Into the Raging Sea: Thirty-three mariners, one megastorm and the sinking of El Faro
By Rachel Slade
4/5
()
Unavailable in your country
Unavailable in your country
About this ebook
In the tradition of The Perfect Storm and Into Thin Air, Rachel Slade’s Into the Raging Sea is a nail-biting account of the sinking of the container ship El Faro, the crew of thirty-three who perished onboard, and the destructive forces of globalisation that put the ship in harm’s way.
On 1 October 2015, Hurricane Joaquin barreled into the Bermuda Triangle and swallowed the container ship El Faro whole, resulting in one of the worst shipping disasters in decades. No one could fathom how a vessel equipped with satellite communications, a sophisticated navigation system, and cutting-edge weather forecasting could suddenly vanish – until now.
Relying on hundreds of exclusive interviews with family members and maritime experts, as well as the words of the crew members themselves – whose conversations were captured by the ship’s data recorder – Rachel Slade unravels the mystery of the sinking of El Faro. As she recounts the final twenty-four hours onboard, Slade vividly depicts the officers’ anguish and fear as they struggled to carry out Captain Michael Davidson’s increasingly bizarre commands, which they knew would steer them straight into the eye of the storm. Taking a hard look at America’s aging merchant marine fleet, Slade also reveals the truth about modern shipping – a cutthroat industry plagued by razor-thin profits and ever more violent hurricanes fueled by global warming.
A richly reported account of a singular tragedy, Into the Raging Sea takes us into the heart of an age-old American industry, casting new light on the hardworking crew of El Faro who paid the ultimate price in the name of profit.
Rachel Slade
Rachel Slade is a Boston-based journalist, writer, and editor. She was a staff writer at Boston magazine for ten years, and her writing earned her a City and Regional Magazine Award in civic journalism. She splits her time between Brookline, Massachusetts, and Rockport, Maine.
Related to Into the Raging Sea
Related ebooks
Into the Raging Sea: Thirty-Three Mariners, One Megastorm, and the Sinking of El Faro Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Run the Storm: A Savage Hurricane, a Brave Crew, and the Wreck of the SS El Faro Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Once Is Enough Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Worst Journey in the World: Antarctic 1910-1913 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Voyage For Madmen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On the Edge of Survival: A Shipwreck, a Raging Storm, and the Harrowing Alaskan Rescue That Became a Legend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hell on High Seas: Amazing Stories of Survival Against the Odds Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Catamaran Crossing: A Sailing Adventure from La Coruña to Antigua Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5At the Mercy of the Sea: The True Story of Three Sailors in a Caribbean Hurricane Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnsinkable: A Young Woman's Courageous Battle on the High Seas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Overboard!: A True Blue-water Odyssey of Disaster and Survival Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Voyages of a Simple Sailor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A World of My Own: The First Ever Non-stop Solo Round the World Voyage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sail: A Tribute to the World's Greatest Races, Sailors and Their Boats Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Maiden Voyage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dinghy Bible: The complete guide for novices and experts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Island Hopping Digital Guide to the Windward Islands - Part IV - St. Vincent and the Grenadines Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJester Challenge and Beyond: Small Boat Atlantic Crossing on a Budget Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Go to Sea Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSouth! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sailing Acts: Following An Ancient Voyage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Brilliant Outsider Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sailing a Serious Ocean Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Grain Race Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Incredible Voyage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Packrafting: A Beginner's Guide: Buying, Learning & Exploring Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBumbling Through Paradise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fatal Storm: The 54th Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race - 10th Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies) History For You
Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win | Summary & Key Takeaways Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer: An Edgar Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/518 Tiny Deaths: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Not My Father's Son: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A History of the American People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Southern Cunning: Folkloric Witchcraft In The American South Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Wager Disaster: Mayem, Mutiny and Murder in the South Seas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5"America is the True Old World" Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Not Stolen: The Truth About European Colonialism in the New World Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5101 Secrets of the Freemasons: The Truth Behind the World's Most Mysterious Society Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Values: Lessons I Learned from My Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Constitution of the United States of America: 1787 (Annotated) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Profiles in Courage: Deluxe Modern Classic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Delectable Negro: Human Consumption and Homoeroticism within US Slave Culture Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Children's Blizzard Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ruby Ridge: The Truth and Tragedy of the Randy Weaver Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe First Frontier: The Forgotten History of Struggle, Savagery, & Endurance in Early America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Into the Raging Sea
69 ratings5 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This was an absolutely riveting and tragic account of El Faro, the container ship that ran into Hurricane Joaquin while enroute to Puerto Rico from Jacksonville, Fl, in October 2015, and disappeared, resulting in the loss of 33 lives. The first half of the book tells of the mariners and the final hours aboard ship (possible because of the subsequent find of the ship’s VDR that had recorded hours of conversations on the bridge). The second half details the search and subsequent infuriating investigation. The author is a journalist and the book has a “you are there” feel - it’s impossible not to feel deeply as ill formed decisions are made. It’s a page-turner of a book even as you know it’s going to end tragically. This isn’t a technical story, it’s more a story of people - the mariners and coast guard personnel - who work the water. Highly recommendedMy thanks to the publisher for providing a copy of this book for honest review.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is an excellent recounting of the horrifying wreck of an American container ship in a 2015 hurricane off the coast of Puerto Rico. Since the "black box" recorder on the ship's bridge was retrieved (at great peril and expense), the author is able to document the hour-by-hour combination of human hubris and mechanical failure that caused the deaths of 33 mariners. And since she attended the post-accident inquest, Slade is also able to pin the tail on the corporate donkey. There's plenty of neglect and avarice to be spread around. Quote: "The word "experienced" often refers to someone who has gotten away with doing the wrong thing more frequently than you have."
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Very well researched and reminiscent of 'A Perfect Storm' in terms of how the story is told. It took a little bit to get absorbed into the book, but hard to be critical of it in any way.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A heavily padded magazine article, but still good. Did Slade really need to go into the history of the American Revolution? There are hundreds of capsule portraits of characters who disappear by the next page—fortunately, Slade doesn't draw them out too far. Slade constantly misuses the word "exponential," as in: "Wind speed and force have an exponential relationship, meaning that as the wind notches up, its force doubles, then triples, and then quadruples, and so on. It’s based on a simple formula: wind pressure per square foot = 0.00256 (wind speed)^2." This makes me wonder what other basic facts she gets completely wrong. Another flaw is that the narrative is strongly biased, especially against the corporate owner of the El Faro. To me, it seemed like most of the blame fell on the captain for heading right into the hurricane (based partly on mistaken weather reports), and some of what Slade assails as corporate doublespeak sounded completely reasonable. I'd like to know the truth, but we mostly get one side here. Also, despite all the padding elsewhere, the chapter on recommended safety improvements following the investigation is too brief. I am glad it is there. Also, not the author's fault given the publication date, but I would like to know whether these recommendations have been adopted or not. Despite these criticisms, the story is definitely spellbinding, and it reads quickly. Recommended.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We had an exciting night at book club meeting we had discussing this book. We were joined by a journalist from our local newspaper who is doing a feature piece on book clubs and after interviewing me over the phone about book clubs at the store, she asked if there was one she could come to and the timing just happened to work out that nonfiction book club was meeting the next day!
She started by taking pictures of the book club displays in the store, and then as members started arriving and talking, she sat down to interview them as well. Thankfully, the group is full of chatters and people who LOVE to share their opinions, which I think makes for a great book club. Hopefully the journalist got some good copy, and I’ll share the link to the article when it’s published!
As for the book, I love a good sea/shipwreck story. Dead Wake has been a favorite book of mine since my old book club read it years ago and is part of the inspiration for my continuing nonfiction kick. Add in the fact that the loss of the mariners and ship was preventable, and we all had a lot to talk about.
It’s next to impossible to believe that, in 2015, ships are allowed to sail without modern GPS systems. When the ship went down, the coast guard had absolutely no way of locking down it’s last known location. The company that owned El Faro couldn’t be bothered to keep the ship in good working order, or even track their own ship. While Rachel focuses on the ship and crew for the bulk of the book, she alluded to so many other issues, from global warming to shipping monopolies, to government corruption and corporate cover ups.
The pacing of the book reads like a long form essay, and I could see a piece on the El Faro in the New Yorker or Atlantic serving as a jumping off point for the many books that have been published since. Alternating between actual conversations had by the crew, history of the shipping industry, the first three quarters of the book focuses on the history of the company and the concerns of the crew regarding their route. The last quarter of the book starts when the ground lost contact with the ship and details the rescue efforts and subsequent hearings.
The book finishes with the final words of the crew as they face their fate. Despite knowing their fate, the tension in the moment, knowing that their final words were captured for the world to read, it gave me goosebumps. Overall, we loved the book as a group, and I personally thought it was a spectacularly written book.