Dead Men Tapping : The End of the Heather Lynn II

by Kate Yeomans

The gripping true story of a failed rescue and a tragedy at sea In the predawn darkness of September 5, 1996, the Heather Lynne II was struck by a barge and overturned in calm seas 10 miles off Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Trapped inside, three fishermen were alive in the diesel-choked air pocket that kept the boat afloat. Onlookers waited for the Coast Guard, but when a Coast Guard cutter arrived, it carried no divers. Two hours after the collision, rescue divers finally pulled the three men from the capsized vessel scant minutes too late. Rescuers worked frantically to restore life during the airlift to a Boston hospital, but on arrival, the men were declared dead, their shredded knuckles and fingertips mute evidence of the horror of their last hours. Dead Men Tapping opens four years later in a federal courtroom, where the victims' families are suing the U.S. Coast Guard. As the story unfolds, we come to know the trapped fishermen, their community, their would-be rescuers, the Coast Guardsmen, and the crew of the tug and barge that ran down the Heather Lynne II . These ordinary people, doing what they think is their best, propel Dead Men Tapping to its heartbreaking conclusion. For photos, reviews, and more, visit DeadMenTapping.com

Genres: Nonfiction

403 pages, Hardcover

First published September 24, 2003

Reviews

[Bianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing gut wrenching story told so wonderfully. Yeomens is able to include enough technical info for those who can appreciate it, while the rest of us don’t feel alienated and can follow along. Most importantly she’s able to bring all the many names and characters to life. She’s able to write suspense into a book for which the reader already knows the ending. She adds background information that enhances the story. She is able to offer evidence without bias.


Now I am impatiently awaiting her next book, please !!!

[AndreaH · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gripping account of a boating disaster that essentially closed down the fishing industry in the small seaside Massachusetts town of Newburyport.
Yeomans did a great job of recreating a day that still haunts many fishermen in Gloucester where I work.
The three men of the Heather Lynne II drowned in 1996 after their fishing boat flipped upside down when it was struck by a tugboat pulling a 272-foot barge about 10 miles off the coast of Gloucester.
Fishermen who answered a call for help could hear the crew trapped inside an air pocket in the hull begging for rescue. Many felt there was nothing they could be do except wait for the US Coast Guard.
But it took some time for USCG to muster its forces from Gloucester, perhaps too long.
A helicopter was sent with a rescue swimmer with could not go underwater — the crew wasn't told the men were trapped in the boat and not out in the water. Then the copter turned back to Gloucester without doing anything; it seemed to the waiting fish boats below the rescue was being abandoned.
A dive team was called in from a nearby town but understood the operation would be one of retrieval and not rescue. They didn't bring the necessary equipment on the copter, because the essential info was never passed on to the copter crew.
Local experienced commercial and salvage divers were closer but were never contacted.
And still the men tapped, begging for help.
Yeomans contrasts the ongoing rescue operations with similar situations at sea, where some things went right and others wrong, and with court room testimony from the USCG's own investigation and from when the families sued over its actions.
Were bad decisions made and or no action taken when needed? Yes, but did those decisions and actions, or lack there-off, make the situation worse? The reader can decide.
While the USCG answers rescue calls in Gloucester all the time, most successfully, this case cast a pall over locals' faith in its commitment to its rescue mission. As Yeomans quotes one fisherman, "You have to depend on yourself and have a seaworthy vessel and be on you toes. Because you know you're going not going to get any type of help from the Coast Guard."
However what may be most haunting for those who follow the New England fishing industry is the closing chapter. The Heather Lynne II was salvaged, renamed, then sold and renamed again to a young Gloucester fisherman named Matt Russo who said the boat's history didn't bother him.
In 2004, after Yeoman's book went to press, he would sell the boat. Russo perished in 2009 when his state-of-art new fishing vessel, christened the Patriot, went down off Middle Bank off Gloucester under mysterious circumstances that eerily mimicked the Heather Lynne II tragedy. A tug transporting a barge was identified as having been traveling the same coordinates as Russo's vessel just before communication was lost with the boat. Its cable was impounded for investigation, and in yet another strange similarity, the Coast Guard was investigated for its delayed response — 2 1/2 hours — after the SOS report.
The bodies of Matteo Russo and his father, John Orlando, his crew mate, were recovered. The cause of the sinking was never definitively determined.
Even the USCG's Patriot report echoed its one on the Heather Lynne II tragedy: "delayed response due to poor collection and analysis of information and decision-making regarding the vessel's status."
I know at least one fisherman named in this book — Richard Burgess — is still at today in January 2014.
After reading "Dead Men Tapping" and its harrowing tales of days at sea, and being familiar with the Patriots story, I am in awe that men (and women) still go down to the sea in ships day in, day out.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was mightly impressed with the research and writing of this book. Though a hefty 400 pages, it read smoothly.

Occassionally, early on, I was disappointed with the side-tracks ... the reporting on other vessel wrecks or seaches or the history of some of the people, but as I got further into it I realized how it helped create a complete picture of the incident in question.

A good read of a disappointing loss of life.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just ask me...