The Perfect Storm

Due south of Sable Island, the waves hit seventy-five feet, and stay that way for the next seventeen hours. Albert Johnston says that if the whole U.S. Swordfleet was caught in it, every one of them would have gone down. “Scientists,” Junger writes, “understand how waves work, but not how huge waves work” (119). The waves in the North Atlantic, during the storm, are the highest ever recorded. And waves are getting bigger around the world. Junger describes historical records of rogue waves, how in 1973 the Neptune Sapphire broke in half after being hit by a huge wave, and how a 478-foot Navy tanker measured a wave at 112 feet in 1933.

Tommy Barrie was also hit by a huge wave off Georges Bank. The wave broke the windows in the wheelhouse and fried the electronics. When this happens, the crew has to cover the windows in plywood. Junger speculates this is what happened to the Andrea Gail. He gives an account of what happened to the Eishin Maru, a Japanese ship, during the storm. A Canadian observer, Judith Reeves, was on board when the wheelhouse windows blew out and disabled the electronics. The steering linkage failed as well, and the Eishin Maru was dead in the water, at the mercy of the weather. A wave hitting her broadside might sink the boat, and Reeves had to come to terms with the idea that she might die. The Coast Guard scrambled rescue helicopters and two ships, but it would be a long time before the help arrived.

At this point, Junger speculates that Billy Tyne and the Andrea Gail are probably off the coast of Sable Island, called the “Graveyard of the Atlantic” because of the shoals surrounding the island, and the confusing currents. Junger posits they’ve lost power, and Tyne is navigating by dead reckoning. Whatever the case, something catastrophic happens to her on the night of the 28th.