{"product_id":"the-boundary-of-existence-the-wreck-of-the-uss-saginaw-and-the-most-desperate-voyage-in-naval-history-9798254371342","title":"The Boundary of Existence: The Wreck of the USS Saginaw and the Most Desperate Voyage in Naval History","description":"\u003cp\u003e • Author(s): R. J. Jones\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher: Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher Imprint: Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e • BISAC: Survival\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA TRUE STORY FROM THE U.S. NAVY'S MOST DESPERATE HOUR.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn October 1870, the wooden side-wheeler USS Saginaw clears the channel at Midway and turns toward San Francisco. A commander's duty forces a detour to check the uncharted reef of Kure Atoll for shipwrecks. In the blind dark, the vessel strikes the coral at three knots. The reef tears through the hull. Rising water floods the engine room and kills the fires. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eNinety-three men scramble onto a parched spine of sand. The sun bakes exposed skin. The castaways build a makeshift boiler that hisses steam to yield a trickle of fresh water. They chew rank, oily albatross meat to stay alive. Darkness brings the rats. Claws scratch over sleeping faces. Teeth gnaw at the leather of empty boots. Scurvy crawls through the camp. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRescue requires a miracle. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFive men climb into a twenty-two-foot gig, covered in canvas and scrap wood. Ahead lies fifteen hundred miles of the world's most violent ocean. They navigate by a crude sextant forged from zinc scraps and a broken mirror.\u003cp\u003eOn the atoll, the island begins to reclaim the living. The flour barrels stand empty, scraped down to the wood. The seals have fled the beaches, and the albatross, once a carpet of feathers and meat, have taken to the wing, leaving the sky hollow. Scurvy crawls through the camp, loosening teeth and reopening old wounds.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the boat, blisters fuse to the oars. Salt water eats through wool coats and grinds into raw sores. When the hardtack rots into sludge, the rowers swallow whale oil to quiet the screams of their bellies.\u003c\/p\u003eNinety-three castaways wait on the sand.\u003cbr\u003eFive men pull for their lives. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFans of \u003ci\u003eThe Wager\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eEndurance\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eIn the Heart of the Sea\u003c\/i\u003e will find a new epic of survival in the wreck of the \u003ci\u003eSaginaw\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eA Note on the Research\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis account is reconstructed from the original 1870 deck logs of the USS \u003ci\u003eSaginaw\u003c\/i\u003e, the official reports of Lieutenant-Commander Montgomery Sicard, and the personal journals of Paymaster George Read. The narrative is further forged from the harrowing, first-hand testimony of William Halford. Every detail, from the hiss of the makeshift boiler to the grit of the Kure Atoll sand, is drawn from the historical record.","brand":"Independently Published","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47775053119639,"sku":"9798254371342","price":1772.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0666\/3471\/1191\/files\/9798254371342.webp?v=1777988232","url":"https:\/\/atlanticbooks.com\/products\/the-boundary-of-existence-the-wreck-of-the-uss-saginaw-and-the-most-desperate-voyage-in-naval-history-9798254371342","provider":"Atlantic Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}