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A True Story of Peril on the Sea
Random House
July 2006
Featuring: Kurt Carlsen
320 pages
ISBN: 1400065240
EAN: 9781400065240
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Biography
"HEAVEN HELP THE SAILOR ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS."
-old folk prayer In late December 1951, laden with passengers and nearly
forty metric tons of cargo, the freighter S.S. Flying
Enterprise steamed westward from Europe toward America. A
few days into the voyage, she hit the eye of a ferocious
storm. Force 12 winds tossed men about like playthings and
turned drops of freezing Atlantic foam into icy missiles.
When, in the space of twenty-eight hours, the ship was
slammed by two rogue waves-solid walls of water more than
sixty feet high-the impacts cracked the decks and hull
almost down to the waterline, threw the vessel over on her
side, and thrust all on board into terror. Flying Enterprise's captain, Kurt Carlsen, a seaman of rare
ability and valor, mustered all hands to patch the cracks
and then try to right the ship. When these efforts came to
naught, he helped transfer, across waves forty feet high,
the passengers and the entire crew to lifeboats sent from
nearby ships. Then, for reasons both professional and
intensely personal, and to the amazement of the world,
Carlsen defied all requests and 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. In a narrative as dramatic as the ocean's fury, acclaimed
bestselling author Frank Delaney tells, for the first time,
the full story of this unmatched bravery and endurance at
sea. We meet the devoted family whose well-being and safety
impelled Carlsen to stay with his ship. And we read of
Flying Enterprise's buccaneering owner, the fearless and
unorthodox Hans Isbrandtsen, who played a crucial role in
Kurt Carlsen's fate. Drawing on historical documents and contemporary accounts
and on exclusive interviews with Carlsen's family, Delaney
opens a window into the world of the merchant marine. With
deep affection-and respect-for the weather and all that goes
with it, he places us in the heart of the storm, a "biblical
tempest" of unimaginable power. He illuminates the bravery
and ingenuity of Carlsen and the extraordinary courage that
the thirty-seven-year-old captain inspired in his stalwart
crew. This is a gripping, absorbing narrative that
highlights one man's outstanding fortitude and heroic sense
of duty.
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