29 Years Ago Today, November 10th 1975...
#1 Landman 10 Nov 2004 17:46
Twenty-nine years ago today at approximately 7:10pm, twenty-nine men lost their lives in probably the most famous nautical disaster in The Great Lakes history. A large ship 729 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 39 feet deep, ran into trouble 17 miles north of Whitefish Bay Michigan. Prior to that with a load of iron pellets called taconite, it was on its way to Detroit to unload and head to Cleveland to dock for the winter.
The ship was in company with another ship called the Arthur M. Anderson of The United States Steel Corporation's Great Lake Fleet, they knew of the gale warnings posted that day and decided to alter their course and head north to the Canadian coast of Lake Superior to shelter themselves from the storm. The two boats (great lake sailors prefer "boat" to "ship"), followed the Canadian shore to The Caribou Island near "Six Fathom Shoals." The Anderson's captain Jesse "Bernie" Cooper, remarks how close the other boat is to the shoals. Crossing the lake in an attempt to harbor the storm, the two make a course for Whitefish Bay Michigan.
As they are crossing the great lake, a wave crosses the bow of the first boat and it sustains heavy damage including developing a list (leak) and wiping out a common radio antenna used by its multiple radars rendering them unable to use them. The boats captain radio's the Anderson, stating the damage happened, they had lost radar and they want them to stay with them and give them radar plots by radio until they got to Whitefish.
The Anderson agreed, We'll keep you advised of your position.
The Sault St, Marie Locks report winds of seventy knots, gusts up to eighty-two, about ninety-five mph, hurricane force. The Anderson reports being hit by two huge waves which go over the pilot house, 35 feet above the water line. Although the boats Captain told the Anderson he had developed a list and was, in fact, taking on water, his main concern was that because of the loss of radar and new reports of the Whitefish Bay Lighthouse being broken down, the boat was sailing blind and pulling to the left due to the list. They had to rely on the Anderson for guidance.
When the Anderson radioed back later to ask how they were doing with their problem, The Captain replied "We are holding our own".
That was the last thing heard from The Edmund Fitzgerald.
The tremendous waves on Lake Superior kept interfering with the Anderson's radar, showing the Fitzgerald some 10 miles ahead of her. As the Anderson would dip with a large wave, the Fitzgerald and all other boats in the area would disappear, showing up again as the Anderson would crest. At 7:10 the Anderson rose above a wave and the radar showed three blips, saltwater ships, the Navafors, the Avafors, and the Benfri about 20 miles downbound. But no Fitzgerald.
In the span of just a few seconds, with no distress call, the Fitzgerald was gone.
The Anderson contacted the Coast Guard in Sault St. Marie. "S-O-O Control, this is the Anderson. I am very concerned about the welfare of the steamer Edmund Fitzgerald. He was right in front of us, experiencing a little difficulty. He was taking on a small amount of water and none of the upbound ships have passed him. I can see no lights as before and I don't have him on radar. I just hope he didn't take a nose dive!"
The air temperature at the time was 49 degrees and the water temperature was 40 degrees. Under these conditions a man would go into shock in 30 minutes.
A floating debris field was found the next morning and a 1000 yard long oil slick about 13 miles from Whitefish Point. On later days, small objects were found near the Canadian shore, life vests and rings, bottles, splintered wood, the largest object being a crumpled raft with the Fitzgerald's name. The wreckage is in two major pieces. The bow section is 276 feet long and upright. The stern section is 253 feet long and upside down. The sections are 170 feet apart. About 200 feet of the midsection is disintegrated. Although there is no conclusive evidence pointing to what the cause was, the most popular theory is that because the Fitz was taking on water, the taconite cargo shifted toward the bow making it unbalanced, heavy to the front. When the Fitz plunged into the valley between two large waves, she submarined to the bottom, striking the lake's floor with enough force to break her in two.
There has been no attempt by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point, which had made several exploratory expeditions down to the wreckage, to recover the crew.
[i:17d6bd9eb3]The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called 'Gitche Gumee'
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty.
That good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early.
The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ship's bell rang
Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?
The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too,
T'was the witch of November come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the Gales of November came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind.
When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin'.
Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya.
At Seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in, he said
Fellas, it's been good t'know ya
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
And the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when his lights went outta sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Does any one know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searches all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
May have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the Gales of November remembered.
In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral.
The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call 'Gitche Gumee'.
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early!
-Gordon Lightfoot
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I'd rather have a bottle in front of me then a frontal lobotomy.......
My grey matter is turning white, my proof is my grey hair....
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