Photo by user "Greenmars" on Wikimedia Commons. All were lost to the depths of Lake Superior. While EPIRB would not have aided the crew of the Fitzgerald, it would have identified the sunken ship and given searchers a location to start their effort to find survivors. It was also revealed that a fence railing on theFitzgerald's deckhad been broken and a number of vent covers were missing. The Coast Guard conducted an extensive and thorough search. Officers from the Anderson observed that the Fitzgerald sailed through this exact area. The first one flooded our boat deck. They would later make a turn to the southeast toward Whitefish Point. I have never been able to get that shot out of my head to this day 35 years later. NARA microfilm publication M1931, Index to Selected City Streets and Enumeration Districts, 1930 Census (7 rolls) reproduces a 57-volume typescript index to selected city streets and enumeration districts of the Fifteenth Census of the United States taken in 1930. Hull no. Both theHomerandFitzgeraldwere the largest iron ore carriers built on the Great Lakes. Let's not forget about the structural failure of the Carl D. Bradley on Lake Michigan in 1958. The Anderson was just approaching Michipicoten, about three miles off the West End Light. But what caused the ship to take on water, enough to lose buoyancy and dive to the bottom so quickly, without a single cry for help, cannot be determined. USS Indianapolis (CL/CA-35) was a Portland-class heavy cruiser of the United States Navy, named for the Grindstone Island Cars Burgner said a shipyard worker showed him evidence of old keel weld breaks during the 1972-73 winter lay-up that were brought to McSorley and dismissed. The LCA thinks the Fitzgerald grounded on the poorly-marked Six Fathom Shoal northwest of Caribou Island, causing fatal damage to the hull. They would later make a turn to the southeast to eventually reach the shelter of Whitefish Point. For the island near Thunder Bay, see, Caribou Island (near Michipicoten Island), Caribou Island near the international border. It lies entirely within the territorial waters of Canada although only about five kilometres from the international border between Canada and the United States. From what your reports are I can appreciate the conditions. [1], The island was privately held by a group of hunters and stocked with caribou in the late 1800s. The ships were nearing Whitefish Bay. Since no Coast Guard vessel capable of sailing in the conditions prevalent in eastern Lake Superior was available in the vicinity of the wreck, maintenance procedures were amended to ensure that cutters would be in a ready condition during the spring and fall periods of bad weather. The popular misconception is that non of the crewmembers bodies were never discovered. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Either of these explanations fails to address the fact that the ship had a list, which would not be likely if water were invading the large central cargo hold, but would be if water were leaking into ballast tanks or a tunnel along the side of the hold. It happened too fast. Captain Dudley J. Paquette of the SS Wilfred Sykes sailed through the entire two-day storm, was part of the search effort and is a vocal adherent of the idea that the sunken ore carrier suffered stress damage at what he calls the hinge area where the greatest amount of flex is observed in a ships hull. It is approximately 5.6 kilometres (3.5mi) long and 2.4 kilometres (1.5mi) wide, and 1,600 acres (647ha) in area. Antlers of males weigh an average of 17 pounds and can reach 29 pounds! Already have an account? 1. 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 main deck behind the superstructure, which included the forward cargo hatches appears to have collapsed entirely and the sides of the hull are bending outwards. Perhaps the real cause of the sinking may never be known for certain. Instead, the LCA theorized that the lost freighter had stumbled over the Six-Fathom Shoal at the north end of Caribou Island, sustaining damage that would prove to be fatal to the ship. It is rumored that the light house keepers poached caribou and beaver. Next, EF was slated for serious repair two days later, for two known structural weaknesses. In those seas, such a command goes without saying, so why did McSorley have to emphasize it? he asks. Conflicting theories about the cause of the tragedy remain active today. Recovered, means retrieved from the depths. The wreck is in two main sections, the bow and the stern. Twenty-nine men were lost when the Fitzgerald went down. 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. By stretching more than 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the island Caribou north point, a dangerous reef is presently known as "Six Fathom Shoal." Water poured in through a sudden hatch failure. What if the ship is rebuilt, with more safety features? Its usual route was from Superior, Wisconsin, to Toledo, Ohio, although the destination varied. This took them between Isle Royale and the Keweenaw Peninsula. Sault Ste Marie, MI 49783 The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead Cooper asked "How are you doing?" The cause of the sinking is still a matter of much historic debate, both Ley and Sproule note. If theFitzgeraldwere to be dived, then it would be a technical dive as it is over 200 feet. While Northwestern Mutual owned both ships (which woud later prove ironic in theFitzgerald'scase), the freighters were leased out to dedicated shipping companies. "She took on water all the time and her tunnels flooded out on her," Woodward said. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Also, a larger, more powerful tug, the Katmai Bay, is now stationed at Sault Ste. George Stegner recalled last year how he was on duty that night: I was on duty this night. After reviewing testimony that Fitzgerald had passed near shoals north of Caribou Island, the USCG Marine Board examined the relevant navigational charts. 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/. Proven by: Large holes, Anderson's captain's concern for how close the Fitzgerald was to the shoal, inaccurate charts. In 2000, author Hugh Bishop pushed the "Three Sisters" theory about a trio of rogue waves that overwhelmed the Fitzgerald in quick succession. Captain Jessie B. The wreck continues to rust and deteriorate over time despite the fresh water nature of Lake Superior. Conditions only grew worse; at 3:15 p.m., the Captain of the Anderson watched the Fitzgerald round Caribou Island, where it seemed to skirt close to Six Fathom Shoal. By this point,McSorely was heard over the radio hollering at his crew to stay off the deck and remain inside the vessel. This theory was advanced by the Lake Carriers Association (LCA) after the U.S. Coast Guard report and seems to be the most popular among mariners and armchair wreck investigators. Captain Cooper asked McSorley if he had his pumps going, and McSorley said, Yes, both of them.. Within a few years, Loran was rendered obsolete by the pinpoint accuracy of the Global Positioning System (GPS), which uses satellites to answer virtually any navigational question an officer might have. Perhaps the most romantic theory about the wreck of the Fitzgerald is that the ship succumbed to the forces of the Three Sisters, a Lake Superior phenomenon described as a combination of two large waves inundating the decks of a boat and a third, slightly later monster wave that boards the vessel as it struggles to shrug off the effects of the first two. The Fitz hull took a fatal blow on a shoal. This week, Minnesota tugboat captain Bob Hom, who sailed with McSorley before the man became captain of the Fitzgerald, claims McSorley once told him five years before the sinking he'd hate to be on the Fitzgerald in a big storm because 'They got it all worn out from years of overloading,'" Hom told the Duluth News-Tribune. Was a bad night. The caribou were very aggressive, treeing the lighthouse keeper for hours on several occasions. Eight minutes at the Fitz was all that he earned for his four-hour dive because of the necessary decompression. The Fitzgerald being the faster took the lead, with the distance between the vessels ranging from 10 to 15 miles. Your comment will appear after being approved. 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. 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. [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. See more. Marie, Michigan, during ferocious northwest winds and seas that washed as high as eight to 12 feet over the ships main deck. The bell of the ship is now on display in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum as a memorial to her lost crew. 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. Known for the best burgers in Fullerton, Islands also offers delicious tropical cocktails and fries that are fresh cut daily with the skins left on. The theories include structural failure, rouge waves and the possibility the ship bottomed out while passing over Six Fathom Shoal thereby causing the hull to fracture. Just to late for the 29. What was eventually found only included destroyed remains of the ships two lifeboats, life preservers and items from the ship's galleys. However, it resonates. 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? Great respect must be accorded to the wreck site, however, which still contains the remains of crew members and is considered a gravesite. Ten miles ahead, Captain McSorley learned from Captain Cedric Woodard, a U.S. pilot aboard the Swedish-flagged Avafors, that neither the light nor directional radio beacon at Whitefish Point were working. Departing Superior about 2:30 pm, she was soon joined by the Arthur M. Anderson, which had departed Two Harbors, Minnesota under Captain Bernie Cooper. 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. Six-Fathom Shoal Updates During a taped conversation with his office, which was made a part of the record, the ANDERSON's master stated that the FITZGERALD "passed right over that 6-fathom spot." The. And around 7:15 pm, the pip was lost again, but this time, did not reappear. Inspired in large part by reading Gaines and Lowells Newsweek story, Gordon Lightfoot recorded The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald the following month in December 1975 at Eastern Sound, a recording studio made out of two Victorian houses at 48 Yorkville Ave. in downtown Toronto. By the way, Fitzgerald, how are you making out with your problems? asked Clark. what is the real truth to this? Having been a consultant and active member of the original Jacques Cousteau expedition in 1980 along with the raising of the bell 1994 expedition. The mystery is compounded by mud covering key parts of the wreck and a legal prohibition on further dives imposed by the Canadian government. 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.. Crafts The U.S. Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board both issued official investigation reports that many dismiss in favor of a theory favored by the Lake Carriers Association. As the wise man once said, you can't outlaw stupidity nor legislate morality. In a similar vein, Paul Hainault, a retired Michigan Tech University professor, postulated a seiche caused the ship to scrape the bottom of Superior Shoal early that morning and the weakened hull eventually gave out. Capt. Fitzgerald, there is a target 19 miles ahead of us. I watched those two waves head down the lake towards the Fitzgerald, and I think those were the two that sent her under.. to which McSorely replied the infamous last words "We are holding our own." Wold, R.J., Hutchinson, D.R. There had to have been something happening on the deck that a mate thought they had to get control of - even if it meant putting lives in danger.. Phantom Fireworks is the leading retailer of consumer fireworks in the U.S. Phantom provides the widest range of consumer fireworks in all categories. 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. Much of the information not commonly seen in other articles is courtesy of an interview with a tugboat captain on Lake Superior called "Tugboat Jim" who was close friends with a late crewmember of theArthur M. Andersoncrewmember Ronnie Roman, who was aboard theAndersonthe night Fitzgerald sank. Because the ship had no depth sounding technology, the crew had no way of knowing that incoming water was pushing the ship lower in the water until the flooding exceeded the height of the iron ore in the holds. [1][3] In addition, exposures of gently dipping, friable Jacobsville Sandstone, have been reported from Caribou Island. By late afternoon, the Anderson's captain was noting wind gusts up to 70 knots and waves up to 8 metres. In the more than 40 years since the ship went down, a cottage industry of shipwreck theorists have tried in vain to solve the sinking of the Fitzgerald, which rests in two pieces in 530 feet of water on the lake bottom 17 miles north of Whitefish Bay. And so steel mill after steel mill collapsed, further accelerating the disappearance of the iron boats. 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. Upon reaching Whitefish Bay, theCoast Guard requested that any freighter waiting out the storm in Whitefish Bay go out to search for theFitzgeraldand her 29 man crew as the Coast Guard itself was unable to reach the scene immediately. I have read recently that the shoal near the island doesn't exist but it was from a guy who favors the loose hold cover theory. One man lived to tell about what happened unlike the Fitz. In the steel towns to Gary's east, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburg, Bethlehem and others, urban decay also set in and still remains today (2021). The weather had cleared dramatically. The search turned up no results for the first hour. He could clearly see the ship and the beacon on Caribou on his radar set and could measure the distance between them. Because of the Great Depression, the island was not restocked and the island was more or less abandoned by the approximately 15 owners-in-common. A half hour later I heard the news. The closest communities are Belden to the southwest, Twain to the southeast, Canyondam to the north, and Greenville to the east. LAKE SUPERIOR -- Nobody really knows what caused the Edmund Fitzgerald to sink, but that sure hasnt stopped people from trying to solve the mystery. 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. It's a national disgrace. 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. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. On May 20, 1976, the words Edmund Fitzgerald were clearly seen on the stern, upside down, 535 feet below the surface of the lake. Only one man has undertaken a scuba dive, using special air mixtures in his tanks. The first holds that some kind of large, heavy object crashed into the ship while it was passing by Caribou Island in Lake Superior during the early hours of the terrible storm of 10 November, 1975. Crafts Sawyer AFB in the UP of Michigan, crew member on a rescue helo. Has anyone ever calculated how much shorter the normal route across Superior would have been had the Fitzgerald not changed course? 400 W. Portage Avenue These records are part of the Records of Bureau of the Census, Record Group (RG) 29. 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. If you think you can safely go back up to the area, I would request that you do so. But almost certainly the suits would have saved the lives of some crewmen in the wrecks of the Carl D. Bradley and the Daniel J. Morrell, the two previous Great Lakes wrecks where most of the crews were lost.. The iron ore freighter Edmund Fitzgerald sank to the bottom of Lake Superior during a hurricane-like storm on the night of Nov. 10, 1975. Could these have contributed to the sudden disappearance of the ship? Caribou Island is part of a large glacial moraine that accumulated south of Michipicoten Island. Captain McSorley told Woodard that the ship has a bad list, implying that it had gotten worse since his earlier report to Captain Cooper. Of note, the NTSB report included a dissenting opinion that held to this theory. Various cars scatter the bottom of the river covered in grass and zebra muscles. In that sense, the Fitzgerald met her fate on the path she took to avoid it. Stationed at K.I. 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. 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. But we were talking to him about seven and he said that everything was going fine. 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. Despite many people accepting this as the most likely scenario for the sudden list and deck damage, the photographic evidence for such a grounding simply doesnt exist. 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. The ship broke in half and quickly sank. Numerous authors have written books on the tragedy. Understandably the footage was edited out of respect for the dead and the families. Ftizgerald, like all Great Lakes vessels often had to pass through violent storms that rivaled those of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, with waves sometimes reaching upwards of 100 feet.Fitzgeraldhowever was also noted for her numerous problems. 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. The Lake Carriers Association was inclined to accept that Fitzgerald passed over the Six Fathom Shoal Area as reported by Captain Cooper. As originally built,Edmund Fitzgeraldwas a coal burning steamship with a Westinghouse steam turbine driving a single four bladed propeller at her rear. Im checking down. Captain Woodard, who was acquainted with McSorley and had talked with him many times previously, said in testimony that he didnt recognize the voice when first they spoke and that McSorley sounded strange. The 1976 hit single "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by musician Gordon Lightfoot is the reason why theEdmund Fitzgeraldis currently the most famous shipwreck on the Great Lakes. 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. Cooper tried desperately to raise McSorley on the radio to no avail. Instead they consist of bedrock ridges and interfluves that lie between northerly trending bedrock valleys, which are known as tunnel valleys. 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. While the loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald remains shrouded in mystery, it is no mystery that ships wreck. But an hour later, when Anderson First Mate Morgan Clark asked how he was making out with his problems, McSorley assured him, We are holding our own.. 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. 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. 2. Yes, she almost certainly hit the shoals. Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee (Edmund Fitzgeraldin her early years as a coal firedsteel hulled steamship. If the ship had "hogged" upon striking the. Its as certain as anything can be that sooner or later there will be another ship lost on Lake Superior, says maritime historian Frederick Stonehouse. It was not long after thatFitzgeraldvanished from theAnderson'sradar. The ships were nearing Whitefish Bay. First mate Clark spoke to the Fitzgerald one last time, about 7:10 pm: Fitzgerald, this is the Anderson. I am from Sault Ste Marie Michigan and a former student of the founder of the great lakes shipwreck historical society Tom Farnquist. He reduced speed to allow the Anderson to close the 17-mile gap between them. Several of the lakes are maintained by beavers and all are several feet above Lake Superior. 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. A body that was seen but not retrieved is not a recovered body. Affirmative. From the time of its first voyage on Sept. 24, 1958, the ship set six records by carrying heavier and heavier loads. What is known is that 29 men lost their lives in the cold waters of Lake Superior and that their families continue to mourn in private amid the celebrity of the shipwreck. In the early afternoon of November 10, the Fitzgerald had passed Michipicoten Island and was approaching Caribou Island. Regis, R.S., Patterson, C.J., Wattrus, N., and Rausch, D., 2003. 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. Weather conditions continued to deteriorate. This depiction shows the Edmund Fitzgerald touching bottom as she passes over the Six Fathom Shoal on the . The final voyage of the Edmund Fitzgerald began Nov. 9, 1975 at the Burlington Northern Railroad Dock No.1 in Superior, Wisconsin, Sean Ley, a development officer at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point Light Station in Whitefish Point on the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan, wrote in a blog post for the museum titled The Fateful Journey (https://www.shipwreckmuseum.com/edmund-fitzgerald/the-fateful-journey/?fbclid=IwAR33M-6_G0X15ab73z4KkAIM3owr3GaVpRsHdaE5n_OIbSP3PzX7_FTMIGo). Art & Exhibitions She was already moving slow and was listing as well.

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