Edmond Fitzgerald

Don't forget,it's the 40th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmond Fitzgerald on Lake Superior.
If you need to hear the song

Great song isn't it?

Are you getting a tattoo too? LOL

They just had a episode about that on Modern Marvels daisters yesterday.

I miss the days when a song was allowed to not have a heavy handed social message. To just tell a story. Today everybody thinks they need to tell you how to think and live.

I've always hated that song.
Always liked Gordon Lightfoot until he made that song.

Mom and Dad went up to Whitefish Point for the memorial.

I didn't know that the story told by the song was real when it was first popular. I like the song as well as the idea that it describes a historical event in music, as have many other folk songs, i.e. Battle of New Orleans. gm

After seeing in BWM's today in history yesterday, I saw that in 1913 that the worst recorded and deadliest storm in the recorded great lakes history took place over 16 hours, 2+ feet of snow, 75+ mph winds, and 35 foot waves. I found it very interesting and googled around for more info, it is a tragedy, but good reading. I can't remember how many ships went down, but 250 sailors died, 5 of the ships have never been found. It is also very ironic that years later and one more day on the calendar we would lose the famous Edmund Fitzgerald.

Ross

thanx for the memorial ,Randy ,,. from what I understand ,, this sad event did not have to happen ,, but was going to happen sooner or later ,, the keel was buffeting from the skin in the bottom of the big fitz,, repairs were made numerous times that helpt , BUT , did not fix the problem once and for all ,,.the big fitz was pushed to the limit of overload too often .. the bean counter accountants were eager to get as much ore as possible delivered at the lowest cost..and pushed the fitz to the limit .. because of possible bad weather developing ,, the seasoned crew was asked by the seasoned captain,if they could baton down hatches while underway to buy time against the storm ,.. and they did , it was erroneously reported that the captain and crew were at fault , when the ship left port in a hurry without the hatches clasped down ,(common Occurance back in those days to save time ,,),. water poured into the unsecured hatches ,,which is probably true , it has claimed all was secured after the fitz was underway ,, BUT some latches were found unlatched in the wreck ,, so God only knows , from what I understand it was a perfect storm of events that caused a immediate catostropic failure

Lots of theories. The official Coast Guard is "ineffective hatch closures", but other theories range from the "pinnacle of doom" (poorly marked pointy rock shoals), to getting too close to the Six Fathom Shoals, to the "Three Sisters (confluence of three waves ganging up to make a huge wave,to excessive flexing of a tired structure being pushed too hard. Maybe a comnbination of two or more of these. Other ships survived the storm, but no others had exactly the same conditions the Fitz had. Her Captain, Ernest Mc Sorley was from a town near where I live. Anyway, may the souls of the 29 crew members rest in peace.

The Edmund Fitzgerald is now and forever an integral part of Michigan and Great Lakes history. I used to live in Munising and also Grand Marais, though not in '75 when she went down.
I can relate very well to the words "Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn minutes to hours?" When I was 18 yo. I was crewman on a diesel-electric submarine, standing lookout watch in the North Atlantic in the winter, waves breaking over top of sail, 15 ft. above my head.
Few who have not experienced extremely rough weather at sea can fully appreciate the power and sheer terror that the sea can elicit for those who "Go down to the sea in ships."
BTW, I also rode commercial fishing tugs on Lake Superior later in life, when gill netting of Lake trout was still ongoing. I have seen "Gittchi Gummie" pretty darn rough, too.
"OH Lord Thy sea is so great and my ship is so small."

I grew up in Gary, Indiana and worked my way through college at US Steel"s Gary Works. This was the destination of lot of the ore boats and limestone carriers on the Great Lakes. In fact, if I"m not mistaken, the John Fitzgerald was a US Steel boat.

Calling the Great Lakes "lakes" conjures up images of placid,inland lakes for people who have never been out on them, but the Great Lakes are in fact inland seas. So when a storm comes up, you may as well be in the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans.

To the crew of the John Fitzgerald, RIP.

Opp"s Edmund Fitzgerald! Sorry.

I'm friends with capt. Mc Sorely's grandson Mike Mc Sorely. I went to high school with his great granddaughter Brianne. My grandfather was neighbors with the captain when they lived in Canada. The also sailed the great lakes together.

I got caught in a 10 hour squall on lake Michigan in a 25' sailboat, almost lost my life there.

Many years ago I worked with a guy that a crew member of the Edmond Fitzgerald, He was to be on board when she sailed but he had an Apendix burst and was in the hospitial when she sailed. He still carried his merchant marine card from the Fitzgerald and always got moody this time of year. He died a few years back and he was a good man. R.I.P. Charlie Hollander. Bandit

A few years ago I stood toe to toe with now former Gov. Daniels, when my state hadn't yet leased out our toll road for $4 billion, two of which was going to extend I-69 from Indianapolis to Kentucky so it would run from Michigan to Kentucky, our portion of the TexMex highway that is to link Mexico to Canada. He didn't admit that, but behind the scenes that was and I assume still is the plan. Anyway, what he told us folk in the audience was that "...if we build it, they will come..." and build towns in the now woods where no interstate exists. I gave him 7 reasons why we should build up Gary and its surrounding areas. One, there are about 7 interstates that tie together right or near there. Two, it has an airport that could be expanded since they are looking to put a third airport in the area, but this one would be in Indiana for Indiana revenue instead of a third airport in Illinois for Illinois revenue. Three, Great Lakes shipping ports with access to airports, railway, interstate. Four, railroad goes right through it. Five, is near Chicago, the financial center of the Midwest. Six, is near both O'Hare and Midway airports. Seven, with so many closed down factories and steel mills, land could be bought for nothing to develop. I told him that at one time, Gary was a Mecca, it has more natural resources to it than Indianapolis, and if rebuilt, could and would put Indianapolis to shame, and unlike the south I-69 corridor that doesn't exist where the theory is that "...if we build it, they will come...", Gary already exists AND we already own it. His response back to me? "No one in Lake County (Gary) will ever vote for me". That's what he told me in a room packed full of people, "No one in Lake County will ever vote for me". I'm as far right conservative as they get, and know that Lake County runs exactly the opposite, but I'm about jobs and prosperity first. Give people access to jobs, good paying, meaningful jobs, and you'll win friends that you didn't have. To go through Gary, say north Grant Street these days, and you'll find 4,000, 5,000 square foot homes that are abandoned that a century ago were the toast of the country. Not just Indiana, but the country.

To the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald, R.I.P, along with expanded Great Lakes shipping to northwest Indiana. I tried, and hope that one day again...

Mark

The EFG is on the bottom of Lake Superior not Lake Michigan .

ENJOY THE SPRINGHILL DISASTER, BY PETER, PAUL, & MARY....ALL THEIR LIFE, THEY DUG THEIR GRAVE...

The Gary I grew up with was a rock ribbed nnalert dominated city which stood out like a sore thumb in nnalert dominated conservative Indiana. They"d elect Adolf Hitler if he"d run as a nnalert! I"d be surprised if it still wasn"t that way. Maybe Daniels was telling the truth-wait, he"s politician right?

I agree Gary has some real advantages as a transportation and a potential shipping hub. And I agree that Gary Airport would be a logical place for a third airport in Chicagoland. The dam problem is the graft and corruption of the political system that is a mirror image of corrupt Chicago. The Democratic machine politics control all the public works projects. I left in 1965 after graduating from Purdue. The former Mayor just got out of prison for pocketing money from selling fill material from city owned land to the Toll Road Commission during the construction phase of the Indiana Toll Road. And get this. He didn"t go to prison for stealing from the City of Gary! The greedy SOB didn"t pay his federal income tax on the money he got for the stolen fill! The Feds got him. Would you believe that the week I left, he got out of prison and they were talking about electing him Mayor again!

When I was in college in West Lafayette, if you told someone you were Gary (also called "da Region short for the Calumet Region) if they were from down state, they"d turm pale because they all thought we were all Mafioso and carried guns. From yoru post, it sounds like nothing has changed.

Thanks for the post. Always good to talk to a fellow Hoosier.