SS Edmund Fitzgerald

"Edmund Fitzgerald" redirects here. For other uses, see Edmund Fitzgerald (disambiguation).

SS Edmund Fitzgerald in 1971
History
United States
NameSS Edmund Fitzgerald
NamesakeEdmund Fitzgerald, president of Northwestern Mutual
OwnerNorthwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company
Operator Columbia Transportation Division, Oglebay Norton Company of Cleveland, Ohio
Port of registryMilwaukee, Wisconsin
OrderedFebruary 1, 1957
Yard number301
Laid downAugust 7, 1957
LaunchedJune 7, 1958
Maiden voyageSeptember 24, 1958
In serviceJune 8, 1958
Out of serviceNovember 10, 1975
IdentificationRegistry number US 277437
Nickname(s)Fitz, Mighty Fitz, Big Fitz, Pride of the American Side, Toledo Express, Titanic of the Great Lakes
FateLost with all hands (29 crew) in a storm, November 10, 1975
StatusWreck
NotesLocation of wreck: 46°59′54″N 85°6′36″W / 46.99833°N 85.11000°W / 46.99833; -85.11000[1]
General characteristics
TypeLake freighter
Tonnage
Length
Beam75 ft (23 m)[4]
Draft25 ft (7.6 m) typical
Depth39 ft (12 m) (moulded)[5]
Depth of hold33 ft 4 in (10.16 m)[5][6]
Installed power
  • As built:
  • Coal fired Westinghouse Electric Corporation steam turbine at 7,500 shp (5,600 kW)
  • After refit:
  • Conversion to oil fuel and the fitting of automated boiler controls over the winter of 1971–72.
  • Carried 72,000 U.S. gal (270,000 L; 60,000 imp gal) fuel oil
PropulsionSingle fixed pitch 19.5 ft (5.9 m) propeller
Speed14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Crew29

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.[6][7] 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.[6] Her size, record-breaking performance, and "DJ captain" endeared Edmund Fitzgerald to boat watchers.[8]

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, SS Arthur M. Anderson. 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 35 feet (11 m) high. Shortly after 7:10 p.m., Edmund Fitzgerald suddenly sank in Canadian (Ontario) waters 530 feet (88 fathoms; 160 m) deep, about 17 miles (15 nautical miles; 27 kilometers) 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.

  1. ^ National Transportation Safety Board (May 4, 1978). "Marine Accident Report: SS Edmund Fitzgerald Sinking in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Bowling Green State University (2010). "Historical Collections of the Great Lakes: Great Lakes Vessels Online Index". Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University. Archived from the original on March 11, 2011. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
  3. ^ "Edmund Fitzgerald (5097216)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c United States Coast Guard (July 26, 1977). Marine Board Casualty Report: SS Edmund Fitzgerald; Sinking in Lake Superior on 10 November 1975 With Loss of Life (Report). United States Coast Guard. p. 2. hdl:2027/mdp.39015071191467. USCG 16732/64216.
  5. ^ a b Devendorf, John F. (1996). Great Lakes Bulk Carriers 1869–1985. Thunder Bay Press. p. 151. ISBN 1-889043-03-6. Archived from the original on July 23, 2023. Retrieved February 2, 2011 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ a b c Thompson, Mark L. (1994). Queen of the Lakes. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. p. 164. ISBN 0-8143-2393-6. Retrieved February 20, 2011 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ Kantar, Andrew (1998). 29 Missing: The True and Tragic Story of the Disappearance of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Press. p. 9. ISBN 0-87013-446-9.
  8. ^ Thompson, Mark L. (1991). Steamboats & Sailors of the Great Lakes. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. p. 30. ISBN 0-8143-2359-6. Retrieved November 18, 2012 – via Google Books. On the Great Lakes, freighter ships are traditionally called boats, derived from steamboats.