Posted on 11/10/2014 6:15:41 AM PST by Cincinatus
For reference USN 300kw surface search of that time frame could see the hardware on a utility pole at 40 miles under ideal conditions. Rain reflections, sea surface clutter, and sweeping the right sector while riding the wave crest come into play.
Great song.
Not saying Bethlehem Steel should have gone under, but they certainly didn’t handle the wreck of the Daniel Morrell the way they should have. Had its disappearance been reported sooner, odds are very good at least one other crewman could have been saved. Very sad story, & a miracle, under the circumstances, that even one managed to survive.
LOL!
Never heard that one before.
Thanks. I know the Anderson had two types of radar. One worked at a distance, and the other was better for closer objects. For most of the afternoon/evening, they were about 10 miles behind the Fitz.
Ach, ja!
It’s a terrifying story. The middle of the ship bowed way up, and then literally cracked in half. The fore crew was in a life raft, waiting for the freezing water to lift them off the deck, when they saw lights steaming up alongside the bow. They thought it was another ship, and they could be rescued. Turned out it was the stern of the Morrell, briefly able to keep on sailing even though it was, at that time, only half a ship.
As I mentioned, only one crewman survived. He was supposed to have died about 32 hrs before he was rescued, given the temps. It really was a miracle.
Those lyrics are at the crux of it whether the friends you mourn were lost in the Pacific, the Atlantic, or one of the Great Lakes. That tune of Lightfoot's, even transcending the lyrics, dials in on the human emotional dynamic with PERFECT PITCH. People from seafaring families know; what makes the song powerful is that it touches those outside of seafaring with almost as much impact.
Amen.
I grew up in a commercial fishing family ... I hear ya. The song honors all of those we've lost; when we hear the song, no matter where or when, we think of them and ponder the REAL perspective of where we sit on God's earth.
The hull structue was inadequate to resist the bending moments imposed by the great swells. She literally broke in two
Yeah, it was rammed by the Cat Stevens
Wow. Good post.
Today the Patrick Fitzgerald would get rammed by the Gerald Fitzpatrick.
Interesting picture! Is that based on sonar images of the bottom of Lake Superior or just some artist’s imagining?
I'm glad you're home now, safe and sound. I know exactly that your loved ones do even now, 20 years later. I still whisper prayers of thanks to the Almighty for bringing my loved ones home safe, and pray he continues to do so, though now they are only sports fishermen.
The only problem with the ‘broke in two’ theory is that the entire middle of the ship was ground to powder/vaporized. This would only have happened if the bow struck the lake floor with tremendous force [which it would have done, if the bow had gone under & the screw drove her down] such that the weight/momentum of the stern, driven down by the sudden impact of the bow, destroyed the mid-ship.
I don’t know.
I assume it is rendered from photos. I chose to put up the present rather than the past
The last hours of the voyage are truly a harrowing tale
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