Simple Courage, Frank Delaney
Simple Courage, Frank Delaney
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Simple Courage
The True Story of Peril on the Sea

Author: Frank Delaney

Narrator: Frank Delaney

Abridged: 6 hr 14 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/27/2006


Synopsis

“HEAVEN HELP THE SAILOR ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS.”
–old folk prayer

In late December 1951, laden with passengers and nearly forty metric tons of cargo, the freighter S.S. Flying Enterprise steamed westward from Europe toward America. A few days into the voyage, she hit the eye of a ferocious storm. Force 12 winds tossed men about like playthings and turned drops of freezing Atlantic foam into icy missiles. When, in the space of twenty-eight hours, the ship was slammed by two rogue waves–solid walls of water more than sixty feet high–the impacts cracked the decks and hull almost down to the waterline, threw the vessel over on her side, and thrust all on board into terror.

Flying Enterprise’s captain, Kurt Carlsen, a seaman of rare ability and valor, mustered all hands to patch the cracks and then try to right the ship. When these efforts came to naught, he helped transfer, across waves forty feet high, the passengers and the entire crew to lifeboats sent from nearby ships. Then, for reasons both professional and intensely personal, and to the amazement of the world, Carlsen defied all requests and entreaties to abandon ship. Instead, for the next two weeks, he fought to bring Flying Enterprise and her cargo to port. His heroic endeavor became the world’s biggest news.

In a narrative as dramatic as the ocean’s fury, acclaimed bestselling author Frank Delaney tells, for the first time, the full story of this unmatched bravery and endurance at sea. We meet the devoted family whose well-being and safety impelled Carlsen to stay with his ship. And we read of Flying Enterprise’s buccaneering owner, the fearless and unorthodox Hans Isbrandtsen, who played a crucial role in Kurt Carlsen’s fate.
Drawing on historical documents and contemporary accounts and on exclusive interviews with Carlsen’s family, Delaney opens a window into the world of the merchant marine. With deep affection–and respect–for the weather and all that goes with it, he places us in the heart of the storm, a “biblical tempest” of unimaginable power. He illuminates the bravery and ingenuity of Carlsen and the extraordinary courage that the thirty-seven-year-old captain inspired in his stalwart crew. This is a gripping, absorbing narrative that highlights one man’s outstanding fortitude and heroic sense of duty.

“One of the great sea stories of the twentieth century… [a] surefire nautical crowd-pleaser.”
--Booklist é (starred review)

“Frank Delaney has written a completely absorbing, thrilling and inspirational account of a disaster at sea that occasioned heroism of the first order. In the hands of a gifted storyteller,
the ‘simple courage’ of the ship’s captain and the young radio man who risked their lives to bring a mortally wounded ship to port reveals the essence and power of all true courage–
a stubborn devotion to the things we love.”
–Senator John McCain

About The Author

Frank Delaney is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel Ireland, as well as several fiction and nonfiction bestsellers in the United Kingdom. A former judge for the Booker Prize, Delaney enjoyed a prominent career in BBC broadcasting before becoming a full-time writer. Born in Tipperary, Ireland, he now lives in New York and Connecticut.


Reviews

AudiobooksNow review by Lisette on 2021-09-26 13:37:58

This makes a terrific walking, or trip driving, companion. It is poetically written and narrarated by the author. Why did the captain remain on his ship??? Track 33 offers the theories of the day, track 35 provides the author's conclusion. Highly recommend.

Goodreads review by Diane on September 15, 2009

Though the American Library Associations listed Frank Delaney's "Simple Courage" as one of the 10 Best Books of the Year, this is a stunning book with no promotion and no machine behind it. And readers are missing something vital and satisfying and directional in that loss. A disaster at sea, the ha......more

Goodreads review by Gusto on February 18, 2011

One man. A raging sea. A wounded ship. Life and death. I’d put “Simple Courage” right up there with Caroline Alexander’s “The Endurance; Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition” and Sebastian Junger’s “The Perfect Storm,” to name just two. In addition to a terrific non-fiction account, the capper......more

Goodreads review by Francis X DuFour on February 28, 2020

An overly detailed account of the brave and dedicated ship captain whose perseverance made him an international hero (thanks to the over-the-top efforts of the world press) for not giving up his severely storm-damaged ship. Interesting, but could have been easily told minus the tedious explanation o......more

Goodreads review by Kathryn on January 18, 2022

Excellent story about a fascinating event (which I'd never heard about, though it was an international obsession in 1951). If you enjoy stories of human resilience in the face of disaster, I heartily recommend this one. Frank Delaney reads the audiobook, and he is an excellent reader. He also person......more

Goodreads review by Jeffrey on March 26, 2019

Every now and then an incident galvanizes international attention as few things can. About five or so years back it was the bunch of Chilean minors stuck in a cave-in, who worked together and survived long enough to be rescued as the world watched. The incident of "Simple Courage" is of the same typ......more