At 3:30 pm that afternoon, Captain McSorley radioed Captain Cooper and said: Anderson, this is the Fitzgerald. Theorists have sized upon the permanent lay-up of the Fitzgerald sister ship, the Arthur Homer, in 1980 as indicative of structural deficiency both vessels. Their only hope was the safety of White Fish Bay, where maybe they could be rescued off or near the ship. Marie, Michigan. The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald lies at the bottom of the southeastern portion of Lake Superior in 530 feet of water. He said that he was going along like an old shoe; no problems at all., Well, again, do you think you could come about and go back and have a look in the area?, Well, Ill go back and take a look, but God, Im afraid Im going to take a hell of a beating out there Ill turn around and give er a whirl, but God, I dont know. Phantom Fireworks is the leading retailer of consumer fireworks in the U.S. Phantom provides the widest range of consumer fireworks in all categories. to which McSorely replied the infamous last words "We are holding our own." In the steel towns to Gary's east, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburg, Bethlehem and others, urban decay also set in and still remains today (2021). Since these two large waves struck the trailing Anderson mere minutes before its final radar contact with the Fitzgerald, might they have joined a third rogue wave, overtaken the struggling Fitz 10 or 15 minutes later and overwhelmed the already listing and troubled ship? The retrofit was planned for November 12, 1975 upon completion of the1975 season. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald was released as a 7-inch 45 rpm A-side single in August 1976, taken from Lightfoots album Summertime Dream released that July. According to Captain Cooper, about 6:55 pm, he and the men in the Andersons pilothouse felt a bump, felt the ship lurch, and then turned to see a monstrous wave engulfing their entire vessel from astern. Having been a consultant and active member of the original Jacques Cousteau expedition in 1980 along with the raising of the bell 1994 expedition. Marie at 7:39 p.m., continued to try to raise radio contact with the big ship. ZIP Code by Address. Ftizgerald, like all Great Lakes vessels often had to pass through violent storms that rivaled those of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, with waves sometimes reaching upwards of 100 feet.Fitzgeraldhowever was also noted for her numerous problems. There had to have been something happening on the deck that a mate thought they had to get control of - even if it meant putting lives in danger.. Another wave just like the first one or bigger hit us again. What was eventually found only included destroyed remains of the ships two lifeboats, life preservers and items from the ship's galleys. You can also follow me on Twitter at:https://twitter.com/jwbarker22, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald: According to a legend of the Chippewa tribe, the lake they once called Gitche Gumee never gives up her dead, Great American Dreams: A Portrait of the Way We Are, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8LBkYjniTU, https://www.shipwreckmuseum.com/edmund-fitzgerald/the-fateful-journey/?fbclid=IwAR33M-6_G0X15ab73z4KkAIM3owr3GaVpRsHdaE5n_OIbSP3PzX7_FTMIGo, http://www.ontarioparks.com/parksblog/edmund-fitzgerald-40-years-later/. He kept losing sight of the Fitzgerald on the radar from sea return, meaning that seas were so high they interfered with the radar reflection. Gale warnings had been issued at 7 p.m. on Nov. 9, upgraded to storm warnings early in the morning of Nov. 10. This theory is the thought that the Fitzgerald hit the bottom near Caribou Island, ripping a hole in the ship. All were lost to the depths of Lake Superior. (TheEdmund Fitzgeraldseen in her final years riding far lower in the water than she should have ever been allowed to. As the afternoon dragged on, the storm worsened. Submit Yours. This theory was supported by a 1976 Canadian hydrographic survey, which disclosed that an unknown shoal ran a mile further east of Six Fathom Shoal than shown on the Canadian charts. They said, however, they were inclined to accept that the Fitzgerald passed over the Six Fathom Shoal Area as reported by Cooper. Perhaps the greatest change that came in the aftermath of the Fitz disaster is in navigational equipment. Will you stay by me till I get to Whitefish? McSorley was checking down his speed to allow the Anderson to close the distance for safety. The protective visor over the wheelhouse windows has been completely flattened down and there is a lot of similar damage throughout the superstructure of the bow, indicating theEdmund Fitzgeraldmet a very violent and catastrophic end. Five years later in 1980, Jacques Cousteaus famous Calypso arrived for the first manned dive inside an underwater vessel to the site. "We always had to go down and pump them out.". Captain Cooper maintained that he watched the Edmund Fitzgerald pass far too close to Six Fathom Shoal to the north of Caribou Island. The Fitzgerald being the faster took the lead, with the distance between the vessels ranging from 10 to 15 miles. The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead At the time of the foundering, there was no requirement for depth-finding instruments on commercial vessels. Significantly, within a few minutes of passing the shoal, the Fitzs Captain Ernest McSorley reported a starboard list, missing vents and a fence rail down. Okay, fine, Ill be talking to you later. Clark signed off. [1], The island was privately held by a group of hunters and stocked with caribou in the late 1800s. Morgan Clark, first mate of the Anderson, kept watching the Fitzgerald on the radar set to calculate her distance from some other vessels near Whitefish Point. Has anyone ever calculated how much shorter the normal route across Superior would have been had the Fitzgerald not changed course? On this voyage,Fitzgeraldwas fully loaded with iron ore. First mate Clark spoke to the Fitzgerald one last time, about 7:10 pm: Fitzgerald, this is the Anderson. From the time of its first voyage on Sept. 24, 1958, the ship set six records by carrying heavier and heavier loads. Grounded on Six Fathom Shoal. Various cars scatter the bottom of the river covered in grass and zebra muscles. Without direct witnesses or survivors, every explanation about the cause of the wreck is purely theoretical and, from the very beginning, a rash of theories concerning it were postulated. 400 W. Portage Avenue Conjecture by proponents of the Six Fathom Shoal theory concluded that Fitzgerald ' s downed fence rail reported by McSorley could occur only if the ship "hogged" during shoaling, . Upon reaching Whitefish Bay, theCoast Guard requested that any freighter waiting out the storm in Whitefish Bay go out to search for theFitzgeraldand her 29 man crew as the Coast Guard itself was unable to reach the scene immediately. The Fitzgerald is about 16 miles ahead. However, the Westlake, Ohio-based Lake Carriers Association, representing U.S.-flag vessel operators on the Great Lakes, responded in a letter to the National Transportation Safety Board in September 1977 disagreeing with the Coast Guards suggestion that the lack of attention to properly closing the hatch covers by the crew was responsible for the disaster. [9][10], This article is about the island in eastern Lake Superior. 4:30 p.m. Fitzgerald passes 3 to 5 miles east of Caribou Island. I then called the William Clay Ford to ask him if my phone was putting out a good signal and also if perhaps the Fitzgerald had rounded the point and was in shelter, after a negative report I called the Soo Coast Guard because I was sure something had happened to the Fitzgerald. The final voyage of the Edmund Fitzgerald began November 9, 1975 at the Burlington Northern Railroad Dock No.1, Superior, Wisconsin. A small three room cabin was built on the east shore of Lake Superior adjacent to Deer Lake and the Amphibian base. The battered ship despite the odds continued to soldier on towards Whitefish Bay. As with all of the other theories, it may well be that we will never know the total story of this wreck - leaving each theory, for now, as good as any other. Captain Jessie B. it be nice if they stopped talking about White Fish Bay which is 15 (N) miles from where it went down. On November 14, a U.S. Navy plane equipped with a magnetic anomaly detector located a strong contact 17 miles north-northwest of Whitefish Point. Its as certain as anything can be that sooner or later there will be another ship lost on Lake Superior, says maritime historian Frederick Stonehouse. Conditions only grew worse; at 3:15 p.m., the Captain of the Anderson watched the Fitzgerald round Caribou Island, where it seemed to skirt close to Six Fathom Shoal. May god rest the souls of the 29 men who perished that fateful night, The iron ore freighter is only about 9 nautical miles from Pancake Bay off highway #17 Ontario Canada, it sits in Canadain waters. Just to late for the 29. ZIP Code by City and State. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. My understanding of the dives was showed hatches were closed least belied to be so and was the low ship by full cargo in the water and the sea waves and cargo shift caused her go down- no matter what the cause it's all so tragic- I know not the ship nor any of the crew or families but i can certainly feel their loss- it is a very sad story - and the song very accurate to what is known about the ship wreak- many lost at seas' and many more will- it's just sad. Would like to offer any help I can. Near-hurricane force winds seemed to pick up strength throughout the day while visibility was greatly reduced. What's obvious is that wind and waves played a big role in the sinking. Within days, the location of the wreck on the bottom of the lake was pinpointed by U.S. Navy aircraft and the following spring the Coast Guard positively identified the wreckage using underwater photography. A 2010 television episode of Dive Detectives simulated the effect of a 56-foot wave on a scale model of the Fitzgerald. He and his officers watched the Fitzgerald pass right over the dangerous area of shallow water. I myself and my classmates are without a doubt able to state that is not only a prime example of media misinformation. Despite having been built in Michigan and having operated mostly around Michigan,Edmund Fitzgeraldwas homeported in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Size wise, both theArthur B. HomerandEdmund Fitzgeraldwere impressive even compared to oceanic ships, with an outstanding length of 711 to 729 feet. Twenty-nine men were lost when the Fitzgerald went down. "She took on water all the time and her tunnels flooded out on her," Woodward said. When originally built, it was visible for 16 miles (26km) and operated on a 30-second revolving cycle. 'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); A Great Lakes Information Network partner, 2020 Lake Superior Publishing LLC. * The ship had run aground on a reef during the worst of the storm (likely the reef in question was Six Fathom Shoal near Caribou Island). Until 1959,Edmund Fitzgeraldheld the record for the longest ship on the Great Lakes. His written report states: At this time I became very concerned about the Fitzgerald couldnt see his lights when we should have. Perhaps the most widely accepted of the several theories about the loss of the Fitzgerald is that the ship crossed Caribou Island's Six-Fathom Shoal, with water as shallow as 26 feet.. U.S. Coast Guard rescue vessel Woodrush took 21 hours to arrive on scene from the Duluth port. With the ship pounding and rolling badly, the crew of the Anderson discovered the Fitzgeralds two lifeboats and other debris but no sign of survivors. Bernie Cooper. "He and his officers watched the Fitzgerald pass right over the dangerous area of shallow water," Ley wrote. The heavy seas overwhelmed a ship that had already lost freeboard and was listing. Could these have contributed to the sudden disappearance of the ship? A more serious issue was determined by poor construction and design. This would have left the crew no way to survive the Edmund Fitzgerald Wreck. A half hour later I heard the news. With regards to iron ore shipping on the Great Lakes, it most certainly is still taking place. It was originally discovered by sonar shortly after the sinking in 1975 and first documented by several expeditions in 1976 including one by Jean Michel Cousteau, son of famous oceanographer Jaques Cousteau. At about 5:20 pm the crest of a wave smashed the Andersons starboard lifeboat, making it unusable. Too soon to be coincidence. USS Indianapolis (CL/CA-35) was a Portland-class heavy cruiser of the United States Navy, named for the Grindstone Island Cars It started as a shipwreck, followed by a newsmagazine story in the still-golden age of newsmagazines like Time, U.S. News & World Report and Newsweek. The steel and iron plates still sat on the dock two years later. Captain Jesse Cooper, (J.C.) of the S.S. Arthur M. Anderson watches the Fitzgerald round Caribou Island and comments that the Fitzgerald is much closer to Six Fathom Shoal than he would want to be. That's what underwriters do. Caribou is located on the North Fork Feather River, 9.5 miles (15.3 km) south of Almanor. It was not long after thatFitzgeraldvanished from theAnderson'sradar. Perhaps the real cause of the sinking may never be known for certain. It had enough force to come down on the starboard lifeboat, pushing it into the saddles with a force strong enough to damage the bottom of the lifeboat. The second large sea put green water (the powerful center of a wave) on our bridge deck! Both ships crews could feel the effects.Around 3:00 in the afternoon, both ships had passed Caribou Island, Ontario, home of the notorious Six Fathom Shoal, a sharpy rocky outcropping more than capable of tearing into the hull of a deep draft vessel in stormy weather. Images of the Fitz's 1958 construction and launch. In Lake Superior Port Cities Inc.s newly released book, The Night the Fitz Went Down, Captain Dudley Paquette vividly describes his voyage through the massive seas of the November 9-10, 1975, storm as master of the downbound Inland Steel Companys SS Wilfred Sykes. A real eye opening view from the man who was the last person to ever speak to theEdmund Fitzgerald's crew. USS Indianapolis (CA-35) FAQs. Again, Captain Cooper of the Anderson provides fuel for this theory, as he relates in Marshalls Shipwrecks of Lake Superior that slightly before 7 p.m. we took two of the largest seas of the trip. The Anderson's captain also made statements in 1986 seemingly supportive of the rogue wave theory. The shoaling hypothesis suggests that the most probable cause of the Edmund Fitzgerald's wreckage was her shoaling or grounding in the Six Fathom Shoal northwest of Caribou Island when the crew was unable to use the Whitefish Point Light as a navigational aid. It lies entirely within the territorial waters of Canada although only about five kilometres from the international border between Canada and the United States. 3:20 PM Anderson reports winds coming from the Northwest at 43 knots. It lies entirely within the territorial waters of Canada although only about five kilometres from the international border between Canada and the United States. This island was considered an emergency landing airport (YCI) during World War II. )As if the aforementioned problems weren't enough, Northwestern Mutual had theFtizgeraldpartially rebuilt in her later years to handle thousands of extra tons of iron ore, which substantially raised the waterline, increasing the maximum draft of the ship, maximum weight of the ship and height of the deck above water. Because of the Great Depression, the island was not restocked and the island was more or less abandoned by the approximately 15 owners-in-common. Instead, the LCA theorized that the lost freighter had stumbled over the Six-Fathom Shoal at the north end of Caribou Island, sustaining damage that would prove to be fatal to the ship. The Coast Guard then initiated its search for the missing ship. Cooper tried desperately to raise McSorley on the radio to no avail.
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