Sank in Lake Superior.

Link

^^^^
I’ve long wondered, would this anniversary be noted if Lightfoot hadn’t written the song.

ETA: outside of the Great Lakes

The anniversary would definitely be noticed here in MQT. I was stationed at K.I.Sawyer when the Fitz sank. The effect locally was equivalent to the loss of the space shuttle. The Wikipedia article mentions a "Seiche". I have witnessed one. The big lake can be very scary! If the ore boats interest you, the closest you can get to one (other than the Soo Locks) is at the LS&I Dock in the MQT upper harbor. You can watch the iron ore being loaded and the ore trains on the trestle. Watching a lake boat being docked for loading is pretty impressive.

A couple nights ago I listened to a fantastic interview with Ric Mixter, a journalist, historian, researcher, and author. He is a maritime disaster expert, both ships and aviation disasters, with a focus on Great Lakes marine disasters, and he is an experienced diver that has dived on the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald several times.

Although he very much likes the Gordon Lightfoot song, he is quick to point out that the lyrics contain several factual inaccuracies.

Among the things I learned from his interview were that the ship broke into 2 two major pieces, one that more or less was found on the ship's heading, the other was found inverted and on a different heading. The exact cause of the sinking hasn't been verified, but it is thought several bad decisions were made. The Captain had taken a heading to avoid the worst of the storm based on inaccurate WX predictions, but their heading actually took them into the worst part of the storm, where the waves were over 3 stories high. It is thought these waves engulfed the ship, or that a massive wave hit the ship so quickly that that it literally dove bow down and disappeared before an SOS could even be sent.

Negligence may have played a part as the shipping company supposedly allowed the ship to haul extra cargo in the Winter months. Several of the Fitzgerald's hatches were reported to have had known problems that hadn't been repaired, and several of the hatches were found not dogged down.

After the ship sank a P-3 located the wreck and dropped a buoy to mark the location for rescuers, however the seas were so rough that the buoy sank and the wreck was lost for a couple days. So the P-3 re-located the wreck, dropped a 2nd buoy... and the seas were still so rough that that buoy sank as well. Later dives located both buoys and they were both found crushed at depth.

Unlike the song lyrics, a lone crewman's body was located, wearing coveralls and a life preserver, near the bow. Mixter said that, although they could have ID'd the crewman, there was such outrage by family members after a submersible filmed the body that, out of respect for them, they witheld the ID.

Reportedly by a caller to the program, there is a coroner with a YouTube channel, that once did a review analysis of those crewman lost in the tragedy, but I haven't made the time to watch it yet.

Thankfully, the crew is thought to have perished quickly.

This tragedy led to several technical improvements to marine safety that were later implemented within the industry.

The sister ship to the Edmund Fitzgerald is still shipping cargo today.

Although you can't listen to the actual 2 hour long interview without a paid subscription (unless it is re-broadcast out of its time slot) here is a link to the interview description that also contains links to Ric Mixter's books and website.

Coast to Coast - Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald interview

Ric Mixter's website.

http://www.lakefury.com/

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
^^^^
I’ve long wondered, would this anniversary be noted if Lightfoot hadn’t written the song.

ETA: outside of the Great Lakes

Probably not. Sadly, in light of how many other matters that compete for our attention, this tragedy would have slipped into dormancy like countless others in history.
In my case, the Titanic and the Edmund Fitzgerald stories are what initiated a life long fascination and dread for sunken ship disasters. I am at once captivated and horrified at what those poor souls endured whom the sea and lakes claimed.

God bless their souls.

Just so happens up here that today is much like that day was. The lake is churning and rolling; winds are really whipping up a froth. Sideways rain. All in all, a very unpleasant day that does evoke memories of that day.

Gale warning today, too.

Good view of the Duluth entry here

Can really see the waves breaking over the canal entry; and note the pedestrian gates are closed.

quote:

Originally posted by Modern Day Savage:
...there is a coroner with a YouTube channel, that once did a review analysis of those crewman lost in the tragedy, but I haven't made the time to watch it yet.

This is likely what you were referring to:

The Fitz was a big boat for its day at 728 feet in length. Today there are several lakers that are 1000+ feet long. The biggest is the Paul R. Tregurtha at 1013 feet. The Tregurtha was a frequent visitor to the LS&I Dock and when I worked there, I never missed watching it dock. The Marine Traffic website will let you track the lakers on Superior and the other Great Lakes.

The Canadian government passed a law some years ago making it illegal to dive there without an archeological permit. $1M fines for violation.

Prior to that law, two divers DID make the trip - without rebreathers.

https://mynorth.com/2008/11/de...qOQ-FjpEMA05LWJ2zLcQ

Sorry, I don't agree with the bad decisions theory. Here is a video on the wrecks of the great Lakes, the first portion covers the 1913 storm. The Edmund story begins around the 19:01 mark.



The Edmund lost both radar masts and was flying blind, relying on the other ship's radar that was 9 miles away. The Edmund traveled very close, if not into the shallows and may have dragged, creating leaks into the cargo areas. This cause the ship to slowly get lower and lower in the water until it finally drove deep into a wave and broke apart like the Titanic.

If you’ve never been to Whitefish Point and the Ship Wreck museum, you owe it to yourself to stop if you’re ever up that way. I’ve been a couple dozen times and it always moves me.

quote:

Originally posted by Oaklane:
If you’ve never been to Whitefish Point and the Ship Wreck museum, you owe it to yourself to stop if you’re ever up that way. I’ve been a couple dozen times and it always moves me.

Last time we were at the Museum in 1996 (IIRC maybe 1995) the bell had just been put on display. The wreck is a protected grave site and hopefully the families and friends can remember with less pain every day.

Something to think about.

The Fitz sank in 530 feet of water.

The Fitz was 729 feet long.

If she sank straight down and stood on her bow 200 feet of ship would be sticking up out of the water.

Known shipwrecks in Lake Superior
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/ma...4f70805579a8d0bbc2b4

As I recall I think it was near a record of recorded low pressure with that storm. I didn’t watch the documentary’s linked.

Now days I’d think most any ship has state of the art weather links & forecasts available. Of course even without satellite weather in the mid 70’s the storm wasn’t a surprise. It’s a mentality we’ve been through unfavorable weather before, it’s mostly worked out.

The more recent example seems to be that cargo ship bound for Porto Rico a few years ago, went down in the edge of a hurricane.

I visit family at times on the edge of Keweenaw Bay West of Marquette. A few years ago there was a storm with the winds a howling, corresponding waves on Superior. There was a handful of big ships tucked deep into the bay to stay out of the wind & waves. I remember watching the waves near Big Bay another time modest storm. At that time the waves were about 6’ coming on the beach.

Many years ago a frigate IIRC, docked at Navy Pier in Chicago. I struck up a conversation with the Captain of the ship and asked him what was the worst ocean he had ever sailed in. He told me that it was easily the Indian Ocean followed closely by the Great Lakes particulary Lakes Superior and Michigan.

Yep. The Mackinaw Straits are particularly dangerous. Lots of ships on the bottom.

The state of Michigan approved the Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve in 1983 to protect underwater resources. Covering 148 square miles spanning Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, the well-maintained preserve currently has 12 buoyed shipwrecks, with many other marked sites closer to shore.