I cant remember what tonnage she had on anymore. But the Capt on the Anderson had warned him to NOT get to close to that reef.
All she had to do was break her back-or a little crack, and the wave action would have done the rest. The weight on the way down broke her up.
I have been on that GD lake in a 21 foot fishing boat and got caught in a storm on the Big Reef 28 miles north of the bay out of Munising Michigan. That and one time on a fish tug where I got so dam sea sick I wished I would die.
I have seen three freighters brought in by fish tugs to harbor when they got caught in a gale on that lake. And not a one had any antennas left on the wheel houses. Matter of fact, one had half the deck railings and survival boats gone. It isnt that the waves are that high on there-its the frequency of the waves. Then, around November, the spray freezes on the deck and all.
....when afternoon came it was freezing rain...one of the lyrics of the song...
I just checked, she was carrying just over 26,000 tons. I think she would have been considered fully loaded.
It is the frequency of the waves; on the oceans the wave roll on Lake Superior they pound.