edmund fitzgerald sister ship

[181] NTSB's investigation resulted in 19recommendations for the USCG, four recommendations for the American Bureau of Shipping, and two recommendations for NOAA. Gordon Lightfoot made it the subject of his 1976hit song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" after reading an article, "The Cruelest Month", in the November 24, 1975, issue of Newsweek. The USCG, NTSB, and proponents of alternative theories have all named multiple possible contributing factors to the foundering of Edmund Fitzgerald. The vessel's namesake, Arthur Marvin Anderson, was director of U.S. Steel, a member of its finance . According the article called Edmund Fitzgerald, "At 729 feet and 13,632 gross tons she was the largest ship on the Great Lakes, for thirteen years, until 1971.". It's the unsafest commercial vessel afloat. For 17years, Edmund Fitzgerald carried taconite iron ore from mines near Duluth, Minnesota, to iron works in Detroit, Michigan; Toledo, Ohio; and other Great Lakes ports. When launched on June 7, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes, and she remains the largest to have sunk there. SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in a hurricane like storm on Lake Superior on November 10, 1975, killing the entire crew of 29. . Later that same year, she struck the wall of a lock, an accident repeated in 1973 and 1974. The ship was christened on June 7, 1958 at River Rouge, Michigan and set off on its maiden voyage on September 24th of that same year.From the time of her christening until 1971, the Edmund Fitzgerald "Bernie" Cooper, Arthur M. Anderson, destined for Gary, Indiana, out of Two Harbors, Minnesota. [198] The Dossin Great Lakes Museum also hosts a Lost Mariners Remembrance event each year on the evening of November 10. Conversion to oil fuel and the fitting of automated boiler controls over the winter of 197172. The next morning, Jack Borgeson remembers his mother brushing his sister's hair in front of the TV when news came on of the ship's sinking. [53] A further November 1416 survey by the USCG using a side scan sonar revealed two large objects lying close together on the lake floor. The bow section would have had to right itself and the stern portion would have had to capsize before coming to rest on the bottom. Marie at 7:39p.m. on channel16, the radio distress frequency. 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. Edmund Fitzgerald was later discovered to be broken into two large pieces. This is perfect for the lake boat enthusiast, modeler or historian. And am taking heavy seas over the deck. [80] The same year, longtime sport diver Fred Shannon formed Deepquest Ltd., and organized a privately funded dive to the wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald, using Delta Oceanographic's submersible, Delta. The SS Edmund Fitzgerald The Story of The Edmund Fitzgerald: The History. [43] Arthur M. Anderson and Edmund Fitzgerald altered course northward seeking shelter along the Ontario shore[40] where they encountered a winter storm at 1:00a.m. on November 10. [89] The Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians backed the expedition by co-signing a loan in the amount of $250,000. On November 10, 1975, SS Edmund Fitzgerald and its crew of 29 men sank in Lake Superior. Sister Lakes Postcard, Collectible Chautauqua Lake Postcards, Officers from Arthur M. Anderson observed that Edmund Fitzgerald sailed through this exact area. Edmund Fitzgerald was the first laker built to the maximum St. Lawrence Seaway size,[12] which was 730 feet (222.5m) long, 75 feet (22.9m) wide, and with a 25 foot (7.6m) draft. Other questions were raised as to why the USCG did not discover and take corrective action in its pre-November 1975 inspection of Edmund Fitzgerald, given that her hatch coamings, gaskets, and clamps were poorly maintained. "[88] Shannon concluded that "massive and advancing structural failure" caused Edmund Fitzgerald to break apart on the surface and sink. The hypothesis contended that the wave action continued to damage the hull, until the middle third dropped out like a box, leaving the ship held together by the center deck. SS Edmund Fitzgerald (ogs kaldet Mighty Fitz, The Fitz og The Big Fitz) var et amerikansk fragtskib, som sejlede i Great Lakes-distriktet i Nordamerika. The storm she was caught in reported winds from 35 to 52 knots, and waves anywhere from 10 to 35 feet high. [124] It has sharp peaks that rise nearly to the lake surface with water depths ranging from 22 to 400 feet (6.7 to 121.9m), making it a menace to navigation. On November 10, 1975, the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald broke in half and sunk in Lake Superior. The christening and launch ceremony was held on June 7, 1958, and was attended by more than 15,000 people. Riveted joints allow a ship to flex and work in heavy seas, while welded joints are more likely to break. Edmund Fitzgerald previously reported being in significant difficulty to Arthur M. Anderson: "I have a bad list, lost both radars. She was en route to the steel mill on Zug Island, near Detroit, Michigan,[38] with a cargo of 26,116 long tons (29,250 short tons; 26,535t) of taconite ore pellets and soon reached her full speed of 16.3 miles per hour (14.2kn; 26.2km/h). Oglebay Norton subsequently filed a petition in the U.S. District Court seeking to "limit their liability to $817,920 in connection with other suits filed by families of crew members. Based on the NWS forecast, Arthur M. Anderson and Edmund Fitzgerald instead started their trip across Lake Superior following the regular Lake Carriers Association route, which placed them in the path of the storm. About the Fitzgerald. [46] Woodard testified to the Marine Board that he overheard McSorley say, "Don't allow nobody on deck,"[53] as well as something about a vent that Woodard could not understand. [70], A U.S. Navy Lockheed P-3 Orion aircraft, piloted by Lt. George Conner and equipped to detect magnetic anomalies usually associated with submarines, found the wreck on November 14, 1975. [134], NTSB investigators noted that Edmund Fitzgerald's prior groundings could have caused undetected damage that led to major structural failure during the storm, since Great Lakes vessels were normally drydocked for inspection only once every five years. At 7 p.m. a main hatchway caved in, The event has been subject to a number of speculations, some more wild then others. [44] Captain Paquette of Wilfred Sykes reported that after 1a.m., he overheard McSorley say that he had reduced the ship's speed because of the rough conditions. During 1974, she lost her original bow anchor in the Detroit River. [44] After 1:50p.m., when Arthur M. Anderson logged winds of 50 knots (93km/h; 58mph), wind speeds again picked up rapidly, and it began to snow at 2:45p.m., reducing visibility; Arthur M. Anderson lost sight of Edmund Fitzgerald, which was about 16 miles (26km) ahead at the time. [112] Paul Trimble, a retired USCG vice admiral and president of the Lake Carriers Association (LCA), wrote a letter to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on September 16, 1977, that included the following statements of objection to the USCG findings: The present hatch covers are an advanced design and are considered by the entire lake shipping industry to be the most significant improvement over the telescoping leaf covers previously used for many years The one-piece hatch covers have proven completely satisfactory in all weather conditions without a single vessel loss in almost 40years of use and no water accumulation in cargo holds[113], It was common practice for ore freighters, even in foul weather, to embark with not all cargo clamps locked in place on the hatch covers. Today in Great Lake news, well history lesson of Great Lakes, I should say :) The Arthur B Homer, or the sister ship of the Edmund Fitzgerald, which I have given a history on before, entered service on April 20, 1960. Once each trip, the captain held a candlelight dinner for the guests, complete with mess-jacketed stewards and special "clamdigger" punch. Karl Peckol, 20, was the youngest . As Edmund Fitzgerald was sailing under the U.S. flag, even though she sank in foreign (Canadian) waters, she was subject to U.S. admiralty law. The final position of the wreckage indicated that if the Edmund Fitzgerald had capsized, it must have suffered a structural failure before hitting the lake bottom. "[92], Under the Ontario Heritage Act, activities on registered archeological sites require a license. This water is unable to fully drain away before the second wave strikes, adding to the surplus. [26], Northwestern Mutual's normal practice was to purchase ships for operation by other companies. He theorized that the loss of the vents resulted in flooding of two ballast tanks or a ballast tank and a walking tunnel that caused the ship to list. [120], The LCA believed that instead of hatch cover leakage, the more probable cause of Edmund Fitzgerald's loss was shoaling or grounding in the Six Fathom Shoal northwest of Caribou Island when the vessel "unknowingly raked a reef" during the time the Whitefish Point light and radio beacon were not available as navigation aids. that Edmund Fitzgerald was a "wet ship", being that some of her halls and corridors were constantly weeping water and the ship constantly had to run . The disaster is one of the best known in the history of Great Lakes shipping. [119] Conjecture by proponents of the Six Fathom Shoal hypothesis concluded that Edmund Fitzgerald's downed fence rail reported by McSorley could occur only if the ship "hogged" during shoaling, with the bow and stern bent downward and the midsection raised by the shoal, pulling the railing tight until the cables dislodged or tore under the strain. One of the worst seas I've ever been in." On Nov. 10, 1975, the Edmund Fitzgerald was sailing on Lake Superior with a crew of 29 men, according to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The Fateful Journey by Sean Ley, Development Officer The final voyage of the Edmund Fitzgerald began November 9, 1975 at the Burlington Northern Railroad Dock No.1, Superior, Wisconsin. "[147], After reviewing testimony that Edmund Fitzgerald had passed near shoals north of Caribou Island, the USCG Marine Board examined the relevant navigational charts. 8 and the deck plating was ripped up from the separation to the forward end of hatch No. 138. [169], The NTSB investigation noted that Great Lakes cargo vessels could normally avoid severe storms and called for the establishment of a limiting sea state applicable to Great Lakes bulk cargo vessels. [129][130][131] After maritime historian Frederick Stonehouse moderated the panel reviewing the video footage from the 1989ROV survey of Edmund Fitzgerald, he concluded that the extent of taconite coverage over the wreck site showed that the stern had floated on the surface for a short time and spilled taconite into the forward section; thus the two sections of the wreck did not sink at the same time. [119] This hypothesis was supported by a 1976Canadian hydrographic survey, which disclosed that an unknown shoal ran a mile farther east of Six Fathom Shoal than shown on the Canadian charts. 1 deck, arch cargo hold construction, hatches @ 24', oil-fired . rushes over the hull, empty of sailors, fills the ship with water. Her crew of 29 perished, and no bodies were recovered. Four days later, the ship was found in deep water by a US Navy aircraft. [35] None of these mishaps, however, were considered serious or unusual. The ship was carrying a cargo of iron ore pellets weighing about 26,100 tons, and it left from Superior, Wisconsin, heading to the steel mill on Zug Island. [202] Lightfoot's popular ballad made the sinking of Edmund Fitzgerald one of the best-known disasters in the history of Great Lakes shipping. It wasn't until the following May that its . [77] The 1994Shannon team found that the stern and the bow were 255 feet (78m) apart, leading Shannon to conclude that Edmund Fitzgerald broke up on the surface. Theoretically, a one-inch puncture in the cargo hold will sink it.[151]. In the years between 1816, when Invincible was lost, and 1975, when Edmund Fitzgerald sank, the Whitefish Point area had claimed at least 240ships. He said, "in my opinion, all the subsequent events arose because (McSorley) kept pushing that ship and didn't have enough training in weather forecasting to use common sense and pick a route out of the worst of the wind and seas. [103] The southeastern part of the lake, the direction in which Edmund Fitzgerald was heading, had the highest winds. The Edmund Fitzgerald had a 7, 000 horsepower steam turbine engine that could push the ship at around 16 miles an hour (Stonehouse 13). The Edmund Fitzgerald was the first of two similar sister ships constructed by Great Lakes Engineering Works, the other being her sister Arthur B. Homer of 1960, constructed for Bethlehem Steel. He therefore chose a route that gave Wilfred Sykes the most protection and took refuge in Thunder Bay, Ontario, during the worst of the storm. The cuisine was reportedly excellent and snacks were always available in the lounge. [157], A fathometer was not required under USCG regulations, and Edmund Fitzgerald lacked one,[158] even though fathometers were available at the time of her sinking. Air conditioning extended to the crew quarters, which featured more amenities than usual. The intensity of the November 10 storm would have made it difficult, if not impossible, to access the hatches from the spar deck (deck over the cargo holds). [169] Paquette was never asked to testify during the USCG or NTSB investigations. The Homer was of a slightly different design, being 730 long, and she lacked the guest quarters of the Fitzgerald. Namesake of ill-fated Edmund Fitzgerald to get his due. The USCG cited topside damage as a reasonable alternative reason for Edmund Fitzgerald sinking and surmised that damage to the fence rail and vents was possibly caused by a heavy floating object such as a log. [146], Edmund Fitzgerald had no system to monitor the presence or amount of water in her cargo hold, even though there was always some present. [4] Her size, record-breaking performance, and "DJ captain" endeared Edmund Fitzgerald to boat watchers.[8]. Edmund Fitzgerald. [95][96] Conducting any of those activities without a license would result in fines of up to CA$1 million. [4] 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. [195] The controversy continued when the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum tried to use the bell as a touring exhibit in 1996. Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty. It was laid down on March 18th, 1959 and went onto be launched on November 7th of that same year. 3 and 4 were covered with mud; one corner of hatch cover No. The Fitzgerald suffered from structural problems. The ship is scheduled to transport the cargo to Zug Island on the Detroit River. What happened on that fateful night to the ship and the entire 29-man crew? Up until a few weeks before her loss, passengers had traveled on board as company guests. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. [134] After August B. Herbel Jr., president of the American Society for Testing and Materials, examined photographs of the welds on Edmund Fitzgerald, he stated, "the hull was just being held together with patching plates." [4], In 1969, Edmund Fitzgerald received a safety award for eight years of operation without a time-off worker injury. . The hand line consisted of a piece of line knotted at measured intervals with a lead weight on the end. The collision tore a hole in the ship's bow large enough to drive a truck through, but the Maumee was able to travel halfway around the world to a repair yard, without difficulty, because she was fitted with watertight bulkheads. [59] At about 8:25p.m., Cooper again called the USCG to express his concern about Edmund Fitzgerald[60] and at 9:03p.m. reported her missing. [19], By ore freighter standards, the interior of Edmund Fitzgerald was luxurious. [94], An April 2005 amendment to the Ontario Heritage Act allows the Ontario government to impose a license requirement on dives, the operation of submersibles, side scan sonars or underwater cameras within a designated radius around protected sites. 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. The massive ship sank in a severe storm on Lake Superior Nov. 10, 1975, killing all . [146] After running computer models in 2005 using actual meteorological data from November 10, 1975, Hultquist of the NWS said of Edmund Fitzgerald's position in the storm, "It ended in precisely the wrong place at the absolute worst time. [50] Edmund Fitzgerald, effectively blind, slowed to let Arthur M. Anderson come within a 10-mile (16km) range so she could receive radar guidance from the other ship. Thousands of ships have sunk in Great Lakes since the European explorers began navigating the Lakes in late 1600. Captain Ernest M. McSorley commanded the enormous vessel during what was meant to be his last trip before retirement. [160] The NTSB investigation concluded that it would have been impossible to pump water from the hold when it was filled with bulk cargo. The bow section stood upright in the mud, some 170 feet (52m) from the stern section that lay capsized at a 50-degree angle from the bow. The survey revealed that the shoal ran about 1 mile (1.6km) farther east than shown on Canadian charts. [107], The "Edmund Fitzgerald" episode of the 2010 television series Dive Detectives features the wave-generating tank of the National Research Council's Institute for Naval Technology in St. John's, and the tank's simulation of the effect of a 17-meter (56ft) rogue wave upon a scale model of Edmund Fitzgerald. In half and sunk in Lake Superior the Dossin Great Lakes Museum also hosts a lost Mariners event... In. forward end of hatch cover No one-inch puncture in the lounge a member of its.! Since the European explorers began navigating the Lakes in late 1600 storm she was caught in reported from! Anywhere from 10 to 35 feet high event each year on the end to purchase ships for operation by companies. Once each trip, the direction in which Edmund Fitzgerald broke in half and sunk in Great Lakes the... Shoal ran about 1 mile ( 1.6km ) farther east than shown on Canadian charts in 1973 1974... Over the hull, empty of sailors, fills the ship with water Chippewa backed! 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[ 26 ], Under the Ontario Heritage Act, activities on registered archeological sites a... The interior of Edmund Fitzgerald received a safety award for eight years of operation without a time-off worker.. [ 169 ] Paquette was never asked to testify during the USCG NTSB... For the guests, complete with mess-jacketed stewards and special `` clamdigger punch... The hand line consisted of a slightly different design, being 730 long, and she lacked guest... Navy aircraft it wasn & # x27 ;, oil-fired None of these mishaps, however were! Of automated boiler controls over the winter of 197172 during what was to! The hull, empty of sailors, fills the ship is scheduled to transport cargo! I 've ever been in. design, being 730 long, and she lacked guest...

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