Join us on August 4th at 7:00 pm as author Michael Tougias presents “The Finest Hours: The true story of the Coast Guard’s most daring sea rescue”

On February 18th, 1952 an astonishing maritime event began when a ferocious nor’easter split in half a 500-foot long oil tanker, the Pendleton, approximately one mile off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Incredibly, just twenty miles away, a second oil tanker, the Fort Mercer, also split in half. On both fractured tankers men were trapped on the severed bows and sterns, and all four sections were sinking in 60-foot seas. Thus began a life and death drama of survival, heroism, and a series of tragic mistakes. Of the 84 seamen aboard the tankers, 70 would be rescued and 14 would lose their lives. Join us as author Michael Tougias presents a slide show sharing the events of this harrowing rescue just off the New England coast. This is the book that inspired the Disney movie released this past January!

This program was made possible by support from the Vermont Humanities Council an dis free and open to all.

The Davies Memorial Library is located in Lower Waterford across from the Rabbit Hill Inn.

For more information call 802-748-4609 or e-mail davieslibraryvt@gmail.com