Fire at Sea: Cruise Ship Rescue | "When the Going Gets Tough..." | 5

Against The Odds

Wondery

Cassie De Pecol, History, Society & Culture, Dolby, Mike Corey, Dolby Atmos, Atmos

4.7 • 7.2K Ratings

🗓️ 23 May 2023

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Of the more than 500 Prinsendam passengers and crew, every one of them was eventually rescued and brought to safety. Today, two of those survivors, John and Malory Graham, join host Mike Corey to share their experience of the fire and rescue. Malory was just 13-years old when she boarded the ship for an adventure with her dad, John. We’ll also hear from retired Coast Guard Captain Stephen Corcoran about getting the call Prinsendam was in trouble, and what it was like arriving on the scene.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime members, you can listen to Against the Odds at Free on Amazon Music. Download the app today.
0:14.7	From Wondery, I'm Mike Corey, and this is Against the Odds.
0:31.0	Over the last four episodes, we've told the story of Prinsendam Cruise Ship, which caught fire in the icy waters of the Gulf of Alaska in the early hours of October 4th, 1980.
0:43.0	More than 500 passengers in crew were forced to abandon ship into lifeboats and the weather deteriorated, the typhoon descending.
0:52.0	U.S. Coast Guard, Air Force and Canadian Forces launched a daring rescue operation.
0:58.0	In the end, every one of the passengers and crew members survived.
1:03.0	Today, we're joined by two of those survivors, John Graham and his daughter Mallory, who was just 13 at the time of the sinking.
1:12.0	They're with us to share their experiences of the fire and rescue.
1:18.0	But first, we'll hear from retired Coast Guard captain Stephen Corcoran.
1:22.0	Stephen was the operations officer on board the Coast Guard cutter belt well at the time.
1:27.0	The ship was docked in Juneau, Alaska when the call came in signaling Prinsendam was in trouble.
1:33.0	Here are some of his reflections of that night.
1:36.0	We had arrived in Juneau on our way to a fisheries patrol in the Bering Sea.
1:43.0	And that was routine employment for this class of cutter.
1:47.0	378 feet long, crew of 150, with a flight deck and with carried a helicopter.
1:54.0	The crew dispersed to every possible sailor hangout in Juneau.
2:00.0	The executive officer and I went to the prospector hotel where there was a gathering.
2:06.0	And the road Canadian mounted police were there and the city police.
2:11.0	And I had left this gathering early because it was just too much.
2:15.0	This poor sailor needs his sleep.
2:18.0	My head just hit the pillow when the officer of the deck made the announcement to the crew, saying that there was a cruise ship on fire in the Gulf of Alaska.
2:27.0	And we were under way 59 minutes after we got a call to go.
	...

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