I think the real story is that of the Arthur M Anderson that was ahead a few miles of the Fitz. They made it safe harbor when they got the news that they lost contact with the Fitz. The captain and crew volenteered to go back out to look for survivors.. Remember that what hit and sunk the Fitz was equivalent to a hurricane. The Anderson reported the got rocked by 2 gigsntic waves and the Captain though that what hit and sunk the Fitzgerald
I watched a documentary on the tragic night and I recall an interview with the US Coast Guard captain who went out with the Anderson in the search and rescue effort and he said those were the worst seas he had been on and that included about 25 years service on the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere like that.
“They might have split up or they might have capsized...”
From a scan of the ship on the bottom, it was determined it broke in half, due to a huge wave picking the ship up that left one end hanging in the air.
“The Anderson reported the got rocked by 2 gigsntic waves and the Captain though that what hit and sunk the Fitzgerald”
True.
I did read a book a number about 12 years ago. it was written by another captain who was out that night. he found refuge for his ship in Thunder Bay. They did go out looking for the Fitz later.
There is a line of thinking that as the Fitz took a northerly route that it may have accidentally scraped its hull at a place called Six Fathom Shoal. The captain of the Fitz later reported via radio that the ship had developed a list and its pumps were having trouble keeping up.
The two waves that hit the Anderson then hit the Fitz and drove her underwater where she broke it half.
The captain of the Anderson had spent 50 years sailing the Great Lakes and said that was the worst storm he’d ever seen.