In thinking about a "next model up" for me, it would be another "mystery ship".
n September 20, 1991, the Andrea Gail left port in Gloucester, Massachusetts for the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. The plan was to fill the hold with swordfish and return within a month or so, but that depended on the crew’s luck — and not long after the ship arrived at the Grand Banks, they realized they didn’t have much.
On October 29, the 40th day of their extended commercial fishing trip, three devastating storms converged, sending waves as high as 100 feet and striking the Andrea Gail with winds reaching 92 miles per hour.
Of the six men on board the Andrea Gail that day, none of them made it home. A few weeks after the ship went missing, its emergency beacon washed ashore on Sable Island, off the Nova Scotian coast, but the vessel itself was never found.
The Andrea Gail was a well-equipped ship. According to Outside, the boat had been fully rigged, ready for a long trip. On board, it was stocked with hundreds of miles of monofilament line, thousands of fishing hooks, and 10,000 pounds of bait. It was equipped with seven life preservers, plus six survival suits, a life raft, and an emergency beacon.
It should have been able to weather any storm. Its owner, Bob Brown — known as Suicide Brown among the locals, due to the risks he took as a young fisher — had taken the Andrea Gail on dozens of excursions before, and this one was shaping up to be no different for its new crew.
Captained by Frank “Billy” Tyne, a young and fearless captain who had braved many storms before, the Andrea Gail was seemingly more than prepared for anything the ocean could throw at it. Alongside Captain Tyne were David Sullivan, Alfred Pierre, Bobby Shatford, Dale Murphy, and Michael “Bugsy” Moran.
No luck, though. As told in Gillian Houghton’s The Wreck of the Andrea Gail: Three Days of a Perfect Storm, the fish just weren’t biting, and to make matters worse, parts of the ship were starting to break down — notably, the ice machine, which meant that anything they did manage to catch was going to spoil quickly if they didn’t make it back to land as soon as possible.
Tyne decided that before that, to get home as soon as possible, they’d first have to travel farther away. The Andrea Gail set its course east toward Flemish Cap, another fishing ground where Tyne hoped they’d make a nice haul.
Unfortunately, all that awaited them was disaster.
Some extreme weather patterns were coming together to create the ideal conditions for a massive nor’easter. Nor’easters are common in the region, but this was no common storm. Meanwhile, a hurricane was brewing in the Atlantic.
Typically, late-season hurricanes like Hurricane Grace dissipate over land — but Grace never even made it to shore due to a massive cold front, known as an anticyclone, blocking the Eastern Seaboard. When Grace came up against this anticyclone, it literally bounced off of it and headed back out to sea.
Soon, Grace collided with a low-pressure system that had been developing over Quebec and traveling eastward off the Canadian Maritimes, causing a strange stall off the coast of Nova Scotia. It was at this conjunction point that the storms converged and began to grow rapidly, producing massive waves and gale-force winds. Once more, it reversed directions, heading back toward New England.
But back on board the Andrea Gail, things seemed to be turning around — Tyne’s decision to try Flemish Cap had paid off. The holds were filled with enough swordfish to earn every man on board a big paycheck. Around 6 p.m. on October 28, Tyne reported to the Allison that he and his crew were 130 miles north-northeast of Sable Island and already experiencing 80-knot winds.
Linda Greenlaw, the captain of the Hannah Boden, remembered later, “I wanted a weather report, and Billy [Tyne] wanted a fishing report. I recall him saying, ‘The weather sucks. You probably won’t be fishing tomorrow night.” It was the last anyone ever heard from the crew. The storm was building rapidly, with no word from the men at sea. After three days without any word from the ship they were declared missing.
The Boston Globe reported at the time that the winds “tossed [boats] like beach toys [in] the surf.” Houses were pulled off their foundations by the rising water.
By the time the storm was over, it had caused nearly $500 million in damage and 13 deaths.
That same day, the Coast Guard started a massive search for the crew of the Andrea Gail. There was no sign of the ship or the crew until November 5, when the ship’s emergency beacon washed ashore on Sable Island off the coast of Canada. Eventually, more debris turned up, but the crew and ship were never seen again.
I found a kit, I assume there are more available. ... "Semper Fortis"
(Andrea Gail Billing Boats: BB0608 assembly kit naval model 1:60 scale commercial fishing vessel.
Naval model with ABS plastic hull, wooden decks, all accessories
box contains detailed multilingual instructions to facilitate assembly).
The Andrea Gail and its crew of six fishermen were lost in what became known as the “Perfect Storm” of 1991 — and were never seen again.
Most of us have seen the movie, but here is a synopsis of the events. (credit to Wyatt Redd)n September 20, 1991, the Andrea Gail left port in Gloucester, Massachusetts for the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. The plan was to fill the hold with swordfish and return within a month or so, but that depended on the crew’s luck — and not long after the ship arrived at the Grand Banks, they realized they didn’t have much.
On October 29, the 40th day of their extended commercial fishing trip, three devastating storms converged, sending waves as high as 100 feet and striking the Andrea Gail with winds reaching 92 miles per hour.
Of the six men on board the Andrea Gail that day, none of them made it home. A few weeks after the ship went missing, its emergency beacon washed ashore on Sable Island, off the Nova Scotian coast, but the vessel itself was never found.
The Andrea Gail was a well-equipped ship. According to Outside, the boat had been fully rigged, ready for a long trip. On board, it was stocked with hundreds of miles of monofilament line, thousands of fishing hooks, and 10,000 pounds of bait. It was equipped with seven life preservers, plus six survival suits, a life raft, and an emergency beacon.
It should have been able to weather any storm. Its owner, Bob Brown — known as Suicide Brown among the locals, due to the risks he took as a young fisher — had taken the Andrea Gail on dozens of excursions before, and this one was shaping up to be no different for its new crew.
Captained by Frank “Billy” Tyne, a young and fearless captain who had braved many storms before, the Andrea Gail was seemingly more than prepared for anything the ocean could throw at it. Alongside Captain Tyne were David Sullivan, Alfred Pierre, Bobby Shatford, Dale Murphy, and Michael “Bugsy” Moran.
No luck, though. As told in Gillian Houghton’s The Wreck of the Andrea Gail: Three Days of a Perfect Storm, the fish just weren’t biting, and to make matters worse, parts of the ship were starting to break down — notably, the ice machine, which meant that anything they did manage to catch was going to spoil quickly if they didn’t make it back to land as soon as possible.
Tyne decided that before that, to get home as soon as possible, they’d first have to travel farther away. The Andrea Gail set its course east toward Flemish Cap, another fishing ground where Tyne hoped they’d make a nice haul.
Unfortunately, all that awaited them was disaster.
Some extreme weather patterns were coming together to create the ideal conditions for a massive nor’easter. Nor’easters are common in the region, but this was no common storm. Meanwhile, a hurricane was brewing in the Atlantic.
Typically, late-season hurricanes like Hurricane Grace dissipate over land — but Grace never even made it to shore due to a massive cold front, known as an anticyclone, blocking the Eastern Seaboard. When Grace came up against this anticyclone, it literally bounced off of it and headed back out to sea.
Soon, Grace collided with a low-pressure system that had been developing over Quebec and traveling eastward off the Canadian Maritimes, causing a strange stall off the coast of Nova Scotia. It was at this conjunction point that the storms converged and began to grow rapidly, producing massive waves and gale-force winds. Once more, it reversed directions, heading back toward New England.
But back on board the Andrea Gail, things seemed to be turning around — Tyne’s decision to try Flemish Cap had paid off. The holds were filled with enough swordfish to earn every man on board a big paycheck. Around 6 p.m. on October 28, Tyne reported to the Allison that he and his crew were 130 miles north-northeast of Sable Island and already experiencing 80-knot winds.
Linda Greenlaw, the captain of the Hannah Boden, remembered later, “I wanted a weather report, and Billy [Tyne] wanted a fishing report. I recall him saying, ‘The weather sucks. You probably won’t be fishing tomorrow night.” It was the last anyone ever heard from the crew. The storm was building rapidly, with no word from the men at sea. After three days without any word from the ship they were declared missing.
The Boston Globe reported at the time that the winds “tossed [boats] like beach toys [in] the surf.” Houses were pulled off their foundations by the rising water.
By the time the storm was over, it had caused nearly $500 million in damage and 13 deaths.
That same day, the Coast Guard started a massive search for the crew of the Andrea Gail. There was no sign of the ship or the crew until November 5, when the ship’s emergency beacon washed ashore on Sable Island off the coast of Canada. Eventually, more debris turned up, but the crew and ship were never seen again.
I found a kit, I assume there are more available. ... "Semper Fortis"
(Andrea Gail Billing Boats: BB0608 assembly kit naval model 1:60 scale commercial fishing vessel.
Naval model with ABS plastic hull, wooden decks, all accessories
box contains detailed multilingual instructions to facilitate assembly).