The Dramatic Rescue of the Citizen Sailors Who Patrolled the Atlantic Coast Looking for Nazi U-Boats

By David Wolman and Julian Smith It was the afternoon of December 3, 1942, and a vicious winter storm was thrashing boats along the Eastern Seaboard. U.S. Navy and Coast Guard listening stations were picking up urgent distress signals up and down the coast. A 71-foot schooner called the Nordlys, fighting 60-foot waves, had lost its sails to 50-knot winds. A sailboat called the Abenaki was completely adrift and at…