Run the Storm : A Savage Hurricane, a Brave Crew, and the Wreck of the SS El Faro

In the bestselling tradition of The Perfect Storm and The Finest Hours , "an exquisitely written and dramatic book...a literary page-turner" (Doug Stanton, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Horse Soldiers )—the 2015 mysterious disappearance of the SS El Faro , a gigantic American cargo ship that sank in the Bermuda Triangle, taking with it thirty-three lives. On October 1, 2015, the SS El Faro , a massive American cargo ship disappeared in Hurricane Joaquin, a category 4 storm. The ship, its hundreds of shipping containers, and its entire crew plummeted to the bottom of the ocean, three miles down. It was the greatest seagoing US merchant marine shipping disaster since World War II. The massive ship had a seasoned crew, state-of-the-art navigation equipment, and advance warning of the storm. It seemed incomprehensible that such a ship could sink so suddenly. How, in this day and age, could something like this happen? Relying on Coast Guard inquest hearings, as well as on numerous interviews, George Michelsen Foy brings us "the most insightful exploration of this unthinkable disaster" ( Outside ), a story that lasts only a few days, but which grows almost intolerably suspenseful as deep-rooted flaws leading to the disaster inexorably link together and worsen. We see captain, engineers, and crew fight for their lives, and hear their actual words (as recorded on the ship's black box) while the hurricane relentlessly tightens its noose around the ship. We watch, minute by minute, all that is happening on board—the ship's mysterious tilt to one side, worried calls to the engine room, ship-to-shore reports, the courage of the men and women as they fight to survive, and the berserk ocean's savage consumption of the massive hull. And through it all, the pain and ultimate resilience of the families of El Faro 's crew. Now with a new afterword, this "tour de force of nautical expertise" ( Ocean Navigator ) is a masterwork of stunning power. "Here is the pitch-perfect pairing of subject and author, a gripping deconstruction of one of recent history's most terrible and vexing sea tragedies...A meticulous forensic study that, in Foy's able hands, rises to the level of literature." —Hampton Sides "Fans of The Perfect Storm and Into Thin Air will love this exquisitely written and dramatic book. George Foy has an action story that doesn't quit." —Doug Stanton "Foy is an experienced mariner who clearly knows his stuff, which gives the reader confidence in his account, and allows us to get lost in an amazing story that builds to a wild finish." —John U. Bacon In the bestselling tradition of A Perfect Storm and The Finest Hours , a harrowing account of the incredible true story of the recent shocking disappearance of El Faro , a gigantic American cargo ship that sank suddenly in the Bermuda Triangle in... In the best-selling tradition of A Perfect Storm and The Finest Hours, a harrowing account of the incredible true story of the recent shocking disappearance of El Faro, a gigantic American cargo ship that disappeared in Hurricane Joaquin and sank suddenly in the Bermuda Triangle in 2015--taking with it 33 lives.