The ship would bend and flex in sometimes un-natural means and the keel would at times be lifted over two inches above the bottom ofFitzgerald'shull during a violent storm. Tom was also the hunting boating and orv safety instructor. Caribou Island and Southwest Bank Protection Area means the area enclosed by rhumb lines connecting the following coordinates, beginning on the northernmost point and proceeding clockwise: 4730.0 N, 08550.0 W 4724.2 N, 08538.5 W 4704.0 N, 08549.0 W 4705.7 N, 08559.0 W 4718.1 N, 08605.0 W. Later, in a videotaped conversation with GLSHS, Captain Cooper said that he always believed McSorley knew something serious had happened to Fitzgerald as the ship passed over Caribou Shoal. Email him at gellison@mlive.com or follow on Twitter & Instagram. Whatever the cause, the Fitzgerald took a starboard list as it passed Caribou. Size & Medium. 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. Further searches with sonar turned up what appeared to be a giant vessel on the bottom in two pieces the rough size of theFitzgerald. All were lost to the depths of Lake Superior. Caribou: Did You Know? - National Park Service 301 did sink that fateful night, all hands, but should it have? Captain Cooper asked McSorley if he had his pumps going, and McSorley said, Yes, both of them.. Status of the Lake Superior Caribou - Northern Wilds Magazine Right in the middle of this economic meltdown, and not just in the Great Lakes region, the Edmund Fitzgerald was lost. [1] Morgan Clark, first mate of the Anderson, kept watching the Fitzgerald on the radar set to calculate her distance from some other vessels near Whitefish Point. While Northwestern Mutual owned both ships (which woud later prove ironic in theFitzgerald'scase), the freighters were leased out to dedicated shipping companies. Captain Cooper maintained that he watched the Edmund Fitzgerald pass far too close to Six Fathom Shoal to the north of Caribou Island. Near-hurricane force winds seemed to pick up strength throughout the day while visibility was greatly reduced. LAKE SUPERIOR -- Nobody really knows what caused the Edmund Fitzgerald to sink, but that sure hasnt stopped people from trying to solve the mystery. 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. Has anyone ever calculated how much shorter the normal route across Superior would have been had the Fitzgerald not changed course? Every expedition to the freighter has reported that there is no evidence of scraping, gouging or damage to the rudder or propeller, which should show on the overturned bottom of the stern. The Fitzgerald was disappearing and reappearing on the Andersons radar the height of the waves was causing interference. A half hour later I heard the news. One man lived to tell about what happened unlike the Fitz. The Coast Guard cited reports of damage to the Fitzgerald's hatches that were planned for winter repair. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 4/4/2023), Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/26/2023). Aware of a building November storm entering the Great Lakes from the great plains, Captain McSorley and Captain Cooper agreed to take the northerly course across Lake Superior, where they would be protected by highlands on the Canadian shore. Water intrusion came less than 30 minutes later. In 2000, author Hugh Bishop pushed the "Three Sisters" theory about a trio of rogue waves that overwhelmed the Fitzgerald in quick succession. While the loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald remains shrouded in mystery, it is no mystery that ships wreck. Weather conditions continued to deteriorate. Officially, the report of the U.S. Coast Guard marine board of inquiry states that the most probable cause of the sinking was loss of buoyancy due to massive flooding of the cargo hold through ineffective hatch closures. As the afternoon wore on, radio communications with the Fitzgerald concerned navigational information but no extraordinarily alarming reports were offered by Captain McSorley. Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee From what I know, the Fitzgerald sank 45 years ago as of posting this comment, soon to be 46. Despite having been built in Michigan and having operated mostly around Michigan,Edmund Fitzgeraldwas homeported in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Size wise, both theArthur B. HomerandEdmund Fitzgeraldwere impressive even compared to oceanic ships, with an outstanding length of 711 to 729 feet. He reduced speed to allow the Anderson to close the 17-mile gap between them. In 2003, the herd was estimated to have 490,000 individuals, 6 and in 2016, the herd count decreased to 201,000. There is a look out in Pancake Bay named after the Fitz. His written report states: At this time I became very concerned about the Fitzgerald couldnt see his lights when we should have. There is a very good chance that this is what helped lead to her demise. It started as a shipwreck, followed by a newsmagazine story in the still-golden age of newsmagazines like Time, U.S. News & World Report and Newsweek. This would have left the crew no way to survive the Edmund Fitzgerald Wreck. The Anderson was struck by large waves which then travelled in the direction of the Edmond Fitzgerald. eCFR :: 33 CFR 151.66 -- Operating requirements: Discharge of garbage Within days, the location of the wreck on the bottom of the lake was pinpointed by U.S. Navy aircraft and the following spring the Coast Guard positively identified the wreckage using underwater photography. He and his officers watched the Fitzgerald pass right over the dangerous area of shallow water, Ley wrote. This contact or a near miss would damage the hull and allow water to begin accumulating inside the affected ballast tanks. Antlers of males weigh an average of 17 pounds and can reach 29 pounds! With regards to iron ore shipping on the Great Lakes, it most certainly is still taking place. They passed several miles offshore from Split Rock Lighthouse, on Minnesotas North Shore. Below is a breakdown of the main theories: Faulty hatch covers caused massive internal flooding. It was not long after thatFitzgeraldvanished from theAnderson'sradar. Ancient hunting ground found hidden in Lake Huron | Tech Times By that time the Anderson had reached the safety of Whitefish Bay to the relief of all aboard. Fitz40th.com - Six-Fathom Shoal Updates During a taped | Facebook [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. The final voyage of the Edmund Fitzgerald began November 9, 1975 at the Burlington Northern Railroad Dock No.1, Superior, Wisconsin. The spring after the Edmund Fitzgerald was lost, the U.S. Coast Guard sent remote cameras more than 500 feet down to it. I myself and my classmates are without a doubt able to state that is not only a prime example of media misinformation. The Fitzgerald being the faster took the lead, with the distance between the vessels ranging from 10 to 15 miles. [3][8][9] Samples dredged from a shoal northwest of Caribou Island and close to one of these valleys resemble Jacobsville Sandstone. Heavy snow begins to fall and the Fitzgerald is lost from. TheFitzgeraldwould have extra steel plates installed between the hull bottom and her keel which would ensure the keel would no loner move freely from the hull and would stay fastened in place. The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead You can listen to it here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8LBkYjniTU. From everything we know and remembering that they were not required at the time, neither survival suits nor EPIRB would have helped the crew of the Fitzgerald because the ship sank so suddenly, Stonehouse points out. In only 8 years time, this magnificent American vessel would be at the bottom of Lake Superior.). The Naugatuck arrived at 12:45 pm on November 11, and the Woodrush arrived on November 14, having journeyed all the way from Duluth, Minnesota. He and his officers watched the Fitzgerald pass right over the dangerous area of shallow water. The Fateful Journey of The Edmund Fitzgerald - A Great Lakes Disaster Soon after, McSorely on the Fitzgerald reported taking topside damage and a list. What sank the Edmund Fitzgerald? : r/UnresolvedMysteries - Reddit What also can be stated with certainty is that sometime between 7:10 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., the Fitzgerald simply disappeared into Lake Superior about 15 miles from the shelter of Whitefish Bay just west of Sault Ste. 'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); A Great Lakes Information Network partner, 2020 Lake Superior Publishing LLC. Our Specialties. After reviewing testimony that Fitzgerald had passed near shoals north of Caribou Island, the USCG Marine Board examined the relevant navigational charts. Your comment will appear after being approved. This years service was held at 11 a.m. this morning, with the bell tolling 29 times for each man on the Fitzgerald. But the questions surrounding the cause of the wreck kept mounting and continue to do so. Her owners wanted her to maximize revenue, but "The Lake it is said, never gives up her dead when the skies of November turn gloomy." The Anderson's captain also made statements in 1986 seemingly supportive of the rogue wave theory. He could clearly see the ship and the beacon on Caribou on his radar set and could measure the distance between them. Whatever prompted that command just a little over an hour before the sinking, Paquette analyzes that it would have been catastrophic and visible from the pilothouse in the darkness of an early November evening. On May 20, 1976, the words Edmund Fitzgerald were clearly seen on the stern, upside down, 535 feet below the surface of the lake. Every year since the sinking, the Episcopal Mariners Church the Maritime Sailors Cathedral on East Jefferson Avenue in downtown Detroit, along the riverfront, has held a memorial service for the Edmund Fitzgerald crew. Wold, R.J., Hutchinson, D.R. This theory is the thought that the Fitzgerald hit the bottom near Caribou Island, ripping a hole in the ship. The captain of the Anderson had noticed on his radar that the Fitzgerald had sailed very close to Six Fathom Shoal as the ship passed Caribou Island, as they steamed for the safety of Whitefish Bay at Superior's east end. These records are part of the Records of Bureau of the Census, Record Group (RG) 29. Theories - THE EDMUND FITZGERALD Some theories are nonsense relating to UFOs or a Great Lakes Bermuda Triangle in the area where the ship sank. Join us at Islands Restaurant in Fullerton on Malvern Avenue. If the ship had "hogged" upon striking the shoal, it could have caused the topside damage reported by Fitzgerald captain Ernest McSorley in the hours before the sinking. The Fitzgerald suffered from structural problems, Ex-Fitzgerald crew member George Burgner claimed in a deposition that unrepaired cracks and weakened metal on the ship caused the loss, according to the "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Fred Stonehouse. She never should have sailed, and could have turned back when "The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound, as a wave broke over the railing." 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. Caribou, California - Wikipedia The misinformation that has been spread by the media then and now is a great example of how clueless the general public is going to continue to be unless they stand up for a full disclosure of information and laws that regulate punish and fine the profiteers of misinformation. The Anderson turned out to be the primary vessel in the search, taking the lead. Do the math. On April 15, 1977 the U.S. Coast Guard released its official report of Subject: S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, official number 277437, sinking in Lake Superior on 10 November 1975 with loss of life. While the Coast Guard said the cause of the sinking could not be conclusively determined, it maintained that the most probable cause of the sinking of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was the loss of buoyancy and stability resulting from massive flooding of the cargo hold. 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. Caribou is located on the North Fork Feather River, 9.5 miles (15.3 km) south of Almanor. At 3:30 pm that afternoon, Captain McSorley radioed Captain Cooper and said: Anderson, this is the Fitzgerald. (TheEdmund Fitzgeraldseen in her final years riding far lower in the water than she should have ever been allowed to. The heavy seas overwhelmed a ship that had already lost freeboard and was listing. They have persisted where all others have perished. GLSHS three expeditions to the wreck revealed that it is likely she submarined bow first into an enormous sea, as damage forward is indicative of a powerful, quick force to the superstructure. A 2012 sonar image shows theFitzgeraldto have deteriorated heavily since 1993. Captains challenge high waves with he bow, not the stern. When originally built, it was visible for 16 miles (26km) and operated on a 30-second revolving cycle. US WEATHER BUREAU BUILDING While conditions were bad, with winds gusting to 50 knots and seas 12 to 16 feet, both captains had often piloted their vessels in similar conditions. Already have an account? The industry they served collapsed in the mid-1970s. They would later make a turn to the southeast toward Whitefish Point. (Edmund Fitzgeraldin her early years as a coal firedsteel hulled steamship. The suits are also equipped with flashing lights and radio position beacons. Cooper started to fear the worst and contacted the Coast Guard alerting them to theFtizgerald'sdisappearance. Winter 2023 NMU School of Art & Design Senior Exhibition Reception, Edmund Fitzgerald: Decades of Speculation, Fascination and Grieving. In July 1979, he would go onto co-author the book Great American Dreams: A Portrait of the Way We Are with the Washington Posts Robert Kaiser. [7], These reefs are not coral reefs. 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. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald was released as a 7-inch 45 rpm A-side single in August 1976, taken from Lightfoots album Summertime Dream released that July. Captain Cooper reported winds from the NW x W (305 ) at a steady 58 knots with gusts to 70 knots, and seas of 18 to 25 feet. Caribou Island is part of a large glacial moraine that accumulated south of Michipicoten Island. A small three room cabin was built on the east shore of Lake Superior adjacent to Deer Lake and the Amphibian base. 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. By the way, Fitzgerald, how are you making out with your problems? asked Clark. By 1979, a new Loran broadcast station began operating at Baudette, Minnesota, giving sailors easy access to their location, speed, course being steered and other information. Furthermore, any chance of using the wreck itself as a means of understanding what happened is next to impossible as the Canadian government has banned all diving operations period to the wreck since the recovery of theFitzgerald'sbell in 1993. it is likely that the world may never know the true ending of theEdmund Fitzgerald. The Edmund Fitzgerald was bound for Zug Island, a heavily industrialized island in River Rouge, Michigan at the mouth of the River Rouge, where it spills into the Detroit River, near Detroit, and where it was set to unload a cargo of taconite iron ore pellets before heading onto Cleveland, her home port, to wait out the winter.
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