Search -
Burning Cold: The Cruise Ship Prinsendam and the Greatest Sea Rescue of all Time
Burning Cold The Cruise Ship Prinsendam and the Greatest Sea Rescue of all Time Author:H. Paul Jeffers During the evening of October 4, 1980, in the Pacific Ocean nearly 330 miles from Valdez, Alaska, a fire engulfed the engine room of the Prinsendam, a Holland America cruise ship carrying 320 passengers, most of them elderly.As the fire raged out of control, the ships captain faced the most dire decision of his career: Could he give the order to... more » abandon ship in the face of a typhoon bearing down on the Prinsendams position? The story of this disaster at sea, and of the near-miraculous rescue that ensued, is recounted in heart-stopping detail in this powerful book. Drawing on extensive interviews with passengers, crew, and coast guardsmen, combined with exhaustive research, Burning Cold brings to life the last moments of the doomed cruise ship and the heroic efforts of the Coast Guardsmen who managed to transport every passenger to safety before the Prinsendam rolled and slid bow-first to the bottom on October 11. Told in the hour-by-hour style of Walter Lords Titanic classic, A Night to Remember, the book recreates the drama of one of the most memorableand successfulrescue operations ever to be conducted at sea.« less