Burning Cold: The Cruise Ship Prinsendam and the Greatest Sea Rescue of all Time
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.41 (503 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0760320799 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 304 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-09-26 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
During the evening of October 4, 1980, in the Pacific Ocean nearly 330 miles from Valdez, Alaska, a fire engulfed the engine room of the Prinsendam, a Holland America cruise ship carrying 320 passengers, most of them elderly. As the fire raged out of control, the ship’s captain faced the most dire decision of his career: Could he give the order to abandon ship in the face of a typhoon bearing down on the Prinsendam’s position? The story of this disaster at sea, and of the near-miraculous rescue that ensued, is recounted in heart-stopping detail in this powerful book. Drawing on extensive interviews with passengers, crew, and coast guardsmen, combined with exhaustive research,
While the story is laden with built-in drama, the prose is deadened with banal clichés: "Still unwilling to meet her maker just yet, Jeanie Gilmore was increasingly concerned about so much thick, black, acrid smoke." Jeffers has done a tremendous amount of research and the tale is packed with detail, but in his mundane recounting, the story fails to take off. . From Publishers Weekly In October 1980, the Holland America cruise ship Prinsendam rolled over on her starboard side and sank in 1,473 fathoms of icy water in the Gulf of Alaska. 32 b&w photos not seen by PW. (Mar.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. Through the heroic efforts of the U.S. All rights reserved. After a fire broke out in the vessel's engine room and spread unchecked, everyone aboard was forced to abandon ship in a rising gale. Amazingly, none of the 320 passengers or 190 crew went down with her, recounts Jeffers (<
The author veers off into great detail regarding the types of planes and ships involved Marcia A. English I have skipped over large portions of this book to get back to the story of the sinking and rescue portion itself. The author veers off into great detail regarding the types of planes and ships involved in the rescue which seems to be filler to the real story. This would be a better read if large portions of the book had been edited out. M. Three Stars Michael mumford It was ok. "OK - but you didn't tell the whole story" according to A. Kienitz. I was there, as were several of my fellow Sitka Fire Department EMT's and State Troopers from the Sitka Academy. The 6 of us, along with two parajumpers from the Canadian Armed Services were flown through the typhoon winds, on a helicopter, out to the Williamsburgh where we spent the next OK - but you didn't tell the whole story I was there, as were several of my fellow Sitka Fire Department EMT's and State Troopers from the Sitka Academy. The 6 of us, along with two parajumpers from the Canadian Armed Services were flown through the typhoon winds, on a helicopter, out to the Williamsburgh where we spent the next 33 hours attending to the rescued passengers - lite. OK - but you didn't tell the whole story I was there, as were several of my fellow Sitka Fire Department EMT's and State Troopers from the Sitka Academy. The 6 of us, along with two parajumpers from the Canadian Armed Services were flown through the typhoon winds, on a helicopter, out to the Williamsburgh where we spent the next 33 hours attending to the rescued passengers - lite. hours attending to the rescued passengers - lite