The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down Although subsequent underwater expeditions examined the wreckage, no definitive answer was reached as to why the vessel sank. Lifeboats, life jackets, and other debris were discovered, but there was no sign of the Fitzgerald. This Board was assigned the task of determining the cause of the sinking of the EDMUND FITZGERALD on November 10, 1975 and to make recommendations to prevent . Maybe someday we will learn the exact cause. [148] It was also alleged that when compared to Edmund Fitzgerald's previous captain (Peter Pulcer), McSorley did not keep up with routine maintenance and did not confront the mates about getting the requisite work done. [27] In Edmund Fitzgerald's case, they signed a 25-year contract with Oglebay Norton Corporation to operate the vessel. A delay of 36 minutes followed while the shipyard crew struggled to release the keel blocks. [73], In 1980, during a Lake Superior research dive expedition, marine explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau, the son of Jacques Cousteau, sent two divers from RVCalypso in the first manned submersible dive to Edmund Fitzgerald. However, no distress signals were sent before she sank; Captain McSorley's last (7:10p.m.) message to Arthur M. Anderson was, "We are holding our own." [167] The loss of Edmund Fitzgerald also exposed the USCG's lack of rescue capability on Lake Superior. The Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald -- Aftermath - National Weather Service Stonehouse called on ship designers and builders to design lake carriers more like ships rather than "motorized super-barges"[154] making the following comparison: Contrast this [the Edmund Fitzgerald] with the story of the SS Maumee, an oceangoing tanker that struck an iceberg near the South Pole recently. Others overlap in some ways. SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in Lake Superior during a storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29 men. The ship was carrying a cargo of iron ore pellets weighing about 26,100 tons, and it left from Superior, Wisconsin, heading to the steel mill on Zug Island . It provided for transferring the bell to the Mariners' Church of Detroit if the terms were violated. [4] The vessel ran aground in 1969, and she collided with SS Hochelaga in 1970. He said, "in my opinion, all the subsequent events arose because (McSorley) kept pushing that ship and didn't have enough training in weather forecasting to use common sense and pick a route out of the worst of the wind and seas. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. The mystery is compounded by mud covering key parts of the wreck and a legal prohibition on further dives imposed by the Canadian government. TThe Edmund Fitzgerald is the largest ship to have ever sunk in North America's Great Lakes, and her sinking remains a mystery to this day. [111], The July 26, 1977, USCG Marine Casualty Report suggested that the accident was caused by ineffective hatch closures. The Traverse City, Michigan, USCG station launched an HU-16 fixed-wing search aircraft that arrived on the scene at 10:53p.m. while an HH-52 USCG helicopter with a 3.8-million-candlepower searchlight arrived at 1:00a.m. on November 11. As Edmund Fitzgerald was sailing under the U.S. flag, even though she sank in foreign (Canadian) waters, she was subject to U.S. admiralty law. Compressed air pressure blew a hole in the starboard bow, which sank 18degrees of course. At 7:10 pm the Fitzgerald spoke again to the Anderson, at which time McSorley stated, We are holding our own. Those were the last words heard from the Fitzgerald. The hand line consisted of a piece of line knotted at measured intervals with a lead weight on the end. Despite having reached Whitefish Bay, the Anderson agreed, heading back into the storm. Mariners' Memorial, 1988 Great Lakes captains, family members, and friends pay their respects at a memorial service for the Edmund Fitzgerald crew at Detroit's Mariners' Church. The . Marie at 7:39p.m. on channel16, the radio distress frequency. The simulation also showed one in 100waves reaching 36 feet (11m) and one out of every1,000 reaching 46 feet (14m). Because the ship had no depth sounding technology, the crew had no way of knowing that incoming water was pushing the ship lower in the water until the flooding exceeded the height of the iron ore in the holds. [134], When Bethlehem Steel Corporation permanently laid up Edmund Fitzgerald's sister ship, SS Arthur B. Homer, just five years after going to considerable expense to lengthen her, questions were raised as to whether both ships had the same structural problems. "[125] Author Bishop reported that Captain Paquette of Wilfred Sykes argued that through their support for the shoaling explanation, the LCA represented the shipping company's interests by advocating a hypothesis that held LCA member companies, the American Bureau of Shipping, and the U.S. Coast Guard Service blameless. Caused Edmund Fitzgerald----Follow. [74] The dive was brief, and although the dive team drew no final conclusions, they speculated that Edmund Fitzgerald had broken up on the surface. [40] The weather forecast was not unusual for November and the National Weather Service (NWS) predicted that a storm would pass just south of Lake Superior by 7a.m. on November 10. [44] Captain Paquette of Wilfred Sykes reported that after 1a.m., he overheard McSorley say that he had reduced the ship's speed because of the rough conditions. The S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald (sometimes called the Mighty Fitz or Big Fitz) was a Great Lakes bulk cargo vessel that was christened into service on June 8, 1958. [202] Later it was determined that the life ring was not from Edmund Fitzgerald, but had been lost by the owner, whose father had made it as a personal memorial. Edmund Fitzgerald Timeline S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald Online [50], McSorley was known as a "heavy weather captain"[169] who "'beat hell' out of the Edmund Fitzgerald and 'very seldom ever hauled up for weather'". [195], The ship's bell was recovered from the wreck on July 4, 1995. Its mysterious demise inspired Gordon Lightfoots hit song The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (1976), which helped make it the most famous shipwreck in the Great Lakes. It's the unsafest commercial vessel afloat. [181] Robert Hemming, a reporter and newspaper editor, reasoned in his book about Edmund Fitzgerald that the USCG's conclusions "were benign in placing blame on [n]either the company or the captain [and] saved the Oglebay Norton from very expensive lawsuits by the families of the lost crew."[182]. . A small but well-stocked kitchenette provided the drinks. She set seasonal haul records six different times. All of the 14other clamps were undamaged and in the open position. What caused the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald? The Mini Rover ROV was equipped with miniature stereoscopic cameras and wide-angle lenses in order to produce 3-D images. Ernest McSorley. McSorley told the Arthur M. Andersonwhich was sailing about 10 miles behind herreplied, We are holding our own. It was the last time anyone heard from the Fitzgerald. However, a later shift in the winds meant that the vessels had set a course for the brunt of the storm. When the gales of November come early. [21], Edmund Fitzgerald was a record-setting workhorse, often beating her own milestones. Despite repeated attempts to raise the USCG, Cooper was not successful until 7:54p.m. when the officer on duty asked him to keep watch for a 16-foot (4.9m) boat lost in the area. Book Delves into the Mysteries of the 'Mighty Fitz' - NPR The final position of the wreckage indicated that if the Edmund Fitzgerald had capsized, it must have suffered a structural failure before hitting the lake bottom. In 1977, the U.S Coast Guard pinned the sinking on massive flooding of the cargo hold caused by faulty or poorly fastened hatch covers. Frederick Stonehouse wrote: Stewards treated the guests to the entire VIP routine. Relatives of the crew halted this move, objecting that the bell was being used as a "traveling trophy. [201] Artifacts on display in the Steamship Valley Camp museum in Sault Ste. Shortly after 7:10p.m., Edmund Fitzgerald suddenly sank in Canadian (Ontario) waters 530 feet (88 fathoms; 160m) deep, about 17 miles (15 nautical miles; 27 kilometers) from Whitefish Bay near the twin cities of Sault Ste. [37] Two widows of crewmen filed a $1.5million lawsuit against Edmund Fitzgerald's owners, Northwestern Mutual, and its operators, Oglebay Norton Corporation, one week after she sank. Thompson further conjectured that damage more extensive than Captain McSorley could detect in the pilothouse let water flood the cargo hold. [31] The original lyrics of the song show a degree of artistic license compared to the events of the actual sinking: it states the destination as Cleveland instead of Detroit. [41], SS Wilfred Sykes loaded opposite Edmund Fitzgerald at the Burlington Northern Dock#1 and departed at 4:15p.m., about two hours after Edmund Fitzgerald. [38], MacInnis led another series of dives in 1995 to salvage the bell from Edmund Fitzgerald. The following year the ships bronze bell was recovered. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Edmund-Fitzgerald, National Weather Service - The Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald -- Introduction, Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies - The sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum - Edmund Fitzgerald. [26], Northwestern Mutual's normal practice was to purchase ships for operation by other companies. "[10] The ship's value at that time was $7 million (equivalent to $52.4million in 2021[11]). "I've often wondered whether these two particular seas might have been the ones that finally did the Fitzgerald in, because they were really huge," he said. Instead, a hand line was the only method Edmund Fitzgerald had to take depth soundings. In between the two broken sections lay a large mass of taconite pellets and scattered wreckage lying about, including hatch covers and hull plating. Maritime author Wolff reported that depending on weather conditions, all the clamps were eventually set within one to two days. In the case of the Edmund Fitzgerald, the clamps were not only still on the ship, but they were in perfect condition, even though the hatch covers were gone. The song is "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," Canadian folksinger Gordon Lightfoot's tribute to the giant freighter that went down in Lake Superior last November with all 29 hands lost . Photo courtesy of the Great Lakes Maritime Institute. Fighting the water, the crew got the ships bow back up, but then, Cooper recalled, Another wave just like the first one or bigger hit us again. The massive waves slammed the Anderson, and then raced toward the wounded Fitzgerald, travelling a mile a minute. [165] Captain Paquette of Wilfred Sykes noted that this change allowed loading to 4,000 tons more than what Edmund Fitzgerald was designed to carry. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. When launched on June 7, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes, and she remains the largest to have sunk there. Omissions? MLive meteorologist Mark Torregrossa postulates rogue waves as possible based on the 2006 NOAA storm simulation. The NTSB hewed to the Coast Guard line somewhat, agreeing that that non-weathertight hatch covers probably caused flooding during the trip, but the board ultimately concluded the probable sinking cause was "sudden massive flooding of the cargo hold due to the collapse of one or more hatch covers." [163] The Marine Board noted that because Edmund Fitzgerald lacked a draft-reading system, the crew had no way to determine whether the vessel had lost freeboard (the level of a ship's deck above the water). Captain Paquette of Wilfred Sykes had been following and charting the low-pressure system over Oklahoma since November 8 and concluded that a major storm would track across eastern Lake Superior. [108], The "Edmund Fitzgerald" episode of the 2010 television series Dive Detectives features the wave-generating tank of the National Research Council's Institute for Naval Technology in St. John's, and the tank's simulation of the effect of a 17-meter (56ft) rogue wave upon a scale model of Edmund Fitzgerald. En route to a steel mill near Detroit, Edmund Fitzgerald joined a second taconite freighter, SSArthur M. Anderson. Some 10 minutes later the freighter disappeared from the Andersons radar. The cuisine was reportedly excellent and snacks were always available in the lounge. [104] The southeastern part of the lake, the direction in which Edmund Fitzgerald was heading, had the highest winds. So, what caused it? Around 10:30p.m., the USCG asked all commercial vessels anchored in or near Whitefish Bay to assist in the search. [78], Canadian explorer Joseph B. MacInnis organized and led six publicly funded dives to Edmund Fitzgerald over a three-day period in 1994. [112] This meant that Edmund Fitzgerald's deck was only 11.5 feet (3.5m) above the water when she faced 35-foot (11m) waves during the November 10 storm. Edmund Fitzgerald reported winds of 52 knots (96km/h; 60mph) and waves 10 feet (3.0m) high. Carried 72,000U.S.gal (270,000L; 60,000impgal) fuel oil, This page was last edited on 23 July 2023, at 18:09. The Edmund Fitzgerald sank on the evening of November 10, 1975, next year will be the 45th anniversary of the tragedy. The iron ore freighter Edmund Fitzgerald sank to the bottom of Lake Superior during a hurricane-like storm on the night of Nov. 10, 1975. On August 8, 2007, along a remote shore of Lake Superior on the Keweenaw Peninsula, a Michigan family discovered a lone life-saving ring that appeared to have come from Edmund Fitzgerald. Captain McSorley said he did not like the action of a ship he described as a "wiggling thing" that scared him. We dropped the hook because they found out the big ones could sink. The No. The event was plagued by misfortunes. Shortly after 7 p.m. on Nov. 10, 1975, the 729-foot bulk cargo vessel Edmund Fitzgerald plummeted 530 feet to the bottom of Lake Superior just 17 miles from the entrance of Whitefish Point, Mich. She took with her all of the 29-man crew, including Capt. Over an hour later, the Fitzgerald reported to the Avafors that it was listing badly. Since the ship was heading east-southeastward, it is likely that the waves caused Edmund Fitzgerald to roll heavily. What really happened to the Edmund Fitzgerald? - Cottage Life By browsing this site, we may share your information with our social media partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy. NOAA concluded the storms worst marine conditions occurred briefly in a small specific area of Lake Superiorand that location was coincident with the time and location at which the ship Edmund Fitzgerald was lost.. [179] In addition to the crew, 26,116 long tons (29,250 short tons; 26,535t) of taconite sank along with the vessel. Carrying a full cargo of ore pellets with Captain Ernest M. McSorley in command, she embarked on her ill-fated voyage from Superior, Wisconsin, near Duluth, on the afternoon of November 9, 1975. The bow section abruptly ended just aft of hatch No. Her J.L. It's still unknown exactly how the ship sank, but many believe that the Edmund Fitzgerald started taking water over its hull as the storm over Lake. With a loss of buoyancy, its bow dipped and was unable to recover, diving to the lake bottom. Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald: Why Did S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald Sink Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, invested in the iron and minerals industries on a large scale, including the construction of Edmund Fitzgerald, which represented the first such investment by any American life insurance company. The USCG replied that their monitoring equipment indicated that both instruments were inactive. The disaster is one of the best known in the history of Great Lakes shipping. The Fitzgerald, an ore carrier, sank Nov. 10, 1975. [109], Captain Cooper of Arthur M. Anderson reported that his ship was "hit by two 30 to 35 foot seas about 6:30p.m., one burying the aft cabins and damaging a lifeboat by pushing it right down onto the saddle. And am taking heavy seas over the deck. This tragic accident points out the need for all persons involved in Great Lakes shipping to foster increased awareness of the hazards which exist. The hatch covers were missing from hatches Nos. The mangled wreckage was located some 530 feet (162 metres) below the lakes surface, 17 statute miles (27 km) from Whitefish Bay, in Canadian waters. Edmund Fitzgerald's pilothouse was outfitted with "state-of-the-art nautical equipment and a beautiful map room. The obvious conclusion from this finding is that the clamps were not securing the hatch covers when the ship sank but were instead left unlocked. In addition, the angle, repose and mounding of clay and mud at the site indicate the stern rolled over on the surface, spilling taconite ore pellets from its severed cargo hold, and then landed on portions of the cargo itself. The USCG sent a buoy tender, Woodrush, from Duluth, Minnesota, but it took two and a half hours to launch and a day to travel to the search area. He told them that Edmund Fitzgerald's foundering was caused by negligence. [17] Originally coal-fired, her boilers were converted to burn oil during the 197172 winter layup. But it's nothing but a motorized barge! Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). [180] The company paid compensation to surviving families about 12months in advance of official findings of the probable cause and on condition of imposed confidentiality agreements. The ship then hit ground, and broke in two. August 7 The keel of hull number 301 (the Edmund Fitzgerald) is laid in River Rouge, Michigan 1958 The Marine Board feels that this attitude reflects itself at times in deferral of maintenance and repairs, in failure to prepare properly for heavy weather, and in the conviction that since refuges are near, safety is possible by "running for it." Alexander Fleiss is the CEO of Rebellion Research, A Scientist, Teacher & Ai Researcher. Saying "Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya." Link as the support vessel, and their manned submersible, Celia. [4] The vessel's record load for a single trip was 27,402 long tons (30,690 short tons; 27,842t) in 1969. He said: The Great Lakes ore carrier is the most commercially efficient vessel in the shipping trade today. Riveted joints allow a ship to flex and work in heavy seas, while welded joints are more likely to break. Last year, after leading their own research and investigation into the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, including simulating the actual weather and sea conditions, Canadians Mike Fletcher and his son Warren concluded that a rogue wave delivered the final blow to an already damaged ship. She was en route to the steel mill on Zug Island, near Detroit, Michigan,[38] with a cargo of 26,116 long tons (29,250 short tons; 26,535t) of taconite ore pellets and soon reached her full speed of 16.3 miles per hour (14.2kn; 26.2km/h). The William Clay Ford also joined the search, which came to include other vessels as well as helicopters and airplanes. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Lightfoot drew his inspiration from Newsweek 's article on the event, "The . Marie, Ontario, in November 2005 as another 30th-anniversary commemoration. The Coast Guard cited reports of damage to the Fitzgerald's hatches that were planned for winter repair. The Anderson's captain also made statements in 1986 seemingly supportive of the rogue wave theory. During 1974, she lost her original bow anchor in the Detroit River.