Book: The Unforgiving Coast
Written by David H. Grover (Oregon State University Press)
Reviewed by Erick Mertz

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The inherent drama of a shipwreck is undeniable. Unlike the quick, relatively sudden nature of a plane crash, an ocean-going vessel's sinking is often a prolonged agony of slowly unfolding doom.

This is the ethos of wildly popular films like Titanic and the one which David Grover draws on time and time again in his book The Unforgiving Coast: Maritime Disasters of the Pacific Northwest. The true accounts contained comprise some of the most deadly and ironic disasters to occur in Northwest waters. Each taking place in the dubious "Graveyard of the Pacific" between the California border and Vancouver Island, these nine vivid tales pull remarkably hard on heroic, tragic and even sometimes comic elements.

The tale of the Valencia is emblematic of the nine contained in Grover's book. Run aground on the coast of British Columbia near Cape Beale, the ship said to be of "reasonable good credentials" found itself in the middle of the night with hull punctured and quickly breaking up. Ordered by the captain to deploy lifeboats, many passengers in their mad unsupervised dash were thrown into the water and drowned quickly. Substandard equipment - old lifejackets with limited buoyancy - and flares fired in vain caused the ship to remain helpless as it crumbled to pieces until the morning. A few survived the efforts to abandon ship, but not many. The investigation, a long and protracted affair, left questions of competency unanswered and experts scratching their heads asking, what more could have been done? It has all of the elements of a Hollywood picture. Grover gets at seemingly cursed vessels like the Rosencrans in "Born to Lose" and modern day ghost ships like the South Coast. There is nary a fate that could befall a ship that isn't included somewhere in The Unforgiving Coast.

In assembling the accounts of these accidents, Grover is unwaveringly systematic. His reconstructions of detail are thorough. He first discusses the history of the ship from its creation, leading into the terms of its ultimate fate and finally the falling action, where investigation and scandal are often left open ended. His isn't an encyclopedic approach, but rather one of a newspaper reporter after the fact charged with making sense of all the divergent pieces. Grover isn't as interested in melodrama as he is in a broad picture of our poignant struggle against conditions, both natural and of our own folly. He wisely allows melodrama to emerge on its own terms. Steering clear of naval ships, Grover makes his connections with vessels that perished carrying hapless passengers or goods to port. Ultimately, The Unforgiving Coast is a harrowing look into a tragic slice of maritime history, sometimes mysterious and other times laughable but undeniably gripping in its delivery and subject.

© 2003 - Erick Mertz