The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was, at her launch in 1958 the largest ship operating on the Great Lakes. One night she vanished during a storm. When found it was discovered she had been torn in half.
Another suggestion is that in 400 feet of water, the 750’ ship, while riding UP a wave with little power, backslid into the trough, torpedoing through the surface to have the end of the ship (stern is likely) and that having a ship of this tonnage and having been twisted for hours, suddenly hit the bottom, broke her spine leaving two sections in a very sudden sinking.
Something like that is probably what happened though The Fitz lies about 530ft. A terrific book on this subject is “The Night The Fitz Went Down” written by Capt Dudley Paquette; he was skippering another iron ore boat that night & took shelter from the storm in a bay, riding it out. He alleges negligence on the part of Fitz captain McSorley; Paquette says McSorley “beat The Fitz to death” because he only knew one speed - full speed- even in the worst weather conditions. Moreover, when Great Western Insurance lawyers came to him to get a deposition, Paquette stated unequivocally he thought it was negligence & suddenly the lawyers didn’t want to talk to him. There were other clues too; McSorley had been informed by a dockyard worker that the keel was loose (Fitz was a prefab in 3 sections), but McSorley discounted it, apparently stating “the SOB just has to hold together for one more run” & he was going to retire after it. Reportedly the ship “bent like a diving board” in these seas, twisting & turning & she was overloaded; she was loaded for a summer carrying weight in November so she was riding lower in the water than she should have been.
Capt Darrell Walton - who speaks a lot about The Fitz on YouTube (& who’s uncle went down on it) maintains that what most likely happened was the bow came off a huge wave, broke deep & buried itself in the bottom & once the stern settled back in the water the propeller torque ripped the ship in two; his conclusion as to what the ship is in 2 pieces with the stern section lying upside down.
Whatever happened was cataclysmic & fast; hence no SOS. They never had time. Think it probably happened so fast they didn’t even know what hit them.
Will continue to read but saw compelling evidence in 2 YT videos about rogue waves. Pre-computer design, Edmund essentially stretched an existing ship class without taking into account the stresses that thousands of tons of ore could create under correct circumstances. Hurricane winds and a wave 70 feet high as well as the hatches being open....
The Great Lakes, in general, are dangerous. I was running small boat SAR in Lake Michigan with the US Coast Guard the year the Fitz went down. The storms were incredible.
Interesting that the bottom temperature of Superior is 36F... most lakes, even those where the water temperature is colder, usually is at 40F, because that is the temperature at which water is at its densest (at least according to the Arctic Engineering course I took).
I remember watching the nightly TV news and seeing this reported. I've since been fascinated with the loss of this vessel as the toll on the men that died during this event must've been sheer horror. Sticks with me to this day and I'm in my 60s. My father was in the Navy during the latter part of WWII in the Pacific and he too was glued to this story. Constantly following up shortly after the event to try and glean any pertinent info that he could. We talked about this a lot over the years when I was growing up. Great piece, thank you for sharing this.
Lived on Lake Superior in Marquette for years. The lake is freezing cold even in summer. Winter storms with huge crashing ice waves demand respect as do the waves and water in summer. Beautiful area, great parks.
In reading the title of this article, I knew the Edmund Fitzgerald would be mentioned. Her sinking has always haunted me, along with Gordon Lightfoot’s wonderful tribute. Thank you for this explanation.
Great article. I've always found the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald fascinating. Have you ever seen the shipwreck map of Lake Superior? The visual of wrecks scattered across the lake is haunting.
Thank you Gordon Lightfoot for making her remembered with such a beautiful song.
Another suggestion is that in 400 feet of water, the 750’ ship, while riding UP a wave with little power, backslid into the trough, torpedoing through the surface to have the end of the ship (stern is likely) and that having a ship of this tonnage and having been twisted for hours, suddenly hit the bottom, broke her spine leaving two sections in a very sudden sinking.
Something like that is probably what happened though The Fitz lies about 530ft. A terrific book on this subject is “The Night The Fitz Went Down” written by Capt Dudley Paquette; he was skippering another iron ore boat that night & took shelter from the storm in a bay, riding it out. He alleges negligence on the part of Fitz captain McSorley; Paquette says McSorley “beat The Fitz to death” because he only knew one speed - full speed- even in the worst weather conditions. Moreover, when Great Western Insurance lawyers came to him to get a deposition, Paquette stated unequivocally he thought it was negligence & suddenly the lawyers didn’t want to talk to him. There were other clues too; McSorley had been informed by a dockyard worker that the keel was loose (Fitz was a prefab in 3 sections), but McSorley discounted it, apparently stating “the SOB just has to hold together for one more run” & he was going to retire after it. Reportedly the ship “bent like a diving board” in these seas, twisting & turning & she was overloaded; she was loaded for a summer carrying weight in November so she was riding lower in the water than she should have been.
Capt Darrell Walton - who speaks a lot about The Fitz on YouTube (& who’s uncle went down on it) maintains that what most likely happened was the bow came off a huge wave, broke deep & buried itself in the bottom & once the stern settled back in the water the propeller torque ripped the ship in two; his conclusion as to what the ship is in 2 pieces with the stern section lying upside down.
Whatever happened was cataclysmic & fast; hence no SOS. They never had time. Think it probably happened so fast they didn’t even know what hit them.
Will continue to read but saw compelling evidence in 2 YT videos about rogue waves. Pre-computer design, Edmund essentially stretched an existing ship class without taking into account the stresses that thousands of tons of ore could create under correct circumstances. Hurricane winds and a wave 70 feet high as well as the hatches being open....
I've always liked the song and story about the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Great, fascinating article.
The Great Lakes, in general, are dangerous. I was running small boat SAR in Lake Michigan with the US Coast Guard the year the Fitz went down. The storms were incredible.
Thank you Gordon Lightfoot for making her remembered with such a beautiful song.
Interesting that the bottom temperature of Superior is 36F... most lakes, even those where the water temperature is colder, usually is at 40F, because that is the temperature at which water is at its densest (at least according to the Arctic Engineering course I took).
Looking at the design, it's no wonder is tore in half
The Secretary of Transportation insists it’s Joe Biden.
Well done!
I remember watching the nightly TV news and seeing this reported. I've since been fascinated with the loss of this vessel as the toll on the men that died during this event must've been sheer horror. Sticks with me to this day and I'm in my 60s. My father was in the Navy during the latter part of WWII in the Pacific and he too was glued to this story. Constantly following up shortly after the event to try and glean any pertinent info that he could. We talked about this a lot over the years when I was growing up. Great piece, thank you for sharing this.
Lived on Lake Superior in Marquette for years. The lake is freezing cold even in summer. Winter storms with huge crashing ice waves demand respect as do the waves and water in summer. Beautiful area, great parks.
In reading the title of this article, I knew the Edmund Fitzgerald would be mentioned. Her sinking has always haunted me, along with Gordon Lightfoot’s wonderful tribute. Thank you for this explanation.
Great article. I've always found the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald fascinating. Have you ever seen the shipwreck map of Lake Superior? The visual of wrecks scattered across the lake is haunting.
Lake Superior is an awesome lake worth visiting. But it's obviously a dangerous one as well.