On February 18, 1952, an astonishing maritime event began when a ferocious nor'easter split in half a 500-foot long oil tanker, the Pendleton, approximately one mile off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Incredibly, just twenty miles away, a second oil tanker, the Fort Mercer, also split in half. On both tankers men were trapped on the severed bows and sterns, and all four sections were sinking in 60-foot seas. 84 seamen were struggling between life and death, they have to survive, they have to be true heroes. In the end 70 of them were rescued and 14 died. Disney has just made a new movie The Finest Hours about this event.

More Info: neh.gov