Great Lakes freighter sunk in Lake Superior
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. When launched on June 7, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes and remains the largest to have sunk there. She was located in deep water on November 14, 1975, by a U.S. Navy aircraft detecting magnetic anomalies, and found soon afterwards to be in two large pieces.
For 17 years, "Edmund Fitzgerald" carried taconite (a variety of iron ore) from mines near Duluth, Minnesota, to iron works in Detroit, Michigan; Toledo, Ohio; and other Great Lakes ports. As a workhorse, she set seasonal haul records six times, often breaking her own record. Captain Peter Pulcer was known for piping music day or night over the ship's intercom while passing through the St. Clair and Detroit rivers (between Lake Huron and Lake Erie), and entertaining spectators at the Soo Locks (between Lakes Superior and Huron) with a running commentary about the ship. Her size, record-breaking performance, and "DJ captain" endeared "Edmund Fitzgerald" to boat watchers.
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. En route to a steel mill near Detroit, "Edmund Fitzgerald" joined a second taconite freighter, . By the next day, the two ships were caught in a severe storm on Lake Superior, with near-hurricane-force winds and waves up to high. Shortly after 7:10 p.m., "Edmund Fitzgerald" suddenly sank in Canadian (Ontario) waters deep, about from Whitefish Bay near the twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario—a distance "Edmund Fitzgerald" could have covered in just over an hour at her top speed.
"Edmund Fitzgerald" previously reported being in significant difficulty to the Swedish vessel "Avafors": "I have a bad list, lost both radars. And am taking heavy seas over the deck. One of the worst seas I've ever been in." However, no distress signals were sent before she sank; Captain McSorley's last (7:10 p.m.) message to "Arthur M. Anderson" was, "We are holding our own". Her crew of 29 perished, and no bodies were recovered. The exact cause of the sinking remains unknown, though many books, studies, and expeditions have examined it. "Edmund Fitzgerald" may have been swamped, suffered structural failure or topside damage, grounded on a shoal, or suffered from a combination of these.
The disaster is one of the best known in the history of Great Lakes shipping, in part because Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot made it the subject of his 1976 popular ballad "The Wreck of the "Edmund Fitzgerald"". Lightfoot wrote the hit song after reading an article, "The Cruelest Month", in the November 24, 1975, issue of "Newsweek". The sinking led to changes in Great Lakes shipping regulations and practices that included mandatory survival suits, depth finders, positioning systems, increased freeboard, and more frequent inspection of vessels.
History.
Design and construction.
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. In 1957, they contracted Great Lakes Engineering Works (GLEW), of River Rouge, Michigan, to design and construct the ship "within a foot of the maximum length allowed for passage through the soon-to-be completed Saint Lawrence Seaway." The ship's value at that time was $7 million (equivalent to $ in 2023). "Edmund Fitzgerald" was the first laker built to the maximum St. Lawrence Seaway size, which was long, wide, and with a draft. The moulded depth (roughly speaking, the vertical height of the hull) was . The hold depth (the inside height of the cargo hold) was . GLEW laid the first keel plate on August 7 the same year.
With a deadweight capacity of , and a hull, "Edmund Fitzgerald" was the longest ship on the Great Lakes, earning her the title Queen of the Lakes until September 17, 1959, when the SS "Murray Bay" was launched. "Edmund Fitzgerald"'s three central cargo holds were loaded through 21 watertight cargo hatches, each of steel. Originally coal-fired, her boilers were converted to burn oil during the 1971–72 winter layup. In 1969, the ship's maneuverability was improved by the installation of a diesel-powered bow thruster.
By ore freighter standards, the interior of "Edmund Fitzgerald" was luxurious. Her J.L. Hudson Company–designed furnishings included deep pile carpeting, tiled bathrooms, drapes over the portholes, and leather swivel chairs in the guest lounge. There were two guest staterooms for passengers. Air conditioning extended to the crew quarters, which featured more amenities than usual. A large galley and fully stocked pantry supplied meals for two dining rooms. "Edmund Fitzgerald"'s pilothouse was outfitted with "state-of-the-art nautical equipment and a beautiful map room."
Name and launch.
Northwestern Mutual wanted to name the ship after its president and chairman of the board, Edmund Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald's own grandfather and all great uncles had themselves been lake captains, and his father owned the Milwaukee Drydock Company, which built and repaired ships. Fitzgerald had attempted to dissuade the naming of the ship after himself, proposing the names "Centennial", "Seaway", "Milwaukee" and "Northwestern". The board was resolute, and Edmund abstained from voting; the 36 board members voted unanimously to name her the SS "Edmund Fitzgerald". More than 15,000 people attended "Edmund Fitzgerald"'s christening and launch ceremony on June 7, 1958. The event was plagued by misfortunes. When Elizabeth Fitzgerald, wife of Edmund Fitzgerald, tried to christen the ship by smashing a champagne bottle over the bow, it took her three attempts to break it. A delay of 36 minutes followed while the shipyard crew struggled to release the keel blocks. Upon sideways launch, the ship created a large wave that doused the spectators and then crashed into a pier before righting herself. Other witnesses later said they swore the ship was "trying to climb right out of the water". On September 22, 1958, "Edmund Fitzgerald" completed nine days of sea trials.
Career.
Northwestern Mutual's normal practice was to purchase ships for operation by other companies. In "Edmund Fitzgerald"'s case, they signed a 25-year contract with Oglebay Norton Corporation to operate the vessel. Oglebay Norton immediately designated "Edmund Fitzgerald" the flagship of its Columbia Transportation fleet.
"Edmund Fitzgerald" was a record-setting workhorse, often beating her own milestones. The vessel's record load for a single trip was in 1969. For 17 years, "Edmund Fitzgerald" carried taconite from Minnesota's Iron Range mines near Duluth, Minnesota, to iron works in Detroit, Toledo, and other ports. She set seasonal haul records six different times. Her nicknames included "Fitz", "Pride of the American Side", "Mighty Fitz", "Toledo Express", "Big Fitz", and the ""Titanic" of the Great Lakes". Loading "Edmund Fitzgerald" with taconite pellets took about four and a half hours, while unloading took around 14 hours. A round trip between Superior, Wisconsin, and Detroit, Michigan, usually took her five days and she averaged 47 similar trips per season. The vessel's usual route was between Superior, Wisconsin, and Toledo, Ohio, although her port of destination could vary. By November 1975, "Edmund Fitzgerald" had logged an estimated 748 round trips on the Great Lakes and covered more than a million miles, "a distance roughly equivalent to 44 trips around the world."
Up until a few weeks before her loss, passengers had traveled on board as company guests. Frederick Stonehouse wrote:
 ;templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" / ;Stewards treated the guests to the entire VIP routine. The cuisine was reportedly excellent and snacks were always available in the lounge. A small but well-stocked kitchenette provided the drinks. Once each trip, the captain held a candlelight dinner for the guests, complete with mess-jacketed stewards and special "clamdigger" punch.
Because of her size, appearance, string of records, and "DJ captain," "Edmund Fitzgerald" became a favorite of boat watchers throughout her career. Although Captain Peter Pulcer was in command of "Edmund Fitzgerald" on trips when cargo records were set, "he is best remembered ... for piping music day or night over the ship's intercom system" while passing through the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers. While navigating the Soo Locks he would often come out of the pilothouse and use a bullhorn to entertain tourists with a commentary on details about "Edmund Fitzgerald".
In 1969, "Edmund Fitzgerald" received a safety award for eight years of operation without a time-off worker injury. The vessel ran aground in 1969, and she collided with SS "Hochelaga" in 1970. Later that same year, she struck the wall of a lock, an accident repeated in 1973 and 1974. On January 7, 1974, she lost her original bow anchor in the Detroit River. None of these mishaps were considered serious or unusual. Freshwater ships are built to last more than half a century, and "Edmund Fitzgerald" would have still had a long career ahead of her when she sank.
Final voyage and wreck.
Wreck location
"Edmund Fitzgerald" left Superior, Wisconsin, at 2:15 p.m. on the afternoon of November 9, 1975, under the command of Captain Ernest M. McSorley. She was en route to the steel mill on Zug Island, near Detroit, Michigan, with a cargo of of taconite ore pellets and soon reached her full speed of . Around 5 p.m., "Edmund Fitzgerald" joined a second freighter under the command of Captain Jesse B. "Bernie" Cooper, , destined for Gary, Indiana, out of Two Harbors, Minnesota. 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 7 a.m. on November 10.
SS "Wilfred Sykes" loaded opposite "Edmund Fitzgerald" at the Burlington Northern Dock #1 and departed at 4:15 p.m., about two hours after "Edmund Fitzgerald". In contrast to the NWS forecast, Captain Dudley J. Paquette of "Wilfred Sykes" predicted that a major storm would directly cross Lake Superior. From the outset, he chose a route that took advantage of the protection offered by the lake's north shore to avoid the worst effects of the storm. The crew of "Wilfred Sykes" followed the radio conversations between "Edmund Fitzgerald" and "Arthur M. Anderson" during the first part of their trip and overheard their captains deciding to take the regular Lake Carriers' Association downbound route. The NWS altered its forecast at 7:00 p.m., issuing gale warnings for the whole of Lake Superior. "Arthur M. Anderson" and "Edmund Fitzgerald" altered course northward, seeking shelter along the Ontario shore, where they encountered a winter storm at 1:00 a.m. on November 10. "Edmund Fitzgerald" reported winds of and waves high. Captain Paquette of "Wilfred Sykes" reported that after 1 a.m., he overheard McSorley say that he had reduced the ship's speed because of the rough conditions. Paquette said he was stunned to later hear McSorley, who was not known for turning aside or slowing down, state that "we're going to try for some lee from Isle Royale. You're walking away from us anyway … I can't stay with you."
At 2:00 a.m. on November 10, the NWS upgraded its warnings from gale to storm, forecasting winds of . Until then, "Edmund Fitzgerald" had followed "Arthur M. Anderson," which was travelling at a constant , but the faster "Edmund Fitzgerald" pulled ahead at about 3:00 a.m. As the storm center passed over the ships, they experienced shifting winds, with wind speeds temporarily dropping as wind direction changed from northeast to south and then northwest. After 1:50 p.m., when "Arthur M. Anderson" logged winds of , wind speeds again picked up rapidly, and it began to snow at 2:45 p.m., reducing visibility; "Arthur M. Anderson" lost sight of "Edmund Fitzgerald", which was about ahead at the time.
Shortly after 3:30 p.m., Captain McSorley radioed "Arthur M. Anderson" to report that "Edmund Fitzgerald" was taking on water and had lost two vent covers and a fence railing. The vessel had also developed a list. Two of "Edmund Fitzgerald"'s six bilge pumps ran continuously to discharge shipped water. McSorley said that he would slow his ship down so that "Arthur M. Anderson" could close the gap between them. In a broadcast shortly afterward, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) warned all shipping that the Soo Locks had been closed and they should seek safe anchorage. Shortly after 4:10 p.m., McSorley called "Arthur M. Anderson" again to report a radar failure and asked "Arthur M. Anderson" to keep track of them.