In 1884, an English yacht, the Mignonette, sank in a storm off the coast of Africa. The four survivors escaped in a tiny dinghy without food or water. After 19 days, the starving, thirst-tormented men killed and ate the weakest member of the crew - as hundreds of shipwrecked seamen had done before them. Five days later they were rescued.
Captain Tom Dudley was a man of such principle that he insisted on telling the truth about what they done, no matter what the personal consequences. Even when asked, "And if the truth would hang you and a lie would set you free?" He refused to lie. The English government, determined to outlaw this "Custom of the Sea," charged them with murder. Tom Dudley's freely given confession ws the only evidence against them. -- Neal Hanson 2004
Release date July 2004.