Adrift
A True Story of Tragedy on the Icy Atlantic and the One Who Lived to Tell About It
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Narrated by:
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Dan Warren
About this listen
A story of tragedy at sea, where every desperate act meant life or death.
The small ship making the Liverpool-to-New York trip in the early months of 1856 carried mail, crates of dry goods, and more than 100 passengers, mostly Irish emigrants. Suddenly, an iceberg tore the ship asunder, and five lifeboats were lowered. As four lifeboats drifted into the fog and icy water, never to be heard from again, the last boat wrenched away from the sinking ship with a few blankets, some water and biscuits, and 13 souls. Only one would survive. This is his story.
As they started their nine days adrift more than 400 miles off Newfoundland, the castaways - an Irish couple and their two boys, an English woman and her daughter, newlyweds from Ireland, and several crewmen, including Thomas W. Nye from Fairhaven, Massachusetts - began fighting over food and water. One by one, though, day by day, they died. Some from exposure, others from madness and panic. In the end, only Nye and the ship's log survived.
Using Nye's firsthand descriptions and later newspaper accounts, ship's logs, assorted diaries, and family archives, Brian Murphy chronicles the horrific nine days that 13 people suffered adrift on the cold, gray Atlantic. Adrift brings listeners to the edge of human limits, where every frantic decision and desperate act is a potential life-saver or life-taker.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2018 Brian Murphy and Toula Vlahou (P)2018 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Ice is a killer. It kills ships and it kills the men and women on them. Brian Murphy reminds us that for every famous ship that goes down - think Titanic - countless thousands of others have been lost at sea, nameless, forgotten. In Adrift he brings back to life the story of the John Rutledge, and of the crusty Yankee sailors and seasick Irish immigrants who were aboard, and who died when the three-master foundered in the lonely, iceberg-studded North Atlantic - all but one man, that is, Thomas Nye, who kept his wits about him in a frigid open lifeboat and, half-frozen, clung to life. Murphy writes with such authority, you can feel the cold creeping into your bones." (Will Englund, Pulitzer, Polk, and Overseas Press Club Award-winning journalist)
"It's obvious tremendous research went into Adrift, and maritime history buffs will appreciate not only the saga of the Rutledge but also other ships in peril during the 1800s, when crossing the Atlantic in winter was literally a life-and-death gamble." (Michael J. Tougias, coauthor of So Close to Home, The Finest Hours, and Above & Beyond)
"The dramatic story of Thomas W. Nye, the sole survivor of the John Rutledge's tragic encounter with an iceberg in 1856, is beautifully rendered, gripping, and emotionally engaging from beginning to end. Murphy and Vlahou perform a literary magic trick of sorts, transporting readers into another era and enabling them to see and feel what it was like to travel across the ice-choked north Atlantic in the depths of winter, and confront the ultimate nightmare scenario - a sinking ship in the middle of the ocean with no help in sight. Adrift is a chilling and searingly memorable tale of unimaginable suffering and one man's bittersweet triumph over the odds." (Eric Jay Dolin, author of Black Flags, Blue Waters and Leviathan)
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The men on the SS Marine Electric sailed into a storm in February 1983 not knowing that they would make history - at a great cost in lives. Just three men survived the wreck of the Marine Electric off the shores of Virginia and they found that their struggle had just begun once they got back to shore. Blamed for the wreck, they fought back and broke a code of silence that had covered up sloppy ship inspections for decades and revealed the flaws in old World War II rust buckets that were still at sea long past their functional lifetime.
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Interesting, but not a great listen
- By Eric on 02-22-13
By: Robert Frump
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The Finest Hours
- The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Most Daring Sea Rescue
- By: Michael J. Tougias, Casey Sherman
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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In the winter of 1952, New England was battered by the most brutal nor’easter in years. As the weather wreaked havoc on land, the freezing Atlantic became a wind-whipped zone of peril, setting the stage for one of the most heroic rescue stories ever lived. On February 18, while the storm raged, two oil tankers, the Pendleton and the Fort Mercer, were in the same horrifying predicament. Built with “dirty steel,” and not prepared to withstand such ferocious seas, both tankers split in two, leaving the dozens of men on board utterly at the Atlantic’s mercy.
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Two Times Terrific!
- By Carole T. on 01-31-16
By: Michael J. Tougias, and others
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In the Kingdom of Ice
- The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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In the late nineteenth century, people were obsessed by one of the last unmapped areas of the globe: The North Pole. No one knew what existed beyond the fortress of ice rimming the northern oceans. On July 8, 1879, the USS Jeannette set sail from San Francisco to cheering crowds in the grip of "Arctic Fever." The ship sailed into uncharted seas, but soon was trapped in pack ice. Two years into the harrowing voyage, the hull was breached. Amid the rush of water and the shrieks of breaking wooden boards, the crew abandoned the ship.
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Superb tale that unravels at an iceburg's pace
- By Mel on 03-19-15
By: Hampton Sides
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Hell on Ice
- The Saga of the Jeannette
- By: Edward Ellsberg
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In the 1870s, newspaperman James Gordon Bennett of the New York Herald drummed up excitement and publicity for his paper through highly publicized missions of exploration. In 1879, Bennett's idea for a voyage was his most audacious to date: the North Pole. To do this, he hired a team of naval veterans in addition to a smattering of civilians with specialized knowledge in meteorology, whaling, and naturalism. The men on board the Jeannette set off in September of 1879. This would be the last time anyone saw them for two years.
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Great story, and great way to approach the telling
- By Christopher on 08-22-14
By: Edward Ellsberg
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Wreck of the Carl D.
- A True Story of Loss, Survival, and Rescue at Sea
- By: Michael Schumacher
- Narrated by: Gary D. MacFadden
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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On November 18, 1958, a 623-foot limestone carrier - caught in one of the most violent storms in Lake Michigan history - broke in two and sank in less than five minutes. Four of the 35-person crew escaped to a small raft, to which they clung in total darkness, braving 30-foot waves and frigid temperatures. As the storm raged on, a search-and-rescue mission hunted for survivors, while the frantic citizens of nearby Rogers City, Michigan, anxiously awaited word of their loved ones' fates.
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A harrowing story of survival and loss
- By Ron T on 03-25-16
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In the Wake of Madness
- The Murderous Voyage of the Whaleship Sharon
- By: Joan Druett
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
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Commanded by Captain Howes Norris, the Sharon headed for the whaling grounds of the northwestern Pacific. At Pohnpei Island, 12 men from the Sharon deserted the ship, leaving her critically shorthanded. After steering for New Zealand to recruit more crew, the men on lookout raised a school of sperm whales. Two boats gave chase, each with a crew of six. Five men were left on board the Sharon: Norris, three pacific Islanders, and a Portuguese boy named Manuel.
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Love this author.
- By David H. on 07-15-17
By: Joan Druett
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In the Heart of the Sea
- The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
- By: Nathaniel Philbrick
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
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Performance
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Story
The ordeal of the whaleship Essex was an event as mythic in the nineteenth century as the sinking of the Titanic was in the twentieth. In 1819 the Essex left Nantucket for the South Pacific with 20 crew members aboard. In the middle of the South Pacific the ship was rammed and sunk by an angry sperm whale. The crew drifted for more than 90 days in three tiny whaleboats, succumbing to weather, hunger, and disease and ultimately turning to drastic measures in the fight for survival.
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Audio must have been fixed
- By Amazon Customer on 02-11-18
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Ice Ghosts
- The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition
- By: Paul Watson
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Ice Ghosts weaves together the epic story of the Lost Franklin Expedition of 1845 - whose two ships and crew of 129 were lost to the Arctic ice - with the modern tale of the scientists, divers, and local Inuit behind the incredible discovery of the flagship's wreck in 2014. Paul Watson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who was on the icebreaker that led the discovery expedition, tells a fast-paced historical adventure story: Sir John Franklin and the crew of the HMS Erebus and Terror setting off in search of the fabled Northwest Passage.
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Flawed Writing Dashes High Hopes :(
- By Gillian on 03-31-17
By: Paul Watson
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A Voyage for Madmen
- By: Peter Nichols
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1968, nine sailors set off on the most daring race ever held: to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe nonstop. It was a feat that had never been accomplished and one that would forever change the face of sailing. Ten months later, only one of the nine men would cross the finish line and earn fame, wealth, and glory. For the others, the reward was madness, failure, and death. In this extraordinary book, Peter Nichols chronicles a contest of the individual against the sea, waged at a time before cell phones and electronic positioning systems.
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Not Awesome
- By Shaun G. on 04-23-19
By: Peter Nichols
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A Night to Remember
- The Classic Account of the Final Hours of the Titanic
- By: Walter Lord
- Narrated by: Martin Jarvis
- Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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The Titanic collided with an iceberg on the night of April 14, and 1,500 people died in the freezing waters as the ship met her watery grave. Spectacular in many ways, it's a story that has spurred legends and still sends shivers down the spine a century later. This minute-by-minute account of the sinking is based on over 20 years of research and offers amazing detail of that fateful night.
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A gripping story grounded in historical fact
- By Abigail Carney on 05-30-20
By: Walter Lord
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Ten Hours Until Dawn
- The True Story of Heroism and Tragedy Aboard the Can Do
- By: Michael J. Tougias
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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During the height of the blizzard of 1978, the tanker Global Hope floundered on the shoals off the Massachusetts coast. The Coast Guard dispatched a patrol boat, but was soon in as much trouble as the tanker. Then pilot boat captain Frank Quirk, hearing of the Coast Guard's troubles on his radio, decided to act.
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A riveting story
- By Christopher on 11-30-07
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Farther Than Any Man
- The Rise and Fall of Captain James Cook
- By: Martin Dugard
- Narrated by: Jack Chekijian
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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In the annals of seafaring and exploration, there is one name that immediately evokes visions of the open ocean, billowing sails, visiting strange, exotic lands previously uncharted, and civilizations never before encountered - Captain James Cook. Full of realistic action, lush descriptions of places and events, and fascinating historical characters such as King George III and the soon-to-be-notorious Master William Bligh, Dugard's gripping account of the life and death of Captain James Cook is a thrilling story of a discoverer hell-bent on going farther than any man.
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Sloppy History
- By Kyle P. Dalton on 04-06-18
By: Martin Dugard
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Black Wave
- A Family's Adventure at Sea and the Disaster That Saved Them
- By: John Silverwood, Jean Silverwood
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie, Joe Barrett
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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When John and Jean Silverwood, both experienced sailors, decided to give their four children a taste of life on the high seas, they hoped the trip would offer important learning experiences - not only about the natural world but about the beauty of human life stripped down to its essence, far from civilization. But the adventure that awaited them would surpass anything they could have imagined.
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What Wave
- By James on 09-03-08
By: John Silverwood, and others
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Other Side of the Night
- The Carpathia, the Californian and the Night the Titanic Was Lost
- By: Daniel Allen Butler
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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A few minutes before midnight on April 14, 1912, the "unsinkable" RMS Titanic, on her maiden voyage to New York, struck an iceberg. Less than three hours later she lay at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. While the world has remained fascinated by the tragedy, the most amazing drama of those fateful hours was not played out aboard the doomed liner. It took place on the decks of two other ships, one 58 miles distant from the sinking Titanic, the other barely 10 miles away.
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The Other Side of the Night
- By Amazon Customer on 04-19-15
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Sailing Alone Around the World
- By: Joshua Slocum
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
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Joshua Slocum was believed to be the first man to sail single-handed around the world. After a distinguished career, where he worked his way up from cabin boy to captain, Joshua Slocum wrecked his ship off the coast of Brazil. Turning this catastrophe to his advantage, he built a sailing canoe from the wreckage and sailed back to New York. Moreover, he wrote Voyage of the Liberdad, a chronicle of his trip, and earned some literary success.
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A REMARKABLE MAN
- By Rod on 05-03-06
By: Joshua Slocum
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Last Man Off
- By: Matthew Lewis
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hamilton
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
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Antarctica, June 6th 1998. 23-year-old Matt Lewis has just started his dream job: an observer aboard a deep sea fishing boat. As the crew haul in their lines for the day, the waves seem bigger than usual - they are casting shadows on the deck. A storm is brewing. What follows is an astonishing story of courage and tragedy. Lewis leads the escape onto three life rafts, where the battle for survival begins.
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Spellbinding
- By Honey Leveen on 07-04-15
By: Matthew Lewis
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You don't know the whole story.
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Audio must have been fixed
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One of the Best Stories Ever Told!
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What listeners say about Adrift
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Than
- 07-22-24
The Terrible Year of 1856
So the first 2 or 3 hours is a little dry. It's setting the scene of the type of ships crossing the Atlantic and for what reasons. The book overall is collection of many ships that sank in the same month of winter 1856, which was a particularly bad year for ice in the North Atlantic. But the last 3/4th of the book mostly focuses on the sole survivor out of all the myriad of ships that vanished without a trace in that time.
At first it seems so bizarre that the lifeboat with this sole survivor could start with 13 people and end with 1 just ten days later, but as the story progresses it becomes abundantly clear the numerous bad decisions they make. The story really becomes like a psychological experiment. It's fascinating to watch it play out knowing how it ends. If you're interested in survival stories, history, sinking ships in general you'll really like this book.
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- Amazon Customer
- 11-17-24
Amazing Story of Tragedy and Survival
Author brought the era, events, and people to life. It was wonderfully told and performed buy the narrator.
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- Transplanted1
- 02-20-21
Excellence
If you want a quick summary of that horrid shipwreck, move on. This incredibly beautifully written account was carefully researched: passengers, ships, crew are each as fully presented as records allow. Much contextual history is included as well as general weather conditions of Atlantic crossings. I can't put it down and I haven't even gotten to the wreck. There is nothing sensational about this author so I am not dreading the difficult passages. The reader is fantastic and to me, a devoted Audible listener, the reader can make or break a book. A winner all around.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Shannon Davis
- 08-13-22
Tragic, interesting and informative.
This book mixes historic factual recounting with quality story telling, which makes for a very intriguing and tragic read. I recommend this title to all who are interested in the not so triumphant side of maritime history.
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- Trish
- 04-20-22
Engrossing
As an avid listener to stories of ships, I enjoyed this well-researched narrative. The reader is excellent. The author balances the strangeness of this true story with textures and details and great sympathy for sole survivor Thomas Nye. It’s amazing that he survived. I usually let audio books lull me to sleep at night, but I had to stay awake for this one since I did not want to leave Mr. Nye out on the North Atlantic in his tiny boat. Highly recommended.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall
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- Judy
- 07-03-23
Okay
The John Rutledge was an American packet boat that sank after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic in mid February of 1856. The ship's crew managed to launch a handful of lifeboats before pushing off with the few souls that had been able to secure a spot aboard one of these small skiffs. In the bitter end, only one man survived.
The story is gripping but authors Murphy and Vlahou include so much eye-glazing peripheral detail that the mind tends to wander. Furthermore, the inclusion of literary devices such as similes and metaphors is sharply out of place in the telling of this painful story. Example: "The fog was a dense grey curtain brewed from the cold Arctic currents tickling the warmer Gulf Stream." This is hardly a suitable genre for flowery purple prose.
Narration is good.
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Overall
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Performance
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- ME53
- 09-17-24
not my. type of book
I figured out, thanks to this book, that straded at sea stories are not my cup of tea. it was fine if you enjoy this kind of thing but wasn't for me.
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- UrbanRev
- 05-02-24
Too much “rabbit trailing”
Could have been great but way too many uninteresting back stories. There must not be a real story here since so much irrelevant fluff was added.
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