Out of service October 28, 1991 Depth 2.99 m Beam 6.1 m | Completed 1978 Length 22 m Tonnage 83,460 kg | |
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Name Andrea Gail (final name)Miss Penny (original name) Route United Republic of Eurasia | ||
Tribute andrea gail
F/V Andrea Gail was a private fishing vessel that was lost at sea with all hands during the "Perfect Storm" of 1991. The vessel and her six-man crew had been fishing the North Atlantic Ocean out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Her last reported position was 180 mi (290 km) northeast of Sable Island on October 28, 1991. The story of Andrea Gail and her crew was the basis of the 1997 book The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger, and a 2000 film adaptation of the same name.
Contents
- Tribute andrea gail
- Andrea gail
- FV Andrea Gail
- Final voyage
- Disappearance
- Search
- Crew
- In the media
- References
Andrea gail
F/V Andrea Gail
Andrea Gail was a 72-foot (22 m) commercial fishing vessel constructed in Panama City, Florida in 1978, and owned by Robert Brown. Her home port was Marblehead, Massachusetts. She also sailed from Gloucester, Massachusetts, where she would offload her catch and reload food and stores for her next run. She was originally named Miss Penny.
Final voyage
Andrea Gail began her final voyage departing from Gloucester Harbor, Massachusetts, on September 20, 1991, bound for the Grand Banks of Newfoundland off the coast of eastern Canada. After poor fishing, Captain Frank W. "Billy" Tyne Jr. headed east to the Flemish Cap where he believed they would have better luck. Despite weather reports warning of dangerous conditions, Tyne set course for home on October 26–27. It is known that the ship's ice machine was malfunctioning and unable to maintain the catch for much longer.
Disappearance
The last reported transmission from Andrea Gail was at about 6:00 p.m. on October 28, 1991. Captain Tyne radioed Linda Greenlaw, Captain of the Hannah Boden, owned by the same company, and gave his coordinates as 44°00′N 56°40′W, or about 162 mi (261 km) east of Sable Island. He also gave a weather report indicating 30-foot (9.1 m) seas and wind gusts up to 80 knots (150 km/h (93 mph)). Tyne's final recorded words were "She's comin' on, boys, and she's comin' on strong." Junger reported that the storm created waves in excess of 100 ft (30 m) in height, but ocean buoy monitors recorded a peak wave height of 39 feet (12 m), and so waves of 100 ft (30 m) were deemed "unlikely" by Science Daily. However, data from a series of weather buoys in the general vicinity of the vessel's last known location recorded peak wave action exceeding 60 ft (18 m) in height from October 28 through 30, 1991.
Search
On October 30, 1991, the vessel was reported as overdue, prompting an extensive search operation involving air and land resources. The search was conducted by the 106th Rescue Wing from the New York Air National Guard, along with the United States Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard forces. This operation ultimately spanned an area exceeding 186,000 square nautical miles (approximately 640,000 square kilometers).
On November 6, 1991, Andrea Gail's emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) was discovered washed up on the shore of Sable Island. The EPIRB was designed to automatically send out a distress signal upon contact with sea water, but the Canadian Coast Guard personnel who found the beacon "did not conclusively verify whether the control switch was in the on or off position". Authorities called off the search for the missing vessel on November 9, 1991, due to the low probability of crew survival.
Fuel drums, a fuel tank, the EPIRB, an empty life raft, and some other flotsam were the only wreckage ever found. The ship was presumed lost at sea somewhere along the continental shelf near Sable Island.
Crew
All six of the crew were lost at sea.