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Discover the fascinating and nearly forgotten history amid Cape Cod’s salty waves and sandy beaches—photos included. From Provincetown to Falmouth, the Cape’s fifteen towns offer a plethora of hidden and enchanting tales. Learn why one of the most famous rescues in Coast Guard history spent nearly fifty years in the shadows without public notice. Discover which wild creature went from the nineteenth-century soup pot to enjoying conservation protection under state law. Historian Theresa Mitchell Barbo explores these mysteries and more, from the lost diary of a nineteenth-century schoolteacher to the reason Cape Codders call their lunch “the noontime dinner.” Join the author as she lifts the lid on the quirky and remarkable character of Cape Cod and its colorful past.
An ancient fishing ground, vital shipping passage and final resting place for those unable to navigate its rocky shoals, Nantucket Sound--bordered by Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod and, of course, Nantucket--remains one of New England's most historic waterways. Here, the first rays of morning sunlight touch the United States before sweeping westward. In fact, the area's early inhabitants were called Wampanoag: "People of the Dawn." From whaling culture and infamous shipwrecks to legends of Vikings, sea gods and John Smith, local author Theresa Mitchell Barbo unearths the stories hidden beneath these rough waves. At once unforgiving and generous, Nantucket Sound has seduced countless seafarers with its siren song but still overflows with diverse marine life.
Documents the 1952 Coast Guard mission to save the crews of two oil tankers that were torn in half by the force of one of New England's worst nor'easters.
The history of the U.S. Coast Guard and its predecessor agencies dates from 1790, with missions in both domestic and international waters. The service has provided aids to navigation, enforcement of maritime laws, environmental protection, search and rescue, immigration and narcotics interdiction, maritime safety assistance, port security, natural disaster response and national defense missions, including overseas with other U.S. armed forces and federal and state public safety agencies. The Service has operated under the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Transportation and, since 2003, the Department of Homeland Security. Its maritime mission regions have included Arctic and Antarctic waters, inland and coastal U.S. waterways and the seas and oceans of the world. This history describes how the Coast Guard has manifested its legacy and motto, Semper Paratus (Always Ready), in changing conditions under each of its leaders.
On the evening of January 2, 2009, Captain Matteo Russo and crewman John Orlando got underway aboard the fifty-four-foot fishing vessel Patriot, from the iconic State Pier in Gloucester, Massachusetts, bound for nearby fishing grounds in search of cod. They never returned. What happened less than eight hours later on that bitter and dark winter early morning that caused the Patriot to sink? Why did the Coast Guard deliberate more than two hours before launching a rescue mission? Using official documents, numerous interviews and insight as a search and rescue commander, maritime historian Captain W. Russell Webster, USCG (Ret.), expertly documents the tragedy of the Patriot, with startling findings. He deftly explores the condition of "normalcy bias" linked to this heartbreaking case, which can cause people--including Coast Guard personnel--to deny and sometimes over-deliberate threats to human life.
For hundreds of years, before English settlers permanently colonized what is now Cape Cod, bears and wolves were the top predators on this peninsula of Massachusetts. The Cape actually became an island when the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges were completed. This book details the history of wildlife on Cape Cod, at near shore, such as whaling and whale migration, and inland, like bears and wolves. It also contains essays on human interactions between animals and humans on this landscape for over 400 years, and how peoples' attitudes and behaviors toward animals have evolved.
Jack Nickerson and his faithful lab, Sinbad, wake early one snowy Cape Cod morning, ready for winter fun. Meanwhile, miles away in the ocean, the crew of a cargo tanker ship called the "Pendleton" is in serious trouble. The waves and wind of a raging nor'easter rip the tanker in two, leaving the people to cling for their lives in the wicked, cold storm. There's no time to waste--the Coast Guard, including Jack's friend Bernie Webber, leave Chatham Harbor in search of the "Pendleton" crew. They don't yet know that Jack and Sinbad have snuck aboard the rescue boat as stowaways. Join the young duo in the front-row seat for the greatest small-boat rescue in American history.
A first-hand account and fascinating new details of the 1952 rescue of the SS Pendleton, the true story behind the film The Finest Hours. On February 18, 1952, off the coast of Cape Cod, a fierce nor’easter snapped in half two 503-foot oil tankers, the Pendleton and the Fort Mercer. Human grace and grit, leadership and endurance prevail as Theresa Mitchell Barbo and Captain W. Russell Webster (Ret.) recount the historic, heroic rescue of thirty-two merchant mariners from the sinking Pendleton by four young Coast Guardsmen aboard the 36-foot motor lifeboat CG 36500. A foreword by former Commandant Admiral Thad Allen (Ret.) and an essay by Master Chief John “Jack” Downey (Ret.), a veteran of thousands of modern-day small boat rescues, round out the special third edition of this classic work on Coast Guard history.