View Full Version : 11/10 shipwreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
dado potato
11-9-20, 12:51pm
At 2:30 PM 11/9/1975 the Edmund Fitzgerald, a 728 foot long ship crewed by 29 men, laden with taconite iron ore pellets, departed Superior WI.
Early 11/10/75 a gale warning was issued for winds gusting to 50 knots, and 12-16 foot seas.
The storm intensified all day, by 5:30 PM wind was gusting to 70 knots, seas were 18 to 25 feet.
The Edmund Fitzgerald was on the radar and in radio contact with another ship, the Arthur M. Anderson. Captain Ernest McSorley's last radio transmission to the Anderson was, "We are holding our own."
http://www.shipwreckmuseum.com/edmund-fitzgerald/the-fateful-journey
And, of course,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vST6hVRj2A
We think of that song and that story a lot around here as we live right by Lake Michigan. One of the young sailors from NMC died on that ship.
Now that I have lived through Northern Michigan Novembers, I understand the violent winds a little better.
She sits 530ft deep, a bit inside the Canadian border. She was declared a grave site in the mid 90s.
This is an interview with Capt Bernie Cooper of the Arthur M Anderson, who was shadowing the Fitz the night she went down.
https://youtu.be/3VXY6tuZ5eU
I like this video of the song better. Has actual footage of the Fitz.
https://youtu.be/hgI8bta-7aw
We visited Superior WI summer of 2019. That song went through my head the entire time. It still grabs your heart all these years later.
That was stirring.
They don't make lakes like that around here...
Side note - the Anderson is still sailing.
early morning
11-9-20, 3:55pm
A day for memory, and tied in my mind with Veteran's day... for some reason, I remember exactly where my 19 year old self was and what I was doing when my cousin came in and told us about her sinking. It's been etched in my memory all these years, along with the Kennedy assassinations, watching the moon landing/Neil Armstrong stepping out on the moon, and 9-11. A few years ago, I got to see Gordon Lightfoot live, and of course, that song brought tears. Tradd, thanks for the note on the Anderson. If I were closer to the lakes, I'd be a carrier watcher, lol.
I grew up in Huron, Ohio, and the Fitz was a regular visitor to our town when I was a kid.
A day for memory, and tied in my mind with Veteran's day... for some reason, I remember exactly where my 19 year old self was and what I was doing when my cousin came in and told us about her sinking. It's been etched in my memory all these years, along with the Kennedy assassinations, watching the moon landing/Neil Armstrong stepping out on the moon, and 9-11. A few years ago, I got to see Gordon Lightfoot live, and of course, that song brought tears. Tradd, thanks for the note on the Anderson. If I were closer to the lakes, I'd be a carrier watcher, lol.
Known as a boat nerd. :)
If you’re on FB, there are great groups with lots of pics and video of the boats.
Thanks, Tradd; that was a great video. I've seen bits and bobs of that footage in museum exhibits about the Fitzgerald, but never so much of it.
In Duluth, MN, there's a restored ore carrier, the William A. Irvin. We took a tour of that ship many years ago. They let you climb down the ladder into the cargo hold and view the crew's quarters and the kitchen. Even having been on cruise ships, I found the size of those carriers impressive. It's hard to think about one going down on a lake (though if a lake could do it, Superior is one of the few).
Thanks, dado, for posting this thread!
There was a really bad storm in 1913 that was the worst on the Great Lakes. It was a true freshwater hurricane. Then there was the Armistice Day Storm of 1940 that took down three freighters on Lake Michigan, as well as two smaller boats.
They're not "carriers." They're actually called "lakers." And vessels on the Great Lakes are called boats.
After the 1940 storm, the losses seem to have really slowed down. More modern weather forecasting and stuff like radar helped. Then the sinkings became legendary.
Carl D. Bradley, broke in two on the surface, in a storm on northern Lake Michigan, November 18, 1958. Two survivors.
Cedarville, sunk in the Straits of Mackinac after a collision with a Norwegian "saltie." May 1965. I've actually dived this one and swam through the huge gash from the collision. the Norwegian ship had a bow reinforced for ice breaking and sliced through the Cedarville like a hot knife through butter. 10 crew lost when the Cedarville rolled and sank two miles from shore. The Cedarville was owned by the same company as the Bradley and they were sister ships. Sailed out of the small northeastern Michigan town of Rogers City. Town was devastated.
Daniel J. Morrell, broke in two on the surface, in a storm on Lake Huron. She sank off the Thumb. Her stern was under power and sank five mile away. November 29, 1966. One survivor.
Both the Bradley (built 1927) and the Morrell (built 1908) were constructed of an older type of steel that gets brittle at very cold temperatures, such as seen on the Great Lakes. Structural failure from this steel was the likely cause of both sinkings. This steel wasn't used after 1948. The Morrell's sister ship, the Daniel Y. Townsend, sailing through the same storm, limped into port with a crack on her deck. She never sailed again.
The Fitz, the Bradley, and the Morrell were all on the last run of the season. Just get one more in...
To those not used to the Great Lakes, these ships might all seem to be very old, but without the corrosion salt water causes, Great Lakes vessels can go for years. There have been some that were close to 100 years old before they were retired. The current oldest laker on the US side, is the Alpena, a cement carrier. She was launched in 1942. She was shortened from her original length, as the Leon A. Fraser. Another, the Kaye E. Barker, is a few months younger than the Alpena. The famous US Coast Goard vessel, the Mackinaw heavy ice breaker, on the Great Lakes was launched in 1945 and retired in 2006.
OK, I've proven I am most definitely a boat nerd. :D
I had an acquaintance who spent every weekend recording the flags of all the freighters which passed through the locks on the Welland canal. It was really interesting listening to his research on the international aspects of shipping on the Great Lakes in the 1980's. I think of him every time I drive over the bridge on Hwy 20 to Niagara Falls. I wonder if the results would be different today.
iris lilies
11-10-20, 8:39am
That was stirring.
They don't make lakes like that around here...
You dont have lakes like that, practically an ocean. Girlfriend, you dont have Weather with a capital W: hurricanes, tornados, violent thunderstorms, freezing tundras and 4’ snows. These Weather events shape the populace.
There’s a reason the Great Lakes are called “inland seas.” They create their own weather, too.
The early French explorers called them “sweet water seas.” They were astonished to learn they were fresh water n
JaneV2.0
11-10-20, 10:48am
You dont have lakes like that, practically an ocean. Girlfriend, you dont have Weather with a capital W: hurricanes, tornados, violent thunderstorms, freezing tundras and 4’ snows. These Weather events shape the populace.
We definitely don't have Weather, as a general rule. And I'm good with that.
happystuff
11-10-20, 10:58am
Fabulous links, Tradd. Thanks so much for sharing. I haven't listened to the song in a while as I usually can't get through it without shedding some tears.
OK, I've proven I am most definitely a boat nerd. :D
Please, please - keep at it, this is wonderful stuff!
OK, and with that encouragement, I’ll post some more stuff later.
My WI diving instructor just posted this 2015 presentation on FB. Think you can watch without FB but not sure. It’s by a UW prof who focuses on the storm that took the Fitz down.
https://www.facebook.com/pbswi/videos/722752435346853/
National Weather Service on the storm that took down the Fitz.
https://www.weather.gov/mqt/Edmund_Fitzgerald
early morning
11-11-20, 12:10am
thanks tradd - works fine w/o facebook log-in. great stuff!
dado potato
11-7-21, 3:28pm
In 2021 there will be a memorial ceremony at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, Whitefish Point MI. Due to COVID, the remembrance will be closed, attended only by surviving family members, US Coast Guard, and the Museum. According to the website of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, the ceremony will be livestreamed on the Vuit Channel, 9 & 10 News.
I understand that the tradition is to ring the ship's bell (raised from the wreck in 1979) one time for each man who perished on the Edmund Fitzgerald and once more for all the people who lost their lives in shipwrecks on the Great Lakes.
There's an annual service at Mariner's Church in Detroit, as well as at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Belle Isle in Detroit. They have their ceremony at an anchor the Fitz lost in the Detroit River around 1974, I think, and was raised after her loss.
This video came recommended by my cave instructor who was present in the audience. The Storm that Sank the Edmund Fitzgerald
https://youtu.be/NLUzyNuMqTM
And I just realized I had recommended the same video last year, although this year I did have the You Tube link.
And I just realized I had recommended the same video last year, although this year I did have the You Tube link.
Thank you, Tradd, I will definitely check this out again. I have never lived anywhere as windy as Traverse City, and I always thought about the ship and that storm when the winds raged.
Aren’t we coming up on the anniversary of the Big Blow of 1913?
I like this video of the song better. Has actual footage of the Fitz
Thanks. It gave me a chill up the spine from the image of cold and also from the events of the disaster.
(They don't seem to make good music like that much anymore either).
Aren’t we coming up on the anniversary of the Big Blow of 1913?
Yep. Think it’s the 7th-10th.
I dived the Regina in 2019. She’s on the bottom in southern Lake Huron, off the side of Michigan’s Thumb. She was a victim of the White Hurricane of 1913. She was at anchor and turtled (turned over) by the storm. Her anchor chain is taut. The buoy for big 45’ dive boats is tied to the anchor chain. Knowing the full history of the Regina and seeing that taut anchor chain really brought home the story behind the wreck.
“There is a quiet horror about the Great Lakes which grows as one revisits them. Fresh water has no right or call to dip over the horizon, pulling down and pushing up hulls of big steamers, no right to tread the slow, deep sea dance-step between wrinkled cliffs, nor to roar in on weed and sand beaches between vast headlands that run out for leagues into bays and sea fog. Lake Superior is all the same stuff towns pay taxes for [fresh water], but it engulfs and wrecks and drives ashore like a fully accredited ocean - a hideous thing to find in the heart of a continent.”
~Rudyard Kipling
Teacher Terry
11-10-21, 12:36pm
My grandparents lived close to Lake Michigan when my mom was a child. People ferried their goods across the lake and frequently it capsized and some of the goods ended up on shore. My grandpa had his eye on 6 chairs once but only one made it to shore.
rosarugosa
11-10-21, 1:53pm
“There is a quiet horror about the Great Lakes which grows as one revisits them. Fresh water has no right or call to dip over the horizon, pulling down and pushing up hulls of big steamers, no right to tread the slow, deep sea dance-step between wrinkled cliffs, nor to roar in on weed and sand beaches between vast headlands that run out for leagues into bays and sea fog. Lake Superior is all the same stuff towns pay taxes for [fresh water], but it engulfs and wrecks and drives ashore like a fully accredited ocean - a hideous thing to find in the heart of a continent.”
~Rudyard Kipling
I have only met Lake Ontario, but as someone who has lived on the east coast all my life, it was indeed mind-boggling to see a lake that appeared as vast as an ocean.
If you’re ever in Manitowoc WI, the Wisconsin Maritime Museum is worth a visit. They also have a fairly large online database of photos touching on Great Lakes maritime history.
If you’re ever in Manitowoc WI, the Wisconsin Maritime Museum is worth a visit. They also have a fairly large online database of photos touching on Great Lakes maritime history.
I was there about a month ago. Fabulous.
In 2021 there will be a memorial ceremony at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, Whitefish Point MI. Due to COVID, the remembrance will be closed, attended only by surviving family members, US Coast Guard, and the Museum. According to the website of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, the ceremony will be livestreamed on the Vuit Channel, 9 & 10 News.
I understand that the tradition is to ring the ship's bell (raised from the wreck in 1979) one time for each man who perished on the Edmund Fitzgerald and once more for all the people who lost their lives in shipwrecks on the Great Lakes.
Watching this now.
SteveinMN
11-12-21, 10:44pm
“There is a quiet horror about the Great Lakes [...]”
They are both beautiful and horrible at the same time. As someone who lived near the Atlantic Ocean, and as rosarugosa commented, it really is something else to see that kind of water so far inland -- and to see the havoc that water can wreak.
I laugh at the east and west coast people who call the Great Lakes ponds. If they were ponds, they would not have 6,000 wrecks on the bottom and claims the lives of 20,000-30,000 people.
Moby Dick was published in 1851. This quote is from sailors drinking at a bar.
"For in their interflowing aggregate, those grand
freshwater seas of ours,--Erie, and Ontario, and
Huron, and Superior, and Michigan,--possess an ocean-
like expansiveness, with many of the ocean's noblest
traits; with many of its rimmed varieties of races
and of climes. They contain round archipelagoes of
romantic isles, even as the Polynesian waters do;
in large part, are shored by two great contrasting
nations, as the Atlantic is; they furnish long maritime
approaches to our numerous territorial colonies from
the East, dotted all round their banks; here and there
are frowned upon by batteries, and by the goat-like
craggy guns of lofty Mackinaw; they have heard the fleet
thunderings of naval victories; at intervals, they yield
their beaches to wild barbarians, whose red painted
faces flash from out their peltry wigwams; for leagues
and leagues are flanked by ancient and unentered forests,
where the gaunt pines stand like serried lines of kings
in Gothic genealogies; those same woods harboring wild
Afric beasts of prey, and silken creatures whose exported
furs give robes to Tartar Emperors; they mirror the paved
capitals of Buffalo and Cleveland, as well as Winnebago
villages; they float alike the full-rigged merchant ship,
the armed cruiser of the State, the steamer, and the
beech canoe; they are swept by Borean and dismasting
blasts as direful as any that lash the salted wave; they
know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land,
however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight
ship with all its shrieking crew."
Teacher Terry
11-13-21, 4:09pm
The first time I saw the ocean I was disappointed as it looked no different than Lake Michigan.
rosarugosa
11-13-21, 4:24pm
The first time I saw the ocean I was disappointed as it looked no different than Lake Michigan.
That is so funny, Terry!
The first time I saw the ocean I was disappointed as it looked no different than Lake Michigan.
Haha.
happystuff
11-13-21, 5:36pm
I have to honestly say that if it wasn't for the Gordon Lightfoot song, I would have no clue. Shame on me.
This is an awesome website on WI wrecks. My diving instructor did most of the photos/videos and research. This is her baby.
https://wisconsinshipwrecks.org
Look up the Rouse Simmons, the Christmas Tree ship
https://wisconsinshipwrecks.org/Vessel/Details/541?region=Index
Or the Home
https://wisconsinshipwrecks.org/Vessel/Details/277?region=Index
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