Posted on 11/17/2017 5:30:13 PM PST by nickcarraway
When the Edmund Fitzgerald sank to the bottom of Lake Superior amid a fierce storm on Nov. 10, 1975, the most gut-wrenching loss was its entire crew - all 29 men aboard who went down with the famed freighter.
But the wreck of the 729-foot "laker" was also a $24 million loss of an engineering marvel - a ship considered a Great Lakes workhorse as it racked up seasonal records for its cargo-hauling abilities.
Below are some of the often-forgotten facts about the ship whose demise has become a tragic Lake Superior legend.
The Edmund Fitzgerald was not only an ore-hauling workhorse with nearly 750 round trips to her credit, she was also the largest freighter on The Great Lakes for 13 of her 17 years.
Originally a coal-fired "laker," the Edmund Fitzgerald was later outfitted to burn oil, and had a diesel-powered bow thruster. She was owned by Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee.
The big freighter was just 17 miles from safety when she sank with all 29 men aboard. At the time, nearby ships were reporting waves approaching 25 feet and hurricane-force winds blowing across Lake Superior.
Even after the Edmund Fitzgerald disappeared from radar, it took a while to organize a search effort because of the fierce storm pounding Lake Superior. The Arthur M. Anderson, which had been trailing the Fitzgerald for more than a day, was the first to search. By then, the doomed freighter had already plunged to the lake's bottom and had broken in two.
8 facts behind the Edmund Fitzgerald's final hours Posted November 09, 2017 at 07:00 PM | Updated November 09, 2017 at 10:30 PM 3.9k shares 15 Comment
lifevests.JPG Life vests recovered after the Edmund Fitzgerald sinking. (Courtesy | U.S. Coast Guard)
By Tanda Gmiter | tgmiter@mlive.com When the Edmund Fitzgerald sank to the bottom of Lake Superior amid a fierce storm on Nov. 10, 1975, the most gut-wrenching loss was its entire crew - all 29 men aboard who went down with the famed freighter. But the wreck of the 729-foot "laker" was also a $24 million loss of an engineering marvel - a ship considered a Great Lakes workhorse as it racked up seasonal records for its cargo-hauling abilities. Below are some of the often-forgotten facts about the ship whose demise has become a tragic Lake Superior legend. gr1.jpg MLive graphic The Edmund Fitzgerald was not only an ore-hauling workhorse with nearly 750 round trips to her credit, she was also the largest freighter on The Great Lakes for 13 of her 17 years. gr2.jpg MLive graphic Originally a coal-fired "laker," the Edmund Fitzgerald was later outfitted to burn oil, and had a diesel-powered bow thruster. She was owned by Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee. gr3.jpg MLive graphic The big freighter was just 17 miles from safety when she sank with all 29 men aboard. At the time, nearby ships were reporting waves approaching 25 feet and hurricane-force winds blowing across Lake Superior.
MLive graphic Even after the Edmund Fitzgerald disappeared from radar, it took a while to organize a search effort because of the fierce storm pounding Lake Superior. The Arthur M. Anderson, which had been trailing the Fitzgerald for more than a day, was the first to search. By then, the doomed freighter had already plunged to the lake's bottom and had broken in two.
MLive graphic Lake Superior claimed all 29 men aboard the Mighty Fitz, from a young deckhand to its veteran captain: Captain Ernest M. McSorley Michael E. Armagost Fred J. Beetcher Thomas D. Bentsen Edward F. Bindon Thomas D. Borgeson Oliver J. Champeau Nolan S. Church Ransom E. Cundy Thomas E. Edwards Russell G. Haskell George J. Holl Bruce L. Hudson Allen G. Kalmon Gorden Maclellan Joseph Mazes John H. McCarthy Eugene O'Brien Karl A. Peckol John J. Poviach James A. Pratt Robert C. Rafferty Paul M. Rippa John D. Simmons William J. Spengler Mark A. Thomas Ralph G. Walton David E. Weiss Blaine H. Wilhelm
MLive graphic When the U.S. Coast Guard surveyed the Edmund Fitzgerald's wreck site in 1976, it used a U.S. Navy submersible to get video of the ship's two halves on the lake bottom, covered in mud. Artist sketches made from this video are included in the official Marine Casualty Report issued in 1977.
MLive graphic The Edmund Fitzgerald's bell now is displayed at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point. Canadian explorer Joseph MacInnis led a 1995 expedition to recover it. This quest gave the families of the lost crew members a tangible memorial.
Of the 7,000 shipwrecks recorded in The Great Lakes, only 5 percent of them happened in Lake Superior.
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most.
Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the mintues to hours?
I remember the day she went down.
Damn, now I’ve got that tune back in my head, and I didn’t even play it.
There was a hour or maybe two hour show on one of the History type channels about the Edmond Fitzgerald.
I can’t recall much about it but I do remember there was a ship following it, knowing it was in trouble, then just suddenly, it was gone.
All of those facts were in the song !
Grew up on the shores of the Great Lakes.
Since I was a very little kidlet, I knew that the Edmund Fitzgerald was sad news.
The captain of the Arthur Anderson at that point had been working Great Lake shipping for a half-century; he said that was the worst storm he had ever seen.
The father of the wife of a guy I work with was an engineer who was originally supposed to be in the Fitzgerald on that last trip. Fortunately for him, plans changed and he didn’t go.
With a crew and good captain well seasoned
729 ft long and sank in only 530 ft of water. The bow maybe smashed into the lake floor then she broke up.
Why is the wheelhouse on great lake freighters forward and to the rear on salt water ships?
The gales of November comes early...great song....Dad has the song..
Bookmark
“...sank in only 530 ft of water.”
Would have been no different than sinking in only 130 ft of water.
Other famous Lake Superior ship tragedies:
Shipwrecks of Lake Superior: 7 Famous Ships Lost in the Waters of the Lake
https://www.lakepedia.com/blog/lake-superior-shipwrecks.html
Spent a workday on one of those oar boats when it was unloading taconite at a steel mill in Chicago - best day of work I had all that summer (the overhead cranes and a bulldozer they lowered into the holds did most of the work; we human laborers just had to shovel up the leftovers in nooks and crannies when they got near the end). Most of my work day was lounging on the deck, watching pleasure boats move up and down the Calumet River.
I remember that History type channel program on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
As I recall the (in my opinion the thoroughly convincing) evidence pointed to a cause due to improperly secured hatches.
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