Two Tankers Down: The Greatest Small-Boat Rescue In U.S. Coast Guard History [Paperback]

A riveting account of the greatest small-boat rescue in American history.Off the coast of Cape Cod in 1950, a February blizzard tore not one but two oil tankers in half. This is the suspenseful true story of a U.S. Coast Guard captain and his small crew who were called out to rescue the tanker crews without a cutter or chopper or a sea plane. But Captain Bernie Weber knew well the infamous Coast Guard motto: You have to go out. You dont have to come back. He took a small boat and crew out in 60-foot waves and rescued 30 men. Webers subsequent gold medal for valor is still revered within the U.S. Coast Guard, and this thrilling first-ever narrative is a gripping adventure story for fans of The Perfect Storm and The Hungry Ocean.Robert R. Frump is a respected author and journalist with a number of national awards under his belt, including a Polk and part of a Pulitzer. His last book, Until the Sea Shall Free Them, was critically well received, and is currently being reviewed by Disney/Buena Vista. He lives in Summit, New Jersey.In the tradition of The Perfect Storm, the riveting story of a legendary rescue at sea Bernie Webber was the least likely candidate to execute the greatest small-boat rescue in American history. The trouble-prone son of a Baptist minister, hed been well on his way to becoming a juvenile delinquent. Until he went to sea. And then, on the night of February 18, 1952, in a raging blizzard off the coast of Cape Cod, Webber, now a young lifeboat coxswain with the U.S. Coast Guard, and his crew performed a miracle. Two big oil tankers had split in two in raging seas, and nothingnot a big cutter, not a sea plane, not a choppercould reach them in time. Only Webber and his crew of three volunteers had a chance. He knew they would probably die on this mission. They were, after all, in an unassuming thirty-six-foot rescue boat that didnt even have a name but for the CG 36500 on its side. But he loved this boatand he knew the inauspicious Coast Gl3ã