Posted on 11/10/2014 6:15:41 AM PST by Cincinatus
It was Nov. 10, 1975, when the Edmund Fitzgerald disappeared in the waters of Lake Superior during a severe storm, taking 29 lives with it.
After nearly 40 years the story of the ship continues to intrigue, with some saying its legend is second only to the Titanic. Several books have been written about it and it famously was memorialized by Gordon Lightfoot's 1976 hit "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald".
When the ship was christened on June 8, 1958, it was the largest freighter on the Great Lakes at 729 feet long. It was named after Edmund Fitzgerald, president of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.
(Excerpt) Read more at cleveland.com ...
:)
‘All I know it is a bad sign when the old cook says it is too rough to feed you...’
Lightfoot made up the dialogue he used in his song. There is no record of any actual dialogue from the Fitz’s last voyage, saving a little bit that was overheard during one of Captain McSorley’s transmissions to the Anderson. [He was heard angrily ordering someone not to go out onto the deck.]
Interestingly, you might consider the Fitzgerald’s cook the sole survivor. He got sick ahead of the trip, and a substitute cook was taken on at the last minute. The sub said he had a bad feeling about the trip. That is as close as you can get to a cook pronouncing gloom & doom on the Fitz.
It's even worse when he says "It's been nice to know you."
Here is the actual chatter between the Anderson and the Coast Guard from the fateful night. The ‘unknown voice’ is Capt. Don Erickson Of the William Clay Ford [i.e.: the only other ship to leave harbor that night in search of survivors]. The rest is Cooper, his first-mate, Soo Control and a Coast Guard pilot.
I made six crossings of the Pacific on various MSTS ships as an Army Brat. On one trip, I remember the swells were seemingly larger than the ship I sailed on.
Seattle to Yokohama was 14 days at sea...
This is probably a reference to the Mariners' Church in Detroit. The church is located near Cobo Hall, named for Alfred Cobo, the last Republican mayor of Detroit (the city began to go downhill after he left office in 1957). I saw the church when I was in Detroit in 1980 for the Republican National Convention.
I didn’t know that. Interesting.
Not entirely sure I’d want a ship named after me. I’ve wondered what the guy felt in the aftermath, for whom the Fitzgerald was named. I would have felt very creepy, if a ship named after me went down without even a single survivor.
Btw, re: the chatter recording I posted. If anyone wants to hear Cooper’s response to being asked to ‘come about’ and return to the worst of the storm, iso Fitz’s survivors, it’s quite interesting. Go to the 9.50 mark; that’s where the Captain of the Port makes his request...and Cooper temporizes.
There were a lot of dark songs in the 1970's, especially in the early and middle part of the decade. These included "Emma" by Hot Chocolate, "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks, "Wildfire" by Michael Murphey and Conny Kramer by Juliane Werding, a song about a young man who dies of a drug overdose.
It’s interesting, reading this thread and threads in some other places, how many people have a connection to this. My neighbor is a retired Great Lakes sailor. He didn’t start working until 1978, but his father, also a sailor, was aboard the Arthur Andersen.
This was what weather nerds call a mega storm. One occurred on November 10, 1974 and one also occurred on November 11, 1940 and another in january of 1978. The barometric pressure drops to record lows during these storms causing severe drops in temperature of 50 degrees or more and incredible winds.
bfl
I am named Edmund Fitzgerald.
My family was just returning from Sault St. Marie after riding the Snow Train in SSM, Ontario. The weather was just starting to turn. Made it home after some delay and my Grandmother told us about some ship that went missing in Superior.
All the local news could talk about for some time.
yes, I think that is correct. I was in hart plaza in the summer of 2013 with my kids, going to a Tiger game, and we took a walk on the riverfront. Walked past this church on our way to Cobo.
I explained the significance to them...they are 18 and 23 yrs of age, and having been born in michigan, and spending most of their childhood there, they were moved by all of it.
Ah, go on now!
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