What Really Happened To The Andrea Gail, The Doomed Ship That Inspired ‘The Perfect Storm?’

Just before Halloween, the Andrea Gail and its crew of six fishermen were caught in what became known as the “Perfect Storm” of 1991 — and were never seen again.A shot of the Andrea Gail as it appears in the film The Perfect Storm. On September 20, 1991, the Andrea Gail left port in Gloucester, Massachusetts for the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. The plan was to fill the hold with swordfish and return within a month or so, but that depended on the crew’s luck — and not long after the ship arrived at the Grand Banks, they realized they didn’t have much. Then, on October 29, the 40th day of their extended commercial fishing trip, three devastating storms converged, sending waves as high as 100 feet and striking the Andrea Gail with winds reaching 92 miles per hour. Of the six men on board the Andrea Gail that day, none of them made it home. A few weeks after the ship went missing, its emergency beacon washed ashore on Sable Island, off the Nova Scotian coast, but the vessel itself was never found. The Andrea Gail Sets Sail Like most fishermen, the six-man crew of the Andrea Gail would have preferred a quick voyage. They wanted to get their fish, return to port, and… CONTINUE READING…