November 10 1975. May your souls rest in peace.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Johnny 3eagles,

A very haunting song. Well done Gordon.

Thanks for the reminder. Down in The Lair there was a recent thread on a storm in 1913 on the Great Lakes, crazy story.

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...0601935/m/5570085405

This song has two of the most haunting lines I’ve ever encountered and never fails to give me a shiver. “Does anyone know where the love of God goes; when the waves turn the minutes to hours”. One land or water, anyone who has felt helpless in a situation of impending and seemingly overpowering doom understands.

Every year on this day when a thread is started about this, I tell of the summer of 1979, four years after the loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I sailed as an engine cadet on the SS Middletown, also of Columbia Steamship Company, based out of Cleveland. Most of the crew aboard the Middletown were friends of those on the Fitz. Naturally it was a very tough topic.

Most who lived around the great lakes, and definitely those alive in Michigan when this happened will always remember this day. I was a young child and still remember it.

I never knew anything about this, for years I'd hear the song and liked it.

Last year I stumbled on a youtube video talking about the song and how/why it was written and I have so much more appreciation for it. This is the type of song I can put on repeat for an hour while I'm cleaning guns or organizing my gear.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Nickelsig229,

Fair winds and following seas, sailors.

729 feet long. No small vessel.

For those of you who listen to podcasts...

https://www.ouramericanstories...he-edmund-fitzgerald

scroll down and choose the podcast player of your choice.

Note: I've only listen to half of it so far, but I'm finding a good factual description of what happened.

Last September we visited the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point, MI. At some point they announced that the SS Arthur M. Anderson would be sailing by. I took the picture below.

The Anderson was the ship which was following the SS Edmund Fitzgerald that night and whose captain was the last in radio communication with her before she sank.

Interestingly, the Anderson was launched in 1952 and over 70 years later - after a few refits - is still hauling taconite to the steel mills.

A point that may be of some interest. A former shipmate of mine works on the lakes and said virtually every ship in operation now are diesel powered. Many of them were converted from steam turbine, but many were also built that way. When I was out there in the 70's, the 1000 footers were just coming out and all diesel powered.

Took this pic this morning while waiting for the wife to get the staples removed from her recent knee replacement. The Duluth harbor where the Fitz last sailed from. Not quite as gloomy as that November day and calm seas.

I was 16, and the school I attended was 2 blocks from Lake St Claire. I remember this day and the Fitzgerald well.

I was at K.I. Sawyer AFB and spent a lot of time in Marquette. When the Fitz went down, The Yoops reaction was akin to the loss of the Challenger Space Shuttle.
I worked for a year or at the LS&I ore dock and got to see many of the lake boats. The docking of the boats and the loading of them was fascinating for me. If you get the chance, come up and watch.

This is an older thread. It was 50 years ago.

The ‘Edmund Fitzgerald’ Sank Half a Century Ago. We’re Still Fascinated

A massive freighter carrying thousands of tons of iron ore disappeared in Lake Superior, setting shipping on a new course

by Ari Daniel
November 6, 2025

Half a century ago, on an unseasonably warm fall day, the freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald set off from the western edge of Lake Superior with a cargo full of iron ore. Within hours, a ferocious storm gathered in strength, ultimately producing 60-foot waves and sinking the prized vessel. There were no survivors. The exact cause of its demise remains unknown.

Over the decades, many ships have faced a similar fate on the Great Lakes, a part of the world that some say is more dangerous than the open ocean. But the tragedy of the Edmund Fitzgerald looms the largest in our collective national memory—and it led to changes in the maritime industry that dramatically improved the safety of shipping...

Complete article:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com...ascinated-180987648/

And we are having our first storm of the season today. 4 inches of snow so far and more on the way. The gales of November!

There's an excellent book out just earlier this year, The Gales of November, by John Bacon, about the Fitz. Highly recommended.

Thanks for reminding us. Remembering those lost is important. Bless all the families and loved ones who lost loved ones on that day.

A hell of a thing, to be certain. Fair winds boys.


All these years I never put it together that EF went down on the Marine Corps 200th anniversary.

Not the kind of thing I usually miss.

I'll never forget it now, that's for sure.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 83v45magna,

quote:

Originally posted by Aquilon:
There's an excellent book out just earlier this year, The Gales of November, by John Bacon, about the Fitz. Highly recommended.

He's the subject of the interview in my post earlier today. The book is now on my "must read" list.