The Perfect Storm

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This article is about the book entitled The Perfect Storm. For the actual storm see 1991 Halloween Nor’easter; for the movie based on the book see The Perfect Storm (film); for the idiom "perfect storm", see perfect storm.

The Perfect Storm is a book (ISBN 039304016X) written by Sebastian Junger and published by Little, Brown and Company in 1997. The paperback edition (ISBN 0060977477) followed in 1999 from HarperCollins' Perennial imprint. It is about the 1991 Halloween Nor’easter that hit North America in October 1991, and features the crew of the fishing boat Andrea Gail, based out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, who were lost 575 miles (925 km) at sea during the severe conditions.

During the storm the Rescue Coordination Center received a May-Day from a Japanese registered sailboat, some 120 miles south of Long Island, New York. The Center dispatched a search and rescue team from the 106th Rescue Wing, New York Air National Guard in Westhampton Beach. An H-60 Pavehawk and HC-130 departed Francis S. Gabreski Airport unaware of the storm's intensity. Arriving on scene, they were unable to hoist the sailor to the helicopter due to the high winds. Heading back to Long Island the 80 MPH winds restricted the crew's ability to refuel, and the helicopter eventually crashed in the Atlantic Ocean. One crew member, Technical Sgt. Alden 'Rick' Smith, was lost at sea and never recovered. The remaining crew members were all picked up 4 hours later by the US Coast Guard Cutter, The Tamaroa, commanded by Capt. Larry Brudnicki.

A film adaptation of the book, also titled The Perfect Storm, was directed by Wolfgang Petersen and released in 2000.

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