Edmund Fitzgerald
SS Edmund Fitzgerald was a freighter which sank in a savage gale on Lake Superior on the night of November 10, 1975. All 29 members of her crew died attempting to reach safe harbor in Whitefish Bay, Michigan. The tragedy inspired the hit ballad The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Canadian songwriter Gordon Lightfoot.
Contents
Background
Edmund Fitzgerald was launched on June 7, 1958, from the Great Lakes Engineering Works at River Rouge, MI, a suburb on the south side of Detroit. She was owned by the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. and named after the company's newly elected chairman of the board. The Oglebay-Norton Company of Cleveland, Ohio chartered her under a long-term contract from Northwestern.
At the time of her launch the Fitzgerald was the largest ore carrier on the Great Lakes, and remained so until 1971. She weighed 13,632 tons and measured 729 feet long by 75 feet wide. Fully loaded, the Fitzgerald was capable of carrying 27,500 tons, powered by a 7,500 horsepower steam turbine engine that could move her along at up to 17 knots. In 1964 Edmund Fitzgerald became the first carrier to haul more than one million tons of iron ore pellets (taconite) through the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, earning her the nicknames the "Big Fitz" and "The Pride of the American Flag". Sailors considered themselves privileged to serve aboard her.
Captain Ernest McSorley, a veteran mariner with over 40 years experience, assumed command of Fitzgerald at the start of the 1972 shipping season. He had commanded nine ships before joining the ship. A quiet person, Captain McSorley was well respected by his contemporaries as a skillful master and by his men, whom he treated as true professionals. Captain McSorley turned 62 in 1975 and was happily married. Although he had no children of his own, his wife Nellie was the mother of three children from a previous marriage.
Edmund Fitzgerald continued her fine record of service under the new Captain's command into 1975. However, on October 31, 1975 the Coast Guard noted a problem during a routine inspection of the vessel at Toledo, Ohio. The inspectors found a number of hatch covers that seal the cargo area would not close properly, meaning that water which washed on board the deck would be able to leak into the cargo hold.
The last voyage
Fitzgerald began Sunday, November 9, 1975, loading 26,116 tons of taconite at the Burlington Northern Railroad Dock #1 in Superior, Wisconsin. On this 40th voyage in her 17th season, Fitzgerald's destination was a steel plant on Zug Island in the Detroit River, and from there to Cleveland to berth for the winter. The weather that morning was cloudy and cool with a light northeast wind. However, a deepening storm system was already taking shape in the central Plains.
Deteriorating weather
By early afternoon, she was loaded and ready to depart. At 2:19 PM, Fitzgerald left Superior and soon entered the open waters of western Lake Superior. The National Weather Service forecast at that time called for east to northeast winds increasing to 25 to 37 knots during the night, then shifting to north or northwest 24 to 40 knots on the afternoon of the 10th. Soon after she left, the National Weather Service issued a gale warning for Lake Superior, forecasting sustained east winds between 34 and 48 knots beginning that night ahead of the intensifying storm in the central Plains then moving into Iowa. Captain McSorley acknowledged receipt of the warning in a radio communication with Captain Bernie Cooper of the Arthur M. Anderson (named for the director of U.S. Steel, and no relation to the failed accounting firm at the heart of the Enron scandal), another ore carrier that had steamed out of Two Harbors, Minnesota at almost the same time the Fitzgerald had left Superior. After reading the updated weather forecast, the two captains decided to travel closely together across northern Lake Superior and then southeast along the east shore of the Lake to the Soo Locks (with Fitzgerald taking the lead, being the faster of the two ships). By doing so, they could monitor each other and possibly avoid the higher waves that would be generated over southern Lake Superior on the 10th by the expected north to northwest winds.
At 1:00 AM on November 10, Fitzgerald and Anderson were south of Isle Royale in western Lake Superior. The storm system moving northeast from the central Plains had continued to strengthen and reached north central Wisconsin by early morning on the 10th. Fitzgerald reported northeast winds at 52 knots with 10-foot waves at 1:00 AM, and the National Weather Service soon upgraded the gale warning to a storm warning, forecasting sustained northeast winds 48 to 63 knots and 8- to 15-foot waves for the rest of the night. Captains McSorley and Cooper both expressed concern about the deteriorating weather conditions. At 7:00 AM, the ships were approximately 45 miles north of Copper Harbor, Michigan. The Fitzgerald observed northeast winds at 35 knots and 10-foot waves as the intensifying low pressure center moved over Marquette, Michigan. This report was the last weather observation she would disseminate.
By early afternoon on the 10th, the storm system had moved into southern Ontario, and the ships had reached a point about 10 miles northwest of Michipicoten Island in eastern Lake Superior, now heading southeast toward the Soo Locks. The weather report at 1:00 PM from the M/V Simcoe, a Canadian vessel about 15 miles from Fitzgerald, indicated the surface low pressure center had passed north of Lake Superior: the wind had shifted to the west at 44 knots. At 2:45 PM, the Anderson observed northwest winds at 42 knots and 12- to 16-foot waves. The storm had become so bad that the Soo Locks were forced to close.
Taking on water
Captain Cooper, who could see Fitzgerald on the Anderson's radar screen, worried that the ship might have moved too closely to shallower water about 35 feet deep off the Ontario coast near Caribou Island at 3:15 PM. He was concerned that Fitzgerald could strike the bottom of Lake Superior as it was tossed around in the increasingly violent seas, damage its hull, and leak in water. In fact at 3:30 PM, Captain McSorley radioed Anderson and indicated Fitzgerald was taking in water and had developed a list. Two water pumps were running to pump out the water. Fitzgerald had also sustained topside damage.
During the late afternoon of the 10th, ship observations show sustained northwest winds over 50 knots were occurring across eastern Lake Superior. At 4:00 PM, an estimated 75-knot, hurricane-force northwest wind gust struck Anderson. Captain McSorley contacted Anderson shortly after and indicated he had lost both his radars used for guidance, presumably due to wind damage suffered from this mighty gust. He requested Anderson to monitor his position and course. The wind gust also knocked out the lighthouse and radio beacon at Whitefish Point. The implication of all this equipment loss was that Fitzgerald was now sailing blindly, completely dependent on Anderson for navigational guidance.
At 5:45 PM, Captain McSorley was in communication with the ship Avafors, indicating Fitzgerald was suffering a bad list, had lost both radars, and was taking in heavy seas over the deck. Captain McSorley stated: "One of the worst seas I've ever been in."
Disappearance
At 7:00 PM, Anderson, trailing Fitzgerald by about 10 miles, was struck by two waves estimated at 25 feet or higher. At 7:10 PM, Captain McSorley told Anderson "We are holding our own." This was the last communication from the Fitzgerald. At 7:15 PM November 10, Anderson lost Fitzgerald on radar as a snow squall enveloped the doomed ship.
Anderson tried to contact Fitzgerald again, but to no avail. A worried Captain Cooper called the Coast Guard at Sault Ste. Marie to report his concern about Fitzgerald, but the storm severely impacted search operations. Anderson was asked to go back into the storm to search for any survivors; though reluctant to do so, Captain Cooper did, and the Anderson turned out to be the primary vessel in the search; later that night she discovered two badly damaged lifeboats and some other debris, but no survivors.
Search
The Coast Guard conducted a thorough search in the next several days. On the 14th, a U.S. Navy plane with a special magnetic anomaly detector located a strong contact about 17 miles northwest of Whitefish Point. During the next three days, the Coast Guard cutter Woodrush located two large pieces of wreckage in the same area under about 535 feet of water. A Navy underwater recovery vehicle on May 20, 1976, photographed the wreckage. The pictures clearly showed the words "Edmund Fitzgerald" on the stern piece of the sunken ship.
Aftermath
Since Fitzgerald never called for help and the ship's lifeboats were found badly damaged — indicating they were never launched but instead smashed while still secured to the ship — the Coast Guard determined the ship sank abruptly. The Coast Guard concluded these were the primary factors that caused Fitzgerald to sink:
- Fitzgerald sat very low in the water, increasing the frequency and quantity of water that could flood the deck.
- The loose hatch covers allowed water spilling on board to enter the cargo area, causing the ship to sink even lower and take on more and more water.
- More water could have entered through damage in the hull caused by the possible grounding near Caribou Island.
Although there is speculation that Fitzgerald broke in half on the surface as the bow and stern rode the crests of the two large waves that struck Anderson earlier, the Coast Guard's final report suggests Fitzgerald instead nose dived into a large wave, was unable to recover because it had lost so much buoyancy, and plunged to the bottom of Lake Superior in seconds. As the heavy cargo shifted forward quickly while Fitzgerald was going down, the bow of the ship hit the bottom with such force that the vessel snapped in two. Of course, there are no witnesses to verify these conclusions.
Canadian songwriter Gordon Lightfoot immortalized the loss of Edmund Fitzgerald and all 29 aboard with his 1976 hit song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald". On July 4, 1995, divers recovered Fitzgerald's bell from the bottom of Lake Superior, replacing it with a replica engraved with the names of the crew. In a ceremony at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point on November 10, 1995, the bell was presented to the relatives of the crew and rung 30 times: once for each member of the crew and a final time in honor of all those who have lost their lives at sea. The bell remains at the Shipwreck Museum today.
The crew
- Michael E. Armagost, 37, Third Mate, Iron River, Wisconsin
- Fred J. Beetcher, 56, Porter, Superior, Wisconsin
- Thomas D. Bentsen, 23, Oiler, St. Joseph, Michigan
- Edward F. Bindon, 47, First Asst. Engineer, Fairport Harbor, Ohio
- Thomas D. Borgeson, 41, Maintenance Man, Duluth, Minnesota
- Oliver J. Champeau, 41, Third Asst. Engineer, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
- Nolan S. Church, 55, Porter, Silver Bay, Minnesota
- Ransom E. Cundy, 53, Watchman, Superior, Wisconsin
- Thomas E. Edwards, 50, Second Asst. Engineer, Oregon, Ohio
- Russell G. Haskell, 40, Second Asst. Engineer, Millbury, Ohio
- George J. Holl, 60, Chief Engineer, Cabot, Pennsylvania
- Bruce L. Hudson, 22, Deck Hand, North Olmsted, Ohio
- Allen G. Kalmon, 43, Second Cook, Washburn, Wisconsin
- Gordon F. MacLellan, 30, Wiper, Clearwater, Florida
- Joseph W. Mazes, 59, Special Maintenance Man, Ashland, Wisconsin
- John H. McCarthy, 62, First Mate, Bay Village, Ohio
- Ernest M. McSorley, 63, Captain, Toledo, Ohio
- Eugene W. O'Brien, 50, Wheelsman, Toledo, Ohio
- Karl A. Peckol, 20, Watchman, Ashtabula, Ohio
- John J. Poviach, 59, Wheelsman, Bradenton, Florida
- James A. Pratt, 44, Second Mate, Lakewood, Ohio
- Robert C. Rafferty, 62, Steward, Toledo, Ohio
- Paul M. Riippa, 22, Deck Hand, Ashtabula, Ohio
- John D. Simmons, 63, Wheelsman, Ashland, Wisconsin
- William J. Spengler, 59, Watchman, Toledo, Ohio
- Mark A. Thomas, 21, Deck Hand, Richmond Heights, Ohio
- Ralph G. Walton, 58, Oiler, Fremont, Ohio
- David E. Weiss, 22, Cadet, Agoura, California
- Blaine H. Wilhelm, 52, Oiler, Moquah, Wisconsin
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