Product Description

- Pride of the Sea has been serialized in The Baltimore Sun and Chesapeake Life Magazine, and has been featured in the Washington Post, Maryland Daily Record, the Annapolis Capital, the Easton Star Democrat and the Towson Times. - Will captivate fans of such adventure-driven bestsellers as the Perfect Storm, Into Thin Air and Isaac's Storm.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #587184 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Now and then, here and there, Waldron’s tale of disaster at sea is absolutely wonderful. In between, it subsides to merely engrossing. The story revolves around The Pride of Baltimore, a ship built in 1976 as part of Baltimore’s waterfront redevelopment program. Originally intended to serve as a floating museum, The Pride was modeled after the city’s legendary clippers—the favorite ships of 19th-century smugglers, slave traders and privateers, for whom a ship’s speed was more important than its safety. Baltimore clippers frequently disappeared without a trace, but, according to crewmembers, their sailing was "unforgettable," "like riding bareback at night on a wild black mare." Naturally then, when The Pride was completed, its supporters longed to take it on the open sea, and they eventually convinced the city to send it on a two-year, 2,800-mile goodwill voyage to Europe, with a group of 12 bright young sailors as its crew. It was on its way home when, on May 14, 1986, it was struck by an unexpected squall; it turned on its side, filled with water and sank in a matter of minutes. Waldron artfully splices the history of The Pride’s construction, and of clipper ships in general, with the more suspenseful narrative of the ship’s capsizing and its crew’s efforts to survive. The book is juiciest at the moments when the sailors—men and women—are fighting the sea for their lives. But the interleaved history adds depth to Waldron’s account and makes his analysis of the subsequent liability issues all the more credible. A vivid tale of courage and endurance, this book is an excellent choice for readers who’d like to experience the dangers of the sea from the safety of their armchairs.
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Review
"A gripping story...a heart-wrenching and educational tale." -- Soundings Magazine, June 2004

"One of the year's great adventure reads -- part survival story, part suspense thriller, part history lesson..." -- Washington Post, May 14, 2004

"Tom Waldron, a journalist from Baltimore, skillfully pieces together the story of the Pride of Baltimore and its crew." -- Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, May 9, 2004

"a very gripping account of the...tragic end of the original Pride of Baltimore." -- Easton (Md.) Star Democrat, May 7, 2004

"an excellent account by a former newspaper reporter...a damning analysis of the sinking of the Pride of Baltimore" -- Baltimore Sun, April 11, 2004

Review
"A vivid tale of courage and endurance."
-- Publishers Weekly Annex Reviews (Publisher's Weekly )

Customer Reviews

One of the better sailing stories ever told
Pride of the Sea is one of better entries in the crowded "fight for survival" market that kicked off five years ago with "Into Thin Air" and the "Perfect Storm."

Waldron takes a complex subject -- the sinking of a historical replica of the Baltimore clipper, Pride of the Sea -- and artfully plots and presents a great story of man versus the sea.

The book is told objectively -- with no hair pulling or chest beating, finger pointing or assignment of blame -- and what emerges is a sad, yet gripping tale of death on the high seas. From naval architecture to naval history, the story of the Pride of the Sea is more than one of survival, and comes together to present a great debut by a great journalist.

Victims of Nostalgia
The Baltimore clipper schooners, famous for their speed, pestered the British in the War of 1812. They were slender and fast, low in the water but with two extremely tall, swept-back masts. The city fathers of Baltimore in the 1970s figured the city needed something to be proud of. It had lost its football team, crime was up, and the docks were in decay. To boost civic pride, a replica Baltimore clipper was proposed, and eagerly funded, built, staffed and sailed. _The Pride of Baltimore_ was a gorgeous ship, looking smart in any display of the beloved Tall Ships. In fact, it was first proposed to be a dockside museum, but it eventually became a seagoing craft, spreading the good name of Baltimore (and business interest in it) to Europe. The plan to resurrect the Baltimore clipper was a resounding success. Unfortunately, lots of the clippers had sunk two centuries ago, largely due to their top-heaviness, and _The Pride_ did so, too, in 1986, in an unexpected storm as she was returning to Baltimore from the Virgin Islands. Four of the crew of twelve perished. In _Pride of the Sea: Courage, Disaster, and a Fight for Survival_ (Citadel Press) Tom Waldron has given the story of the ship and the disaster, a story which ought to please true-life adventure fans. He also comes to some sensible conclusions about how the accident happened, beyond the simple explanation "freak storm."

When the proposal for a new Baltimore clipper was made, one of the first naval architects to consider the job wrote, "... an exact replica of an old sailing vessel is unlikely to meet Coast Guard requirements." Indeed, the civic boosters and the architect who got the job made a conscious decision not to have _The Pride_ certified by the Coast Guard. It was risky to sail on her, but it was authentic, and it appealed to those who loved ships with sails. There was a crew of both old salts and rookies, none of whom were over thirty. Six of them were newcomers to the boat. A violent, unexpected squall of sixty knots simply pushed over _The Pride_; there had been a risky maneuver to bring the ship under better control, but the risk had not paid off. The ship rapidly took on water, and with no compartmentalization, sank quickly. The rafts failed to work properly; only one could be inflated, so that the eight survivors had to make do on a raft that would have been crowded with its recommended crew of six. Waldron expertly describes the chaos of the sinking and the hellish five days on the raft afterwards. Time after time, ships passing near enough to see them did not see them, until a Norwegian supertanker picked them up. The only lightness in the raft comes from a couple who had fallen in love on the boat. The young woman said matter-of-factly, "I don't want to go through life without being proposed to." Her boyfriend, taken aback, issued one of the strangest proposals ever: "Sure, Leslie, if we survive, we'll get married." And so they did, after funerals and investigations and recriminations, all recounted here.

_The Pride_ and its four lost crewmen were sacrificed to nostalgia, a dream of the romantic days of sail without recalling the nightmares the sea can bring. Nothing symbolizes this as much as the hand-held radio beacons that would have sent signals to satellites when the ship was in danger. Both beacon devices were available to anyone who could grab one, but they were inaccessible, mounted on the inside of the doomed vessel. The reason? They were too modern to be kept out on deck and detracted from the vessel's historic aspect. Waldron's terrific account of the loss of _The Pride_ recounts many such lapses. _Pride of Baltimore II_ has been built, and to modern standards this time. But as a survivor reminds us, the most modern of boats are going down, too: "When you go out to sea, it's a big place out there and the sea has all the power."

Sad Memory, Wonderful Tribute
Having lived in Maryland until just a couple of years ago, I clearly remember the Pride and when she sank. I was at Martin's Airport with a friend the day the survivors returned, and it was a moving experience. I cried seeing these people, whom I had never met, yet knowing what they'd been through and seeing the sadness on their faces. It's one of those moments in time that you know you'll always remember, but life goes on and it fades into the background. But seeing this book at our local book store brought it all back to me in vivid color. I shared the experience with my husband, told him about this beautiful beloved ship that we were all so proud of and the pain every Marylander felt when we heard the news that she was lost, and that some of its crew were lost with her. This book is a moving, loving tribute to our beloved Pride and her crew and I would recommend it to anyone who appreciates the sea.