If you’ve just learned the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald, or if the shipwreck’s 50th anniversary has sparked your interest in disasters at sea, here’s what you should read next.
This is a highly subjective list of books about maritime disasters, storms at sea, shipwrecks, and (occasionally) survival against the odds. It covers events from 1900 to 2015, in waters from the Barents Sea to the South Pacific, with losses ranging from small fishing vessels to entire coastal cities. Torn in Two and Sole Survivor are the only books on this list that your faithful correspondent has not (yet) read. The others come with the strongest possible personal recommendations, especially A Weekend in September, which is usually the subject of an annual re-read.
Nine Great Reads About Disasters At Sea
Mighty Fitz: The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, by author (and Great Lakes shipwreck documentary writer) Michael Schumacher, is a concise and vivid history of the Edmund Fitzgerald, the storm, the wreck, and the search for answers in its wake.
Sole Survivor, by Great Lakes sailor Dennis Hale, is a firsthand account of how Hale survived the 1966 sinking of freighter Daniel J. Morrell, which broke apart during a late November storm on Lake Superior. Hale and three of his crewmates made it onto an inflatable life raft just a wave washed them clear of the sinking ship. The other three men succumbed to hypothermia, and Hale only survived his 38 hours in the raft by huddling beneath their corpses. (Schumacher also wrote a book about the Morrell, entitled Torn in Two: The Sinking of the Daniel J. Morrell and One Man’s Survival on the Open Sea.)
Run the Storm: A Savage Hurricane, A Brave Crew, and the Wreck of the SS El Faro, by journalist and former commercial fisherman George Michelson Foy, is the story of the October 2015 loss of the freighter El Faro and her crew. El Faro sank in the Caribbean during Hurricane Joaquin, taking her crew of 33 with her. Foy gives a vivid and detailed account of the inexorable forces of physics, from metal fatigue to storm systems, that spelled the ship’s doom.
The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea, by journalist Sebastian Junger, is the definitive account of the sinking of swordfishing boat Andrea Gail with a crew of 6 on the Grand Banks during a powerful storm in October 1991. Junger excels at bringing people and events to life on the page, and his book is the basis for the 2000 movie of the same title.
The Hungry Ocean: A Swordboat Captain’s Journey, by fishing captain Linda Greenlaw, is less of a maritime disaster book and more of a nautical memoir, but it includes some of Greenlaw’s observations on the “Perfect Storm” of 1991 and the filming of the movie. It’s an engaging look into the culture and lifestyle of commercial fishing boats, told with a conversational tone and a lively sense of humor.
Isaac’s Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History, by journalist Erik Larson, takes place on land, but it’s another horrific true story of the devastating power of the sea. Larson’s book tells the tale of the 1900 hurricane that swept away 8,000 people when its storm surge washed over Galveston Island, on the Texas coast. It’s both a fascinating history of storm prediction in at the turn of the last century and a chilling, heart-wrenching disaster story.
A Weekend in September, by historian John Edward Weems, is the definitive account of the 1900 hurricane, and it’s one of the sources cited extensively by Larson in his 2000 book. Writing in 1957, Weems was able to interview survivors of the 1900 storm, and the book is heavy on their stories of tragedy and survival.
In Harm’s Way, by journalist Doug Stanton, is a detailed history of the 1945 sinking of the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis in July 1945. The cruiser had just delivered a secret cargo – the components of the atomic bomb code-named “Little Boy” – to Tinian Island in the Marianas. Three hundred men died when a Japanese submarine torpedoed the ship, sending it plunging beneath the swells in a matter of minutes. More than five hundred more died over the next four days as the men floated in the open Pacific, plagued by dehydration and circling sharks. Only 316 men survived.
Cry from the Deep: The Submarine Disaster That Riveted the World and Put the New Russia to the Ultimate Test, by Ramsey Flynn, is the heartbreaking and haunting story of August 2000 sinking of the Russian submarine Kursk in the Barents Sea. Russia’s government denied offers of international help and delayed rescue operations for several days – during which, evidence later revealed, at least some of the crew might still have been alive and trapped, tapping on the submarine’s walls for help. Your faithful correspondent still loses sleep over some scenes in this book.