{"product_id":"the-boundary-of-existence-r-j-jones-9781764643108","title":"The Boundary of Existence: The Wreck of the USS Saginaw and the Most Desperate Voyage in Naval History","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA TRUE STORY OF SHIPWRECK, SURVIVAL, AND ONE OF THE MOST DESPERATE OPEN-BOAT VOYAGES IN NAVAL HISTORY.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter seven months of backbreaking labor dredging a channel through coral, ninety-three men looked toward San Francisco.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLieutenant Commander Montgomery Sicard set a course for Ocean Island, a speck of sand and reef sixty miles to the west, to verify its position and search for castaways from previous wrecks. Before they reached it, darkness hid the jagged teeth of Kure Atoll. At 0300 hours, the \u003cem\u003eSaginaw\u003c\/em\u003e struck.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe reef tore through her hull. The men survived, marooned on a desolate sandbank two thousand miles from the nearest civilization. They clubbed seals for oily, stringy meat and coaxed fresh water from the brine in a distillery rigged from a salvaged boiler. At night, rats overran the camp, skittering across the sleeping men.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo save his crew, Sicard ordered the construction of a rescue craft from the ruins of the wreck. Five men volunteered. They took the captain's gig, a twenty-two-foot open boat, and began an 1,800-mile journey across the North Pacific, carrying a crude sextant forged from zinc scraps and a broken mirror, a few days of rations, and the weight of eighty-eight lives.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor thirty-one days, they battled storms, starvation, thirst, and exhaustion. When their food spoiled, they survived on whale oil.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTheir journey remains one of the most extraordinary, and least known, survival stories in United States naval history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReconstructed from the original 1870 deck logs of the USS \u003cem\u003eSaginaw\u003c\/em\u003e, the official reports of Lieutenant Commander Sicard, the personal journals of Paymaster George Read, and the first-hand testimony of William Halford.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFans of \u003cem\u003eThe Wager\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eEndurance\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eIn the Heart of the Sea\u003c\/em\u003e will find a new epic of survival in the wreck of the \u003cem\u003eSaginaw\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEighty-eight men wait on the sand. Five men row for their lives.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e R. J. Jones\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1764643100\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781764643108\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Immersion Imagery\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/11\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 324\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.96lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.73d","brand":"R. J. Jones","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48874672947455,"sku":"9781764643108","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-boundary-of-existence-r-j-jones-9781764643108","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}