Sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald
November Storm on Lake Superior Caused Shipwreck of Freighter
Sep 11, 2009
The Great Lakes of North America are a series of large inland freshwater lakes that are linked to each other through rivers or canals. The lake freighters or lakers are cargo vessels built specifically for the Great Lakes. They have long hulls that contain storage compartments for cargo such as iron ore, grain, salt, cement, coal and limestone.
The Great Lakes are highly susceptible to winter storms due to two weather patterns. One is called the Alberta Clipper where arctic air sweeps down from Canada, bringing strong winds that cause blowing snow conditions and frigid temperatures due to wind chill. The other pattern is called Panhandle Hook which brings warm, moist air from the south and causes heavy snowfall.
History of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald
The Edmund Fitzgerald was launched on June 8, 1958 in Detroit, Michigan. At the time, it was the largest boat on the Great Lakes. The boat was built for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee as a bulk carrier of ore. It was named after the Chairman of the Board and President of Northwestern, Edmund Fitzgerald, whose father had been a captain of a freighter on the Great Lakes.
The Last Trip of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald
After filling up with iron ore, the Edmund Fitzgerald left Superior, Wisconsin located at the western end of Lake Superior on Sunday afternoon, November 9, 1975. Its destination was a steel mill on the Detroit River in Michigan.
Although the weather was cloudy with a light wind from the northeast, the National Weather Service predicted an increase in winds and a shift to the northwest. At the same time, a storm was brewing on the Great Plains.
Another freighter, SS Arthur M. Anderson, which departed from Two Harbors, Minnesota, joined up with the Edmund Fitzgerald and the two boats started their trip across the open waters of Lake Superior.
The National Weather service revised its weather forecast and issued a gale warning that would bring strong wind gusts and high waves.
The captains of the Edmund Fitzgerald and the Arthur M. Anderson decided to head northward to the Canadian coastline of Lake Superior where the wave action would be less. By midnight of November 10, 1975, the two boats reached western Lake Superior. Around the same time, the National Weather Service issued a storm warning with waves as high at 15 feet.
The two boats were battered with waves, strong winds and heavy snow as they moved closer to Whitefish Point to wait out the storm and the reopening of the Soo Locks.
At 3:30 pm on November 10th, the captain of the Fitzgerald radioed to the Anderson to say that the boat was taking in water and there was damage to its topside. At this point, some of the gusts of wind were hurricane strength.
A half hour later, the Fitzgerald notified the Anderson that a gust of wind knocked out its radar and asked the crew of the Anderson to monitor its course. The captain also reported that the Fitzgerald was taking water on deck due to the heavy waves.
The Anderson continued to follow the Fitzgerald at a distance of ten miles. Around 7:00 pm, two huge waves at least 25 feet high battered the Anderson and the captain of the Fitzgerald radioed in at 7:10 to say they were holding their own. Five minutes later, at 7:15 pm on November 10, 1975, the Anderson lost the Fitzgerald on radar and the boat disappeared into the snowy night.
Causes of the Sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald
There are several theories as to what caused the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. In a report by the Marine Historical Society of Detroit, various governing bodies disputed the claims made by the others.
- The U.S. Coast Guard report on August 2, 1977 cited “faulty hatch covers, lack of water tight cargo hold bulkheads and damage caused from an undetermined source.”
- The National Transportation Safety Board rejected the U.S. Coast Guard report on March 23, 1978 and determined the cause of the sinking was due to faulty hatches. Later the N.T.S.B. revised its verdict and declared the sinking was caused by “taking on water through one or more hatch covers damaged by the impact of heavy seas over her deck.”
- The Lake Carriers Association's had a different theory and determined the sinking was caused by “flooding through bottom and ballast tank damage resulting from bottoming on the Six Fathom Shoal.”
Other theories include waves causing the boat to break in two or forcing the bow underwater.
The bodies of the crew were never found and the bell of the Edmund Fitzgerald was retrieved and is on display at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point, Michigan.
In 1976, Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot recorded the song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" which was a tribute to this tragedy on the Great Lakes. An excellent video of Gordon's Lightfoot's song recorded in 1979 is available at YouTube.
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