New shipwreck documentary released on anniversary Edmund Fitzgerald's sinking

The Muskegon Chronicle ^ | 11/09/08 | Local Reports

[Joe 6-pack]

Thirty-three years ago today after a fierce winter storm sent the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald to the bottom of Lake Superior, a new video has been released that explores the latest theories behind the ship's sinking.

Mark Gumbinger of Kenosha, Wis., who has produced 31 documentaries on shipwrecks and lighthouses, recently released "The Edmund Fitzgerald Controversy."

"The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is arguably the most famous shipwreck story told around the Great Lakes," Gumbinger said. "Yet the question remains, 'What really happened to the Mighty Fitz that cold November night?' "

The ship sank on Nov. 10, 1975, with a loss of 29 lives as a cyclone-velocity storm swept over Lake Superior.

Gumbinger said since the ship sank 33 years ago, interest in the shipwreck has "grown and grown." He said people are interested in the Edmund Fitzgerald because it happened in their lifetime, unlike the Titanic, which sank in 1912.

Gumbinger's latest documentary explores the various theories as to why the 729-foot-long freighter went down in 530 feet of water -- in particular the possible faulty hatch covers that allowed water to pour into the ship. Gumbinger said this theory is supported by U.S. Coast Guard testing and computer models.

Other theories include the long ship breaking in two because of rough seas or being damaged by ramming into shoals. Others say it was the crew or faulty equipment or an unidentified object. Adding to the mystery is that the ship was considered modern, was piloted by the highly experienced Capt. Ernest McSorley and disappeared without a single communication or SOS.

Gumbinger said he expects his documentary, like his others, to sell well in Michigan, which he says has a tremendous interest in ships and shipping disasters. Gumbinger's video includes underwater footage of the ship as it lies in two sections in 530 feet of water. The program includes pictures of the 729-foot-long freighter in service.

Although he lives in Wisconsin, Gumbinger's documentaries are familiar in West Michigan and can be found at many area libraries. Some of his documentaries have focused on ships of the area, including the car ferry Milwaukee, which sank Oct. 22, 1929, while sailing from Milwaukee to Grand Haven, and the passenger ship S.S. Wisconsin, which sank in 1929.

Gumbinger also has produced a documentary on three Whitefish Bay shipwrecks, the 1956 sinking of the Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria, and the sinking of the freighter Daniel J. Morrell.

The new Edmund Fitzgerald sinking documentary by Mark Gumbinger is available for $39.95 plus $6.95 shipping from Southport Video Productions, 9928 32nd Ave., Kenosha, Wis., 53158; or by calling (800) 642-9860; on Internet at www.edmundfizgerald.com.

[Northern Yankee]

There's also the theory of the Three Sister Waves that was bandied about when I was up in Michigan. Three extraordinary big waves. The first one took the ship down, and as it was on its way back up to the top, the second wave slammed into it, breaking the ship in half.

Another theory.

[Joe 6-pack]

Hey.....I’m not the only FReeper with a Robert Service poem on my homepage!!

[Northern Yankee]

Thanks...

There's also a children's book titled The Edmund Fitgerald, The story of the Bell.

It chronicles the ship's final voyage and the retrieval of the ship's bell. They replaced it with a replica. It included all of the ship's crew inscribed on the bell.

The book is published by Sleeping Bear Press. (www.Sleeping Bear Press.com)

[Northern Yankee]

Good to hear.

My father loved Robert Service. Some great poems about the First World War. (Robert Service served with the Canadian outfit in France.)

[Petruchio]

The Edmund Fitzgerald sank?

It MUST BE Obama’s fault.

[Barnacle]

Radio transmission of the Fitz’s loss.

http://www.boatnerd.com/fitz/search.ra

[Barnacle]

I hate that song. Three notes repeated endlessly in a drone. If the Obama Administration ever needs to torture me into a false confession, all they have to do is play that thing over and over.

I expect your opinion is in the minority.

[ottbmare]

My views about Obama are in the minority, too. I can live with being in the minority.

[GoLightly]

http://www.boatnerd.com/pictures/fleet/ama.htm

[Northern Yankee]

Thanks so much.

Outstanding pictures.

[xsmommy]

here’s a piece about your fave dirge ; )

[Jimmy Valentine]

In an original documentary they interviewed the Captain of the Anderson who was trailing behind the Fitzgerald as her radar had gone down. The Captain of the Anderson said that he thought that either a stress fracture had done it or the damage that she sustained bottoming on a reef she cut very close. I always thought that it was curious that no one dove on the reef to see if in fact she had bottomed there. That large a ship and that large a cargo bottoming on that reef would surely leave an indication.

Hard to die in the cold and wet of Lake Superior in November......

Prayers for all those who go down to the sea in ships.

[Jimmy Valentine]

In an original documentary they interviewed the Captain of the Anderson who was trailing behind the Fitzgerald as her radar had gone down. The Captain of the Anderson said that he thought that either a stress fracture had done it or the damage that she sustained bottoming on a reef she cut very close. I always thought that it was curious that no one dove on the reef to see if in fact she had bottomed there. That large a ship and that large a cargo bottoming on that reef would surely leave an indication.

Hard to die in the cold and wet of Lake Superior in November......

Prayers for all those who go down to the sea in ships.

[Joe 6-pack]

LOL....I read it the first time you posted it 14 minutes ago! I may be slow, but c’mon!

[Jimmy Valentine]

What can I tell you. Keep pushing the button! LOL!

[Kenny Bunk]

The CG story was that the waves were so high, and the corresponding troughs so deep, that when the EF set on that course, which she would have easily survived in better weather, she repeatedly banged her bottom in the troughs.

Also, incredible as it may seem in a lake, that particular contour wasn't accurately charted. Reckon it is now! BTW, the series of dives in which the bell and other artifacts were discovered was well documented and has already been broadcast.

PS, Gordon Lightfoot, the only serious rival to Leonard Cohen in the hotly contested "Most Boring Canadian Singer" sweepstakes, is quite an experienced lake sailor and wooden boat aficcionado. Thus, as long as he leaves his guitar in the Frozen North, he is welcome in Maine.

[shamusotoole]

My own theory is that the ship bottomed out in a trough while “threading the needle”, took on water in the bough/midship area, and pitchpoled into the back of a wave. Once canted foreward, waterweight, shifting ore cargo and the lifting action of the following wave face on the stern would have combined to doom the ship.

It broke apart crashing into the lakebed.

The reason I like this theory is that it more plausibly explains all the facts.

Am I missing something?