Simple courage : a true story of peril on the sea

ISBN: 0739326627 (lg. print)
ISBN: 9780812975956 (pbk.)
ISBN: 9781400065240
ISBN: 97814000652410
ISBN: 1400065240
Physical Description: print xiv, 300 p. ; 25 cm.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: New York : Random House, c2006.

Delaney, Frank 1942- (Author).

Summary: In December 1951, laden with passengers and nearly forty metric tons of cargo, the merchant marine freighter S.S. Flying Enterprise steamed westward from Europe toward America. A few days into the voyage, she hit a ferocious storm. Within 28 hours, the ship was slammed by two rogue waves--solid walls of water more than sixty feet high--cracking the decks and hull almost down to the waterline. The captain, Kurt Carlsen, mustered all hands to patch the cracks and try to right the ship. Then he helped transfer, across 40-foot waves, the passengers and crew to lifeboats from nearby ships. Then, to the amazement of the world, Carlsen defied all entreaties to abandon ship. Instead, for the next two weeks, he fought to bring Flying Enterprise and her cargo to port. His heroic endeavor became the world's biggest news.--From publisher description.