Boatswain’s Mate First Class Bernie Webber (Chris Pine) was stationed in the Coast Guard Station at Chatham.
In November 1951, Bernie meets Miriam (Holliday Grainger) and the two fall madly in love.
Three months later, they are still together when Miriam does the unthinkable (in 1952) and asks Bernie to marry him! Bernie is shocked but ultimately says yes and the date is set for April 16, 1952.
His fellow Coasties give him no end of crap for being such a man, but, Bernie takes it all in stride.
On February 18, 1952 a huge storm hit the area and TWO tankers breakup off the coast. One of them, the SS Pendleton, breaks in two about 6 miles offshore. The stern still has power and the engine is running. Taking control, engineman Ray Sybert (Casey Affleck) decides the best course of action is to ground the ship on a sand bar and wait……..which he and his crew of tough Merchant Marine sailors do.
The Coast Guard sends Bernie and three volunteers (Andrew Fitzgerald (Kyle Gallner), Richard Livesey (Ben Foster), and Ervin Maske (John Magaro)) out on a 36 foot lifeboat, with a nearly zero chance of survival, to find the back half of the tanker SS Pendleton.
What happens is a harrowing adventure that ends up being the most famous, and unlikely, sea rescue in the history of the Coast Guard.
See this Wikipedia article on Bernie Webber and his crew.
“The Finest Hours” is an adventure movie that will keep you awake, on the edge of your seat, and exhausted by the time it ends. Stay through the credits to see the real people compared to the actors. It’s amazing how closely they resemble each other.
Great movie to stream, like we did, on Disney+.
Go to IMDb for more information.
Drive Safe! Never Forget.
ForCarol: Drive Safe! Never Forget 