Our Specialties. Touching Bottom At Six Fathom Shoal - DeviantArt eCFR :: 33 CFR 151.66 -- Operating requirements: Discharge of garbage The wave worked its way along the deck, crashing on the back of the pilothouse, driving the bow of the Anderson down into the sea. Less than 20 minutes later when the Anderson cleared a snow squall, its radars lost contact and the Big Fitz, as seamen called the ship, passed from the land of the living into legend. Photo Credit: Greenmars (Wikimedia Commons: Link) The steel and iron plates still sat on the dock two years later. WHITEFISH POINT Coast Guard aircraft were on the scene by 10:55 p.m. Commercial vessels in the protective waters of Whitefish Bay were requested to form a search effort and several, including the Anderson, did venture out of shelter to search the storm-tossed seas for survivors. When originally built, it was visible for 16 miles (26km) and operated on a 30-second revolving cycle. Ancient hunting ground found hidden in Lake Huron | Tech Times This depiction shows the Edmund Fitzgerald touching bottom as she passes over the Six Fathom Shoal on the . (TheEdmund Fitzgeraldseen in her final years riding far lower in the water than she should have ever been allowed to. 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. 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. Marie. The NTSB hewed to the Coast Guard line somewhat, agreeing that that non-weathertight hatch covers probably caused flooding during the trip, but the board ultimately concluded the probable sinking cause was "sudden massive flooding of the cargo hold due to the collapse of one or more hatch covers." He and his officers watched the Fitzgerald pass right over the dangerous area of shallow water, Ley wrote. By this time, snow and rising spray had obscured the Fitzgerald from sight, visible 17 miles ahead on radar. Grounded on Six Fathom Shoal. It had enough force to come down on the starboard lifeboat, pushing it into the saddles with a force strong enough to damage the bottom of the lifeboat. The second large sea put green water (the powerful center of a wave) on our bridge deck! The Anderson's captain also made statements in 1986 seemingly supportive of the rogue wave theory. In the Duluth News-Tribune, another former crew member, Jim Woodard, claims the Fitzgerald was a "wet" ship. Edmund Fitzgerald Timeline S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald Online But the Coast Guard called Captain Cooper back at 9:00 pm: Anderson, this is Group Soo. 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." He reduced speed to allow the Anderson to close the 17-mile gap between them. The Fitzgerald being the faster took the lead, with the distance between the vessels ranging from 10 to 15 miles. Result: She then sat about nine feet lower in the water than her sisters -- from my observation of their arrivals while fishing for Perch just east of Indiana Harbor, at the southern tip of Lake Michigan. Have you checked down?, Fitzgerald, we are about 10 miles behind you, and gaining about 1 1/2 miles per hour. A 2012 sonar image shows theFitzgeraldto have deteriorated heavily since 1993. The spring after the Edmund Fitzgerald was lost, the U.S. Coast Guard sent remote cameras more than 500 feet down to it. [1][3] In addition, exposures of gently dipping, friable Jacobsville Sandstone, have been reported from Caribou Island. 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. This contact or a near miss would damage the hull and allow water to begin accumulating inside the affected ballast tanks. "We always had to go down and pump them out.". On this voyage,Fitzgeraldwas fully loaded with iron ore. In 2006, a National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration study recreated the storm in a computer and discovered that the Fitzgerald and its floating companion, the Arthur M. Anderson, inadvertently steamed into the heart of the storm by taking the northern route across Lake Superior to avoid what they thought would be treacherous waves along the established, more direct southern route. Great respect must be accorded to the wreck site, however, which still contains the remains of crew members and is considered a gravesite. Arthur M. Anderson - Shipwatcher News Great Lakes Ships Perhaps the most widely accepted of the several theories about the loss of the Fitzgerald is that the ship crossed Caribou Island's Six-Fathom Shoal, with water as shallow as 26 feet.. Corrections on previous comments I feel compelled to add. Looks like he was right on this one. But the Arthur M. Anderson survived and the Fitzgerald did not. In the early afternoon of Nov. 10, the Fitzgerald had passed Michipicoten Island and was approaching Caribou Island, steaming toward Whitefish Bay at Superiors east end.. As with all of the other theories, it may well be that we will never know the total story of this wreck - leaving each theory, for now, as good as any other. Caribou Island is an uninhabited island in the eastern end of Lake Superior, 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Michipicoten Island. The owners knew of the EF's structural problem, and had the steel already cut to effect yet another repair. There is a lot of by Anonymous - Captain Cooper maintained that he watched the Edmund Fitzgerald pass far too close to Six Fathom Shoal to the north of Caribou Island. Not the same yard, but what if it was rebuilt, same cargo, same shape, same functionality, but a new keel? Twenty-nine men were lost when the Fitzgerald went down. Superior Shoal - Wikipedia 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? Some theories are nonsense relating to UFOs or a Great Lakes Bermuda Triangle in the area where the ship sank. and Sutcliffe, R., 1989. McSorley and Cooper agreed to take the northerly course across Lake Superior to avoid a storm that was developing to the southwest, so they would be protected by highlands on the Canadian shore, taking them between Isle Royale and the Keweenaw Peninsula. A shallow reef 2.5 miles (4.0km) to the southwest of Caribou Island Lighthouse lies only 11 feet (3.4m) below the lake's surface. No sailors in life vests were found. Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society and Emory Kristof, National Geographic Magazine. All rights reserved. There is a very good chance that this is what helped lead to her demise. They passed several miles offshore from Split Rock Lighthouse, on Minnesotas North Shore. 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. Technology aims to prevent Fitzgerald-scale disasters - The Detroit News Quantity. The Anderson was struck by large waves which then travelled in the direction of the Edmond Fitzgerald. All rights reserved (About Us). 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. Tweets by @lakesuperiormag !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)? Edmund Fitzgerald - "Touching Bottom At Six Fathom Shoal". Previously suggested possibilities are that a hatch cover washed off or the heavy deck crane or the spare blade for the propeller broke loose and crashed about. Marie in 1967. The Fitzgerald is about 16 miles ahead. His written report states: At this time I became very concerned about the Fitzgerald couldnt see his lights when we should have. This took them between Isle Royale and the Keweenaw Peninsula. Cooper asked McSorley how they were doing. Discover the Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck in Lake Superior The Fitzgerald was disappearing and reappearing on the Andersons radar the height of the waves was causing interference. Will you stay by me till I get to Whitefish? McSorley was checking down his speed to allow the Anderson to close the distance for safety. However, it resonates. Instead they consist of bedrock ridges and interfluves that lie between northerly trending bedrock valleys, which are known as tunnel valleys. I've thought for a long long time the keel problem contributed to a major structural failure through years of metal fatigue. It was considered a private hunting preserve through the early 1900s. Wold, R.J., Hutchinson, D.R. The Fitz hull took a fatal blow on a shoal. The situation was worsened when McSorely reported to Cooper that his radar was gone. It happened too fast. An unpopulated island at the eastern end of Lake Superior, 40 km south of Michipicoten Island, named Caribou Island. The retrofit was planned for November 12, 1975 upon completion of the1975 season. Cooper asked "How are you doing?" Perhaps the greatest change that came in the aftermath of the Fitz disaster is in navigational equipment. 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. Until 1959,Edmund Fitzgeraldheld the record for the longest ship on the Great Lakes. Just to late for the 29. Bernie Cooper of the Anderson reported his concern for the Fitzgerald to the Coast Guard station in Sault Ste. The cause of the sinking is still a matter of much historic debate, both Ley and Sproule note. 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. Another wave just like the first one or bigger hit us again. Its likely that they didnt latch a lot of the hatch cover clamps because the crew was on Sunday overtime pay and they were so late getting covered up - and the weather was very nice at that time., Such speculation fits easily into the puzzle of the Fitzgerald tragedy. He could clearly see the ship and the beacon on Caribou on his radar set and could measure the distance between them. Only one other vessel, the William Clay Ford, was able to leave the safety of Whitefish Bay to join in the search at the time. However, the Westlake, Ohio-based Lake Carriers Association, representing U.S.-flag vessel operators on the Great Lakes, responded in a letter to the National Transportation Safety Board in September 1977 disagreeing with the Coast Guards suggestion that the lack of attention to properly closing the hatch covers by the crew was responsible for the disaster. America's #1 Fireworks Retailer| Phantom Fireworks 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. Still later, at about 6 p.m., Woodard called the Fitz to report that the light had just come on at Whitefish Point. Water poured in through a sudden hatch failure. 1930 Census | National Archives The Anderson was just approaching Michipicoten, about three miles off the West End Light. There is no conspiracy or disinformation campaign on that fact. At 3:30 pm that afternoon, Captain McSorley radioed Captain Cooper and said: Anderson, this is the Fitzgerald. 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. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. McSorely had also ordered the pumps to be turned on in order to keep the ingress of water out of the cargo hold.By 4:10 PM, the list had not gotten any better and theFitzgeraldwas still taking on water, effectively sinking. sometimes we forget to pray that at times we could have been saved, at this time of events, it was meant to have happened, at it is not us who make the storm or to calm the storm..but, Sad to have lost what was a great ship and the people on board History is what I like.. 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. With regards to iron ore shipping on the Great Lakes, it most certainly is still taking place. This timeline chronicles the last voyage of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Boreal Size & Medium. A caribou hunting site, built by native people 9,000 years ago, has been discovered underneath Lake Huron. Captain Cooper, too, had always maintained that Captain McSorley knew his ship was compromised on the shoal, but had faith that his ship would make it to Whitefish Bay. I myself and my classmates are without a doubt able to state that is not only a prime example of media misinformation. 109 W. Superior St. #200 Duluth, MN 55802 218-722-5002 edit@LakeSuperior.com. Could these have contributed to the sudden disappearance of the ship? Only one man has undertaken a scuba dive, using special air mixtures in his tanks. 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. Still remember it after all this time.. But the questions surrounding the cause of the wreck kept mounting and continue to do so. They are the last of their kind exposed to the human development and predation on the mainland. Adding to that puzzle is the fact that its captain never uttered a word of serious concern for his ship nor reported his problems to the Coast Guard. The bell of the ship is now on display in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum as a memorial to her lost crew. McSorley was forced to rely off reports from the United States Coast guard and the still functional radar of theAndersonto operate through the storm. Marie at 7:39 p.m., continued to try to raise radio contact with the big ship. No limit on the Perch, so we returned pretty low in the water. Without direct witnesses or survivors, every explanation about the cause of the wreck is purely theoretical and, from the very beginning, a rash of theories concerning it were postulated. Some of the most famous lyrics in Canadian music history, anchored to what would soon become the most famous shipwreck on the Great Lakes, first appeared as the lede of the bylined story Great Lakes: The Cruelest Month by James R. (Jim) Gaines, national affairs writer, and Jon Lowell for a Nov. 24, 1975 Detroit-based story in Newsweek magazine. 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. I, respectfully, can't and won't feel the magnitude of this tragedy by those directly affected. This is futher indicated by the stern which lies completely upside down beside the bow; all superstructure buried deep into the mud. Whether spoken from a desire to maintain calm in his pilothouse or from his own false sense of security, his assessment was obviously quite wrong. For books, videos, and memorabilia about the Fitzgerald, her loss, and her legacy, visit theShipwreck Coast Museum Store . That would likely mean that it was at the forward end of the weather deck. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald was also the first commercial early digital multi-track recording tracked on the prototype 3M 32-track digital recorder, a novel technology for the time. For the boating safety class Tom treated us to footage of some of the many shipwrecks that he has dove over his own career which included a full unedited version of the Jacques Cousteau expedition. In the early afternoon of November 10, the Fitzgerald had passed Michipicoten Island and was approaching Caribou Island. Captains challenge high waves with he bow, not the stern. With no visibility in a hurricane-like storm and no radar to guide him, theFitzgeraldwas sailing blinded moving slower with every gallon of water entering her hull. They issued a letter to the National Transportation Safety Board in September, 1977. By its last voyage, the freighter had made about 748 round trips. But we were talking to him about seven and he said that everything was going fine. Improvements in personal lifesaving equipment have resulted in suits to protect sailors from hypothermia in Lake Superiors cold waters. The flooding of the cargo hold took place through ineffective hatch closures as boarding seas rolled along the spar deck.. Forty-four years ago today on Nov. 10, 1975, 18 kilometres off Coppermine Point, and 60 kilometres north of Sault Ste Marie, Ont., the 222-metre iron ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald, with a crew of 29 aboard, sank. ZIP Code Lookup | USPS LAKE SUPERIOR -- Nobody really knows what caused the Edmund Fitzgerald to sink, but that sure hasnt stopped people from trying to solve the mystery. 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.. [2], According to the available information, Caribou Island consists of a mixture of glacial sediments and Precambrian sandstone. By this time, snow and rising spray had obscured the Fitzgerald from sight, visible 17 miles ahead on radar.. 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. The slow flooding supposedly went unnoticed by the captain and crew until it caused an imperceptible but fatal buoyancy loss and eventually sent the Fitzgerald plunging to the bottom. Caribou Island (near Michipicoten Island) - Wikipedia As of the 2010 Census, the town had a population of 0. Cooper later reported that he had seen the Fitzgerald get closer than she should have to Six Fathom Shoal, which is north of Caribou Island. 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.
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