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. Officers and candidates in navigation classes and manufacturer schools receive up-to-the-minute training in using the latest equipment and in interpreting information that equipment provides to keep their ships out of harms way. The Fitzgerald suffered from structural problems, Ex-Fitzgerald crew member George Burgner claimed in a deposition that unrepaired cracks and weakened metal on the ship caused the loss, according to the "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Fred Stonehouse. By this point, McSorley knew his ship was in serious trouble and opted to head full steam towards the natural protection of Whitefish Bay to ride out the storm and protect his ship and crew from further damage.By 6:00 PM, the storm had worsened and its likely theFitzgeraldwas riding even lower in the water, due to much larger 35 foot high waves, heavier damage caused by the waves and an even larger amount of water in her hull the pumps seemed unable to cope with. They said, however, they were inclined to accept that the Fitzgerald passed over the Six Fathom Shoal Area as reported by Cooper. With no visibility in a hurricane-like storm and no radar to guide him, theFitzgeraldwas sailing blinded moving slower with every gallon of water entering her hull. However, the Lake Carriers Association vigorously disagreed with the Coast Guards suggestion that the lack of attention to properly closing the hatch covers by the crew was responsible for the disaster. Broke in two and sank in minutes. The lifeboats recovered were unused. [2], According to the available information, Caribou Island consists of a mixture of glacial sediments and Precambrian sandstone. Ships were first equipped with the Long Range Aid to Navigation (Loran-C), an electronic aid for pilots that had previously been widely used by oceanic navigators, but had not extended to the Great Lakes. In 2006, a National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration study recreated the storm in a computer and discovered that the Fitzgerald and its floating companion, the Arthur M. Anderson, inadvertently steamed into the heart of the storm by taking the northern route across Lake Superior to avoid what they thought would be treacherous waves along the established, more direct southern route. Although not a heavy weather vessel like a cutter, it is capable of handling larger seas than the Naugatuck, the harbor tug previously stationed at the Soo. Crafts The shoal is a hump of Keweenawan basaltic lava flows with ophitic interiors and amygdaloidal tops in an otherwise deep part of the lake, and though fishermen had known of its existence for generations it was only officially charted in 1929 by the United States Lake Survey. 4:10 PM - Nov. 10th, 1975 - Eastern Lake Superior, southeast of Caribou Island. 7 Caribou populations naturally fluctuate on 40-70 . [9][10], This article is about the island in eastern Lake Superior. what is the real truth to this? As Fred Stonehouse points out, nothing completely removes hazard from life at sea, for nature still enforces its whim and ships are still expected to brave adverse weather to deliver their cargoes. A more serious issue was determined by poor construction and design. This depiction shows the Edmund Fitzgerald touching bottom as she passes over the Six Fathom Shoal on the . Marie, Michigan. I myself and my classmates are without a doubt able to state that is not only a prime example of media misinformation. Canadian flag on the bow, American flag at stern, the Edmund Fitzgerald was a frequent site on the Great Lakes during its almost two decades of service before it sank with the loss of all 29 crew members. 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. Contributing factors noted were a lack of internal watertight bulkheads and allowances for more cargo weight during the ship's 17 years afloat. There are no more Iron Boats. Still later, at about 6 p.m., Woodard called the Fitz to report that the light had just come on at Whitefish Point. Add to Cart. They issued a letter to the National Transportation Safety Board in September, 1977. 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? Quantity. 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. There is absolutely no conclusive evidence to determine the cause of the sinking. The supreme caribou myth ever told is about Santa and his sleigh, but having said that, this seems to be the most famous myth out of all the animal totems. McSorley replied, We are holding our own. A few minutes later, the Fitzgerald disappeared from the radar screen for the last time, sinking without giving a distress signal. 5. Her track along the north shore was standard in inclement weather -- to shelter a bit from north winds. Not long after the search ended, years of arguments and disagreements over what could have caused theEdmund Fitzgeraldto sink have clouded up any hope of truly understanding what occurred the night of November 10, 1975 as the shipping companies, government agencies and sea fairers of the Great Lakes all have different theories and opinions that do not match. These records are part of the Records of Bureau of the Census, Record Group (RG) 29. Although no findings concluded that the Fitz suffered grounding damage, the addition of depth finders on lake boats now gives officers information not previously required on their vessels. It was also revealed that a fence railing on theFitzgerald's deckhad been broken and a number of vent covers were missing. He could clearly see the ship and the beacon on Caribou on his radar set and could measure the distance between them. You can listen to it here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8LBkYjniTU. But it also added time and nautical miles to her course in the middle of shifting, increasing winds and waves -- FROM THE WEST -- behind her. 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. U.S. Coast Guard rescue vessel Woodrush took 21 hours to arrive on scene from the Duluth port. From the time of its first voyage on Sept. 24, 1958, the ship set six records by carrying heavier and heavier loads. Both theHomerandFitzgeraldwere the largest iron ore carriers built on the Great Lakes. Kids & Family, Search Events What if the ship is rebuilt, with more safety features? Marie, Ontario, only about 8090 miles SE. I read a report about a phenomena called the Three Sisters-rogue waves. By its last voyage, the freighter had made about 748 round trips. Another sonar survey was conducted November 22-25. The Anderson's captain also made statements in 1986 seemingly supportive of the rogue wave theory. Caribou is included in the pages of the myths of Inuit. The Fitzgerald was disappearing and reappearing on the Andersons radar the height of the waves was causing interference. But the questions surrounding the cause of the wreck kept mounting and continue to do so. In Canadian ships alone there are at least one hundred ships that haul iron ore to this day. Turning to Edmund Fitzgerald's sinking, the above article lets us in on several 'dots', which, when connected, tells why The Pride of the American Side met an avoidable, but preordained death. 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. Gordon Lightfoot liked this theory, posited by the National Transportation Safety Board a year after the Coast Guard issued its report. An entire generation now has no active memory of November 10, 1975, but the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald continues to fascinate, mystify and preoccupy young and old. Part of that fascination, despite the longspan since the foundering of the big ore freighter, results from Gordon Lightfoots monster best-selling recording about the wreck and part likely springs from the inconclusive nature of any facts surrounding the sinking. 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/. 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. The LCA stated that the patented steel hatch covers had been in continuous use for more than 30 years and had proven to be effective hatch closures in all weather conditions throughout that period. Beyond these improvements on board the ships, the marine weather reports have become more sophisticated and accessible, with detailed charts now printed out electronically in the pilothouse. The unedited video of the expedition did not show a complete body how it did show a clear shot of a leg along with the shoe of the unfortunate crewman. In that sense, the Fitzgerald met her fate on the path she took to avoid it. Looks like he was right on this one. In the early afternoon of Nov. 10, the Fitzgerald had passed Michipicoten Island and was approaching Caribou Island, steaming toward Whitefish Bay at Superiors east end.. The first one flooded our boat deck. I've thought for a long long time the keel problem contributed to a major structural failure through years of metal fatigue. By this time, snow and rising spray had obscured the Fitzgerald from sight, visible 17 miles ahead on radar. The Arthur M. Anderson, an ore carrier in the U.S. Steel fleet, had been trailing and providing navigational information to the Fitzgerald because the Fitzs radars had malfunctioned about four hours earlier. 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." The Fitzgerald being the faster took the lead, with the distance between the vessels ranging from 10 to 15 miles. Just to late for the 29. Never could have found any survivors in that storm but we sure tried hour after hour. McSorley and Cooper agreed to take the northerly course across Lake Superior to avoid a storm that was developing to the southwest, so they would be protected by highlands on the Canadian shore, taking them between Isle Royale and the Keweenaw Peninsula. Having been a consultant and active member of the original Jacques Cousteau expedition in 1980 along with the raising of the bell 1994 expedition. "They were killing the boat," he said. There's even a work of Fiction, SCP-1174, titled, and I quote, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald". The two ships were in radio contact. They would later make a turn to the southeast to eventually reach the shelter of Whitefish Point. I hear they found the crewmen's bodies and than I heard they never did that this was a rumor. With the catastrophic damage to the ship and the way the ship is buried in the mud and the windows blown out and the collision with the bottom is there any possibility of a rogue wave catching the floundering ship and driving it to the bottom. to which McSorely replied the infamous last words "We are holding our own." Caribou Island is an uninhabited island in the eastern end of Lake Superior, 40 kilometres (25mi) south of Michipicoten Island. By this point,McSorely was heard over the radio hollering at his crew to stay off the deck and remain inside the vessel. Some theories are nonsense relating to UFOs or a Great Lakes Bermuda Triangle in the area where the ship sank. Instead they consist of bedrock ridges and interfluves that lie between northerly trending bedrock valleys, which are known as tunnel valleys. McSorely had also ordered the pumps to be turned on in order to keep the ingress of water out of the cargo hold.By 4:10 PM, the list had not gotten any better and theFitzgeraldwas still taking on water, effectively sinking. Too soon to be coincidence. Cooper asked "How are you doing?" TheFitzgeraldwould have extra steel plates installed between the hull bottom and her keel which would ensure the keel would no loner move freely from the hull and would stay fastened in place. The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald lies at the bottom of the southeastern portion of Lake Superior in 530 feet of water. Seeing the violence of the wind, sky and water on the night of November 10, 1975 while in northern Michigan, I awoke the next morning, for the only time in my life with the certainty that something ominous had or was about to occur. Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee Captain Cooper maintained that he watched the Edmund Fitzgerald pass far too close to Six Fathom Shoal to the north of Caribou Island. So why not rebuild the ship? A real eye opening view from the man who was the last person to ever speak to theEdmund Fitzgerald's crew. Recovered, means retrieved from the depths. Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB) are now standard equipment on lakes vessels, allowing instantaneous identification of the area where a vessel founders. Marie, Michigan, and Sault Ste. Stationed at K.I. If the ship had "hogged" upon striking the. One man lived to tell about what happened unlike the Fitz. A half hour later I heard the news. The LCA thinks the Fitzgerald grounded on the poorly-marked Six Fathom Shoal northwest of Caribou Island, causing fatal damage to the hull. Many theorize the ship unknowingly struck the poorly marked 6 Fathom Shoal on the island's north side, but that has never been conclusively proven. "We always had to go down and pump them out.". Tweets by @lakesuperiormag !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)? 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. McSorley was forced to rely off reports from the United States Coast guard and the still functional radar of theAndersonto operate through the storm. Water poured in through a sudden hatch failure. Caribou Island is an uninhabited island in the eastern end of Lake Superior, 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Michipicoten Island. These sedimentary strata overlie an additional 22 kilometers (14mi) of basaltic volcanic strata and mafic intrusions that fill the remainder of the Midcontinental Rift. Jesse B. Cooper told an audience in Wisconsin the Anderson was struck from astern that evening by a pair of huge waves, which rolled over his ship and continued on toward the Fitzgerald. Forty-four years ago today on Nov. 10, 1975, 18 kilometres off Coppermine Point, and 60 kilometres north of Sault Ste Marie, Ont., the 222-metre iron ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald, with a crew of 29 aboard, sank. I watched those two waves head down the lake towards the Fitzgerald, and I think those were the two that sent her under.. Previously suggested possibilities are that a hatch cover washed off or the heavy deck crane or the spare blade for the propeller broke loose and crashed about. The Naugatuck arrived at 12:45 pm on November 11, and the Woodrush arrived on November 14, having journeyed all the way from Duluth, Minnesota. A dynamic population. The lateral continuity and consistent and parallel direction of the tunnel valleys indicated that they are carved from friable sandstones that underlies the floor of most of eastern Lake Superior. Wold, R.J., Hutchinson, D.R. Diving expeditions on the shoals also found no evidence of any recent groundings there by a ship. However, divers found no recent damage to the shoal after the wreck and the ship's exact course could only be estimated because the Fitzgerald radars were inoperable and the Anderson kept inexact course records during the journey. This island was considered an emergency landing airport (YCI) during World War II. Because of a long fetch on Superior that night, the Fitzgerald and the Anderson were in an area of the lake where huge waves were indeed occurring. Im checking down. After reviewing testimony that Fitzgerald had passed near shoals north of Caribou Island, the USCG Marine Board examined the relevant navigational charts. "She took on water all the time and her tunnels flooded out on her," Woodward said. Edmund Fitzgerald - "Touching Bottom At Six Fathom Shoal". By this time, snow and rising spray had obscured the Fitzgerald from sight, visible 17 miles ahead on radar.. "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. At 3:30 pm that afternoon, Captain McSorley radioed Captain Cooper and said: Anderson, this is the Fitzgerald. In addition to taking on water after *potentially* hitting bottom near Six fathom Shoals earlier this afternoon, the. Enter the text you see in the image below. When the skies of November turn gloomy.. By the way, Fitzgerald, how are you making out with your problems? asked Clark. Cooper started to fear the worst and contacted the Coast Guard alerting them to theFtizgerald'sdisappearance. * 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). Its likely that they didnt latch a lot of the hatch cover clamps because the crew was on Sunday overtime pay and they were so late getting covered up - and the weather was very nice at that time., Such speculation fits easily into the puzzle of the Fitzgerald tragedy. The bell of the ship is now on display in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum as a memorial to her lost crew. It became apparent that theFitzgeraldhad indeed sunk to the bottom taking with her all 29 crewmembers, many of whom were young adults less than 25 years of age. Perhaps the real cause of the sinking may never be known for certain. The Anderson was struck by large waves which then travelled in the direction of the Edmond Fitzgerald. What was eventually found only included destroyed remains of the ships two lifeboats, life preservers and items from the ship's galleys. They have persisted where all others have perished. The wreck is in two main sections, the bow and the stern. Phantom Fireworks is the leading retailer of consumer fireworks in the U.S. Phantom provides the widest range of consumer fireworks in all categories. [4] The Jacobsville Sandstone is the uppermost and youngest layer comprising about 8 kilometers (5.0mi) of sandstone and conglomerate that underlies Lake Superior and fills the upper part of the Lake Superior segment of the Midcontinent Rift. sometimes we forget to pray that at times we could have been saved, at this time of events, it was meant to have happened, at it is not us who make the storm or to calm the storm..but, Sad to have lost what was a great ship and the people on board History is what I like.. This years service was held at 11 a.m. this morning, with the bell tolling 29 times for each man on the Fitzgerald. Conflicting theories about the cause of the tragedy remain active today. The retrofit was planned for November 12, 1975 upon completion of the1975 season. That's what underwriters do. Cooper believes that from that point on, McSorley knew he was sinking. Weather conditions continued to deteriorate. 3:30 PM Radio transmission between the Fitzgerald and the Anderson [1][3] In addition, exposures of gently dipping, friable Jacobsville Sandstone, have been reported from Caribou Island. The bow lies mostly buried in the mud upright pointing towards Whitefish Bay. But the Coast Guard called Captain Cooper back at 9:00 pm: Anderson, this is Group Soo. When originally built, it was visible for 16 miles (26km) and operated on a 30-second revolving cycle. Caribou Island was considered for an emergency landing airport (YCI) during World War II but it was never built because of the proximity of the twin cities of Sault Ste. The Coast Guard were at this time trying to locate a 16-foot boat that was overdue.. USS Indianapolis (CA-35) The owners knew of the EF's structural problem, and had the steel already cut to effect yet another repair. The closest communities are Belden to the southwest, Twain to the southeast, Canyondam to the north, and Greenville to the east. What is your present position?, Were down here, about two miles off Parisienne Island right nowthe wind is northwest forty to forty-five miles here in the bay., Is it calming down at all, do you think?, In the bay it is, but I heard a couple of the salties talking up there, and they wish they hadnt gone out., Do you think there is any possibility and you couldahcome about and go back there and do any searching?, AhGod, I dont knowahthatthat sea out there is tremendously large. While conditions were bad, with winds gusting to 50 knots and seas 12 to 16 feet, both captains had often piloted their vessels in similar conditions. He could clearly see the ship and the beacon on Caribou on his radar set and could measure the distance between them. And then a song. There have been about half a dozen dives to the site since the shipwreck in 1975. See more. So, what happened? She would be travelling in tandem with the ore freighter Arthur M. Anderson under command of Captain Bernie Cooperto the Soo Locks at Sault Ste. I wouldnt be surprised if a hatch cover came off, because I loaded right beside him in Superior on November 9 and the deck crew was still putting on hatch covers when they left the Superior Entry into Lake Superior, Captain Paquette says. 400 W. Portage Avenue A small three room cabin was built on the east shore of Lake Superior adjacent to Deer Lake and the Amphibian base. In only 8 years time, this magnificent American vessel would be at the bottom of Lake Superior.). 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. On April 15, 1977 the U.S. Coast Guard released its official report of Subject: S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, official number 277437, sinking in Lake Superior on 10 November 1975 with loss of life. While the Coast Guard said the cause of the sinking could not be conclusively determined, it maintained that the most probable cause of the sinking of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was the loss of buoyancy and stability resulting from massive flooding of the cargo hold. After 10:00 PM, Cooper and his crew noticed large and small pieces of floating wreckage from theFitzgeraldwhich didn't make the situation any better.By the morning of November 11, the Coast Guard had managed to arrive at the scene to assist in the search and rescue operation. The B-side on the single was The House You Live In.. Various cars scatter the bottom of the river covered in grass and zebra muscles. By 1979, a new Loran broadcast station began operating at Baudette, Minnesota, giving sailors easy access to their location, speed, course being steered and other information. He reduced speed to allow the Anderson to close the 17-mile gap between them. By late afternoon, the Anderson's captain was noting wind gusts up to 70 knots and waves up to 8 metres. Understandably the footage was edited out of respect for the dead and the families. Were going to try to contact those saltwater vessels and see if they cant possibly come about and possibly come back alsothings look pretty bad right now; it looks like she may have split apart at the seams like the Morrell did a few years back., Well, thats what I been thinking. A body that was seen but not retrieved is not a recovered body. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Every expedition to the freighter has reported that there is no evidence of scraping, gouging or damage to the rudder or propeller, which should show on the overturned bottom of the stern. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. None, of course, were found and only floating debris gave clues that the Fitzgerald and its crew were lost. Adding to that puzzle is the fact that its captain never uttered a word of serious concern for his ship nor reported his problems to the Coast Guard. Because all 29 men aboard the Fitzgerald went down with the ship -- which was there one minute and gone the next -- the best accounts that investigators could rely on were those of sailors in the vicinity of the ship during the storm, or who had contact with the Fitzgerald somehow in the weeks prior to her final voyage. In the steel towns to Gary's east, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburg, Bethlehem and others, urban decay also set in and still remains today (2021). No. 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. However, it resonates. Captain Cooper maintained that he watched the Edmund Fitzgerald pass far too close to Six Fathom Shoal to the north of Caribou Island. As the afternoon wore on, radio communications with the Fitzgerald concerned navigational information but no extraordinarily alarming reports were offered by Captain McSorley. Reporting to the Anderson, the Fitzs Captain Ernest McSorley revealed the list and had activated two large ballast tank pumps to control it. Almost none of the bodies including that of Captain McSorley were ever found. 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. Only one other vessel, the William Clay Ford, was able to leave the safety of Whitefish Bay to join in the search at the time. I have a fence rail down, two vents lost or damaged, and a list. Great respect must be accorded to the wreck site, which still contains the remains of crew members and is considered a gravesite. At 3:30 PM, Captain McSorely reported to Captain Cooper aboard theAndersonthat theFitzgeraldwas taking on water and had a reported list of 20 degrees towards starboard. Could these have contributed to the sudden disappearance of the ship? Couseau had theorized a surface break up, which sounds similar to the Merril several years later. A shallow reef 2.5 miles (4.0km) to the southwest of Caribou Island Lighthouse lies only 11 feet (3.4m) below the lake's surface. By early the next morning, theAndersonandFitzgeraldencountered a powerful November gale with winds up to 50miles an hour. [3][8][9] Samples dredged from a shoal northwest of Caribou Island and close to one of these valleys resemble Jacobsville Sandstone. So the target would be 9 miles on ahead of you., Well, answered Captain McSorley, Am I going to clear?, Yes, he is going to pass to the west of you.. ZIP Code by City and State. With the load she was carrying as she was driven down would it not shift forward and drive the ship down at a rapid rate causing so much damage? Captain Cooper reported winds from the NW x W (305 ) at a steady 58 knots with gusts to 70 knots, and seas of 18 to 25 feet. His written report states: At this time I became very concerned about the Fitzgerald couldnt see his lights when we should have. The flooding of the cargo hold took place through ineffective hatch closures as boarding seas rolled along the spar deck.. released a very fine and very different tempo cover of Lightfoots The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald last March 15. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. The now unmanned lighthouse which is owned by the Canadian Coast Guard is located on a tiny adjacent island called Lighthouse Island a few hundred feet across and positioned 1 mile (1.6km) west of the southern tip of the island.

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