The Perfect Storm

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The Perfect Storm (ISBN 0-393-04016-X) is a non-fiction book written by Sebastian Junger and published by Little, Brown and Company in 1997. The paperback edition (ISBN 0-06-097747-7) followed in 1999 from HarperCollins' Perennial imprint. The book 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 while fishing for swordfish. Also in the book is the story about the rescue of the crew of the sailboat Satori in the Atlantic waters during the storm, by the US Coast Guard Cutter Tamaroa (WMEC-166).

The book follows the lives of the swordfishing crew of the Andrea Gail and their family members before and during the storm. Much of the early book gives detailed descriptions of the daily lives of the fishermen and what they do in their jobs, and is centered around activities at the Crow's Nest a tavern in Gloucester popular with the fishermen.

The latter part of the book attempts to reconstruct events at sea during the storm, aboard the Andrea Gail as well as rescue efforts directed at several other ships caught in the storm, including the attempted rescue of pararescue jumpers who were themselves caught in the storm. Lost from the New York Air National Guard HH-60 helicopter was TSgt. Alden "Rick" Smith. A week-long search off the South Shore of Long Island failed to find his remains. Surviving the helicopter crash were: Major David Ruvola, Capt. Graham Buschor, SSgt. Jimmy Mioli and TSgt. John Spillane, the second pararescueman aboard.

All six crewmembers of the Andrea Gail were missing, presumed dead. They were: Captain Billy Tyne, Robert "Bobby" Shatford, Dale "Murph" Murphy, David "Sully" Sullivan, Michael "Bugsy" Moran, and Alfred Pierre. The ship and crew were never found. A few fuel drums, a fuel tank, the EPIRB, an empty life raft, and some other flotsam were the only wreckage ever found.

The book was adapted for the film of the same title. It was directed by Wolfgang Petersen and released in 2000. The name of the Satori is not mentioned in the movie, and the since-retired Tamaroa is portrayed by a newer, 210-foot medium-endurance cutter.