"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (41st anniversary of her sinking)

YouTube ^ | 1976 | Gordon Lightfoot

[Ciaphas Cain]

"We are holding our own.

-- Last transmission by Captain Ernest McSorley of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald

Forty-one years ago tonight came the worst tragedy in the history of the Great Lakes. The largest ship plying its waters, the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, sank in a horrific November storm. On her ride to the bottom she took all 29 of her crew with her.

The following year, Gordon Lightfoot released his haunting ballad "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald".

In memory of the twenty-nine men of the Great Lakes's most legendary vessel, and in memory of all who have taken to the waters to make an honest living, only to perish in their labors.

[Fantasywriter]

‘the US Coast Guard official who went out to search for the Fitz on that awful night and he had (even after serving many years previously on the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico) never, ever seen seas as rough and violent as what he saw on Lake Superior in that 1975 storm.’

Bear in mind that Capt. Jesse Cooper went BACK out onto Superior to look for survivors (though he knew there wouldn’t be any) after finally making it safely across. He was skippering the Arthur Anderson at the time.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Wife & I got a couple of trips on an Interlake Steamship steamer, very much like the Ed Fitz. We sailed out of Two Harbors with a load of ore and headed northeast to the locks at the Soo. We passed through and headed down Lake Huron and into the rivers north of Detroit, pulling into Rouge Steel where the cargo was discharged.
Being a guest on a Laker was first class everything. Our little “stateroom” opened onto a day room looking back on the deck and rear engine compartment and galley. There was a big stainless steel fridge stocked with Molson’s Golden and a dozen varieties of booze plus cheeses, cold cuts, etc.
All was topped off by an 8 track tape player with Glenn Miller tunes and other classics.
It was like a trip back in time...

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The Anderson was a US Steel boat.

[irish guard]

Every so often there are super storms like the one that took down the Edmund Fitzgerald (named after the CEO of Northwestern Mutual Life, which owned the ship).

There was an Armistice Day blizzard on November 11, 1940 that was worse. The day started out really warm and turned on a dime. Lots of duck hunters were killed (140+) as the day went from very warm to heavy snow.

In 74, the day the Edmund Fitzgerald went down, it was a similar story. Weather was very nice early in the day and went very quickly to a dangerous, high wind, extremely cold day.

[OttawaFreeper]

Soon will be the 50th anniversary of the DANIEL J MORRELL (on November 29th, 1966). One man (wheelsman Dennis Hale) survived that sinking and I read about his ordeal that night.

[LonePalm]

You might enjoy my parody: The Wreck of the John F'n Kerry.

"Ceterum censeo Hillary esse delendam."

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[dwg2]

I saw him in concert in Nov of 1976. He told the audience, before he sang the song, that one year ago last night was when the Edmund Fitgerald sank. You could hear a pin drop. A great song.