The Luckiest Thirteen
A True Story of a Battle for Survival in the North Atlantic
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Barbican Press
Published:24th Oct '23
Should be back in stock very soon
A relentless nautical drama that would define, or end, men’s lives.
The English port city of Hull was home to ‘three day millionaires’ – trawlermen on brief shore leave. They were spilling cash from record catches. With months out working fierce seas, who knew if the next trip would be their last?
The St Finbarr was set to change all that.
She was built as the perfect trawler, no cost spared. She was the future of the industry. She was on her thirteenth voyage.
The Grand Banks, Christmas Day 1966.
No holiday for the crew. They weren’t fishing. They were battling for their lives. Who can survive a fireball at sea? The families of the crew had a cruel wait to find out. Ships hit the fierce seas off Newfoundland to join a two-day rescue mission. From first sparks to gut-wrenching heroics, The Luckiest Thirteen tracks a true story from the far reaches of what fishermen can do.
"A gripping story, told with eloquence and empathy, displaying again the filmic quality which makes Brian W. Lavery’s writing so special." – Alan Johnson, award-winning author of This Boy
"Brian W. Lavery brings a journalist's eye for detail to a superbly realized tale of courage, loss and exceptional bravery. This is an important book, powerful, heart-breaking and triumphant."– David Mark, internationally acclaimed crime writer, Cruel Mercy, Dark Winter, The Zealot's Bones
"With the novelist's eye for drama and the historian's eye for detail, no one writes Hull's recent history like Brian Lavery."– Nick Quantrill, Hull-based crime writer, arts commentator, critic and sports journalist
"Another epic story from Brian W. Lavery - very well told, with some beautifully crafted detail. You really feel like you're there on that sinking, blazing ship -and you can't get off!"– Steve Humphries, documentary filmmaker and historian, Testimony Films, Bristol, UK
"Brian’s book is both sad and happy for me – a tribute to the young man I loved and the men he sailed with – a tragedy recalled – but a love story too. I was glad he told our story."– Jill Long-Taylor-Harrison – widowed as teenaged pregnant young mom by the St Finbarr disaster
"Brian W Lavery is the fishermen's clarion." – Retired skipper Ray Hawker, a technical adviser to the author
ISBN: 9781909954861
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
256 pages
New edition