Give a vivid description of the events that took in the first scene of the play The Tempest.

In the play's opening scene a small ship is being tossed about at sea by a violent storm, the tempest of the title. But this is no ordinary storm; it's been whipped up by the magician Prospero to frighten the ship's passengers. Prospero, the former Duke of Milan, seeks revenge for his overthrow, and the men responsible for his usurpation and subsequent banishment to a remote, uninhabited island are on board the ship now being buffeted by the storm.
We don't yet know any of this, or of the identity of the ship's passengers. All we know at this stage is that the ship looks certain to sink. Two of the VIP guests on board, Sebastian and Alonso, curse the boatswain for what they perceive as his impudence in ordering them to remain below deck while he and the crew try to do their jobs. When they re-emerge from their cabin, the situation, if anything, is even more desperate, so much so that Gonzalo orders the mariners to join with him in prayer for the king. All of a sudden, there's a huge cracking sound; it seems that, despite the best efforts of the crew, the ship's finally ready to give up the ghost and sink.