The most daring Coast Gard rescue ever. In 1952, one winter storm off Cape Cod tore two oil tankers in half on the same day. The first crew was rescued in stages. The other faced near-certain death—until a 36-foot Coast Guard lifeboat arrived. What happened next still doesn’t quite make sense: somehow, in blinding seas and without a compass, 32 men were squeezed onto a boat built for just a dozen. And they all made it back alive.
—Andrew Daniels, Director of News