Lightfoot ballad helps keep alive memory of Edmund Fitzgerald- Ship sinks 30 years ago today

Mlive.com ^ | 11.10.05 | MIKE HOUSEHOLDER

[somemoreequalthanothers]

Asylums - I can spell, really. Been a bad week.

[Pompah]

Can you say GOOGLE. "The Wreak Of the Edmund Fitzgerald" Superior,it's said never gives up her dead When the gales of November come early. Chilling words.

[La Enchiladita]

I first heard this sung and played by a traditional Irish musician, Micheal O'Domhnail.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

I don't know Clemnenza or the Mother in question, but don't think people were so quick to sue for every little thing back in 1971......

[Alberta's Child]

The official investigation was not conclusive, but they're pretty certain about the cause of the wreck. It's never been "officially" established because there was an element of human error involved and they authorities have been deferential to the families of the survivors in this regard.

The ship was an ore carrier that carried its load in its enormous hold. The ore is loaded and unloaded through giant hatches that are closed during voyages to protect the load from the outside elements. One or more of these hatches were not properly secured before the voyage (or somehow loosened during the trip), so the hold slowly filled with water during the heavy storm.

The heavy seas caused the ship to pitch forward and back (since the wind was coming from the northwest, which was the back of the ship as it proceeded to the southeast), and on one forward "lean" the entire load of iron ore slid forward in the hold, causing the nose of ship to plunge beneath the surface. It is believed that for an instant the back of the ship was lifted completely out of the water before breaking off. The ship probably went down in less than a minute, which explains why no distress call was ever heard.

Some of these conclusions were derived from an exploration of the wreck about five years ago by a submersible robot. I've always found this painting -- which is based on the images from that exploration -- to be particularly eerie.

[apackof2]

They said he spent time in and out of aylums.

Just as I suspected....post #37

Oh I am sorry to hear that, sounds like he had an anger mangement and/or emotional problems

[JOE6PAK]

Last known photo taken at Great Lakes Steel, Detroit River October 26, 1975 She is shown here unloading at Great Lakes Steel on Zug Island - in a photograph which has been documented as the last photograph ever taken of "The Fitz" before her untimely loss on Lake Superior.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The cargo hatch theory is one reason given for the list. Another possibility is that she "shoaled" scraped bottom on one of the numerous underwater mountains near Isle Royale. This is possible because the captain steered further north than usual to get some protection from the NE wind.
Another consideration is that the Fitz was pitching violently up and down and could have been pushed into the lake floor by a massive swell or wave. She was 729 feet long and now is in two pieces in about 550 feet of water. Its possible that her bow could have hit the bottom of the lake and snapped the boat in half.

[wallcrawlr]

FYI:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1519237/posts

[apackof2]

but don't think people were so quick to sue for every little thing back in 1971......

Your right about that...now people want to sue if they are served lukewarm scrambed eggs at the resturant!

[madison10]

The "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" sounds like many of the old sea shanties, especially those sung by Irishmen. Many are haunting and some are just plain bawdy.

Definitely a Michigander's memory.

[SolutionsOnly]

Most folks don't realize how deadly Lake Superior is.

There are a LOT of shipwwrecks on it.

[Jaxter]

In a former life I was a coal miner. It was sometime around 1980 I went with some fellow miners to a bar back in the hills east of New Martinsville, West Virginia. There was supposed to be a big party in honor of the Edmund Fitzgerald, The pilot of the Edmund Fitzgerald was supposed to be there. The story was that he was sick (appendicitus?) and in the hospital (Chicago? Detroit?) when the ship went down. There was even rumors that Gordon Lightfoot was going to show up.

After we were there (drinking heavily) for a couple of hours a guy showed up in a uniform and claimed to be the pilot. He was from somewhere in that area of WVa. He said (after getting pretty drunk himself) that he felt responsible for the wreck ofthe ship because they had to have a less experienced pilot on the ship because of his illness.

I never did find out if he was legitimate or not but we all got pretty drunk on Blue Ribbon beer. And, no Gordon Lightfoot didn't show up.

[SolutionsOnly]

I never did find out if he was legitimate or not but we all got pretty drunk on Blue Ribbon beer. And, no Gordon Lightfoot didn't show up

Blue Ribbon beer might have been why. :-)

[apackof2]

The ship probably went down in less than a minute,

Just amazing, something so large
The men didn't even have time to react

[TalBlack]

"...caused it to break in the middle. Something like that."

Yeah, sounds like what I saw. The keel design had some issues IIRC.

They had actual film taken from the bridge towar the bow of a like ship as the failing keel flexed during a storm and it was hands down the most sickening-scary thuing I have ever seen.

[apackof2]

Thanks for the posting her before....

[earlyamerican]

Always loved that song. I never realized how dangerous the Great Lakes were. They have a website with information on Great Lakes' Shipwrecks.

[apackof2]

I didn't find that one when I searched but in any case TODAY is the anniversay of her sinking and I posted this article today as a memorial to her and her crew

[Alberta's Child]

One of the worst things about a modern, affluent society like ours is that more and more of the people who live in it have no appreciation for the devastating power of the natural world.

This is precisely how we ended up with thousands of people sitting in the Superdome during the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina.