"White Squall" Revisited - No Anchor Market Film Series

Notes from the Old Noank Jail: ‘White Squall’ revisited at No Anchor movie nigh

On May 2, 1961, at 8:30 a.m., a 92-foot, twin-masted

brigantine, the Albatross, sank quickly after being struck by a violent
storm without warning, 180 miles west of Key West, Fla. Six of the 18
passengers were lost as the boat was blown over on its side, then sank
within 90 seconds.
The victims included the captain’s wife, the cook and four student sailors.
The
Albatross was being operated as a floating school-at-sea program for
teenage boys who primarily came from well-to-do families.
The
staff on board acted as teachers, sailors and role models. They included
Captain Christopher Sheldon, who taught languages, his wife Alice, a
doctor who taught science, plus experienced seamen who taught English
and math, and a professional cook who spoke English and Spanish.
In
1996, the feature film “White Squall” was released. It was directed by
Ridley Scott, starred Jeff Bridges and was an exciting, dramatic “coming
of age” portrayal of the events leading up to the tragic sinking of the
Albatross and subsequent aftermath. The film was generally well
received, based on a book written by Charles Geig, one of the surviving
students.
Readers can easily find periodicals on the film and the
incident itself for more details, but recently, some of us attended a
local showing of the film and a discussion with two men who actually
sailed on the Albatross, including one who was on board when the boat
sank.
In what has become a very pleasant monthly Movie Night
featuring nautical themes, the No Anchor Fine Foods & Provisions
market on Pearl Street in Noank served a delicious pasta variety
take-out buffet dinner on May 10. This was followed by a brief
discussion prior to the film with Noank’s Mark Turner, who had served as
crew on the Albatross from Mystic via a race in stormy weather from Newport to Bermuda before returning as crew on another sailboat.
After
we watched the 1996 film, Mark introduced us to local Stonington artist
Tod Johnstone, who was helmsman when the Albatross went down. Tod
clarified some differences between actual events versus the dramatized
script of the film, but not in a critical manner.
He had actually
been involved with the making of the film and even had a small part,
playing his own father in a more benevolent and supporting manner than
Tod remembered as a teenager.
Tod acknowledged the sinking event
itself was expanded to be longer than the actual 1 1/2 minutes. The sea
was actually calm when Tod was at the helm, with the boat having almost
no forward motion. The squall then hit with no warning as a “microburst”
which involved a bolt of lightning followed by a sudden heavy wind and
huge “wall” of water striking the side of the boat, knocking it over.
Sails
were all still up, in an effort to catch any possible wind during the
calm, causing further disadvantage. Under those sudden conditions, the
helm had no effective control of the boat. Loose ballast also
contributed to the rapid sinking.
Tod recalled some desperate
rescue attempts, including his own, to free people in the cabins, which
were to no avail because of the increasing water pressure on the doors
as the boat sank. The crew was able to free up two lifeboats which rose
to the surface. The remaining crew survived for two days before finally
being spotted and picked up by a Dutch freighter, as the Albatross had
not been operating in the actual shipping lanes.
Since
the Albatross sank in international waters, the U.S. Coast Guard was
not directly involved, and only interviewed the exhausted captain for
about 20 minutes when the group returned to Tampa, Fla. He was not
charged and did retain his captain’s license. However, a courtroom
inquiry scene was added to the film for dramatic effect in order to help
display the camaraderie between the student crew members as well as
their loyalty to the captain. Tod felt that this emotional sequence did
accurately represent how the group had felt at the end of the voyage.
The
storm that sank the Albatross is referred to as a white squall, or
microburst. Warm air from the lower atmosphere moves up to interchange
suddenly with cold air. Lightning can also be an additional factor. The
air then descends in a rapid column and can create sudden force winds up
to as much as 150 miles an hour. It is an uncommon but very real event.
In this case, it produced the tragedy of lost lives and a lost ship.
Ed Johnson lives in Noank.