and related it with clarity and excitement. Anyone who has stood a watch aboard a U.S.merchant ship or anyone who has ever "made things work" vs. "fixed things right" would enjoy this book. This book gives the reader a real appreciation for the safety changes mandated since this tradgedy. The book details how major decisions made in the maritime industry are often made at the board room and courtroom level and often they are made by very smart people with little or no practical merchant shipping experience. The writing at times was a bit melodramatic but overall it was a great read. This book will be made into an action movie. If you are one who goes to sea, it will make you stop and think about the poor guys on the Marine Electric but it will also entertain you all the way and you won't be able to put it down. Toss it in your seabag. You'll definately get your 25$ worth.

That's how the Boston Globe reviewed this book and being a fan of both genres, I had to read it. Let me say I wasn't disappointed; "Until the Sea Shall Free Them" is an exciting, engrossing, tragic, and ultimately uplifting story of personal courage in the face of mind-boggling bureaucratic policy. The action is immediate, the characters are fleshed out, and the courtroom drama is never boring.

Nevermind the Publishers Weekly review -- which makes me wonder if we read the same book. I encourage you to read "Until the Sea Shall Free Them" if a well-written story comprised of investigative journalism, survival at sea, courtroom shenanigans, and underdogs taking on and trumping 'The System' is your cup of tea.

Through his in-depth research and wonderful writing style (ignore the "overblown" PW review), Mr. Frump brings these men back from the deep and tells their story. I bought this book after seeing him profiled on the History Channel and found his book much more engaging than the TV documentary. I recomend without reservation.

Frump is able to go a step beyond Junger because with more first hand sources Frump is able to tell the reader what happened, before during and after the sinking. There is no need for speculation, or imagined conversation or thoughts.

The most important parts of the book cover the investigation amd the weakness in the inspection regime that existed at the time. Anyone who deals with government oversight and regulation will read the account of the USCG investigation with interest.

If you have any interest in maritime affairs, "Until the Sea Shall Set Them Free" deserves a place on your shelf alongside "The Perfect Storm" "Looking for a Ship" and "It Didn't Happen on my Watch."