#24593 - 01/17/05 10:05 PM
The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
  
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Master Guide
Registered: 10/31/04
Posts: 10668
Loc: Los Angeles, California
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On November 10, 1975 the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior. All 29 crew members died. At the time, it was the worst shipping disaster on the Great Lakes in 11 years. The placemark locates where radar last was able to see the ore carrier. Most people outside of the Great Lakes area probably heard of the loss of the ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald by way of a song sung by a popular Canadian artist at the time, Gordon Lightfoot. Details about the actual event can be found on this web page. Here is another web page with lots of details about what led to the sinking of the ship. Quote:
Lyrics for Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald The legend lives on, from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitchee Gumee.
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore, 26,000 tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty,
That good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed,
When the gales of November came early.
The ship was the pride of the American side
Comin' back from some mill in Wisconsin.
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned.
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms,
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland,
And late that night when the ship's bell rang
Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?
The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound,
And a wave broke over the railing,
And every man knew as the captain did too,
'twas the Witch of November come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait,
When the gales of November came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain,
In the face of a hurricane west wind.
When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck
Sayin' "Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya".
At seven p.m., the main hatchway caved in,
he said "Fellas, it's been good to know ya".
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
And the good ship and crew was in peril,
And later that night when its lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Does anyone know where the love of God goes,
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind 'em.
They might have split up or they might have capsized,
They may have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice water mansions.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams,
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her.
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered.
In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
in the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral
The church bell chimed 'til it rang 29 times,
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead,
When the gales of November come early.
Attachments
17761-EdmundFitzgeraldwreckage(overlay).kmz (2154 downloads)Preview this file with the Google Earth Plugin (learn more)
Edited by Hill (09/22/08 12:59 PM)
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#24595 - 07/06/05 12:35 AM
Re: The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
[Re: Hill]
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New Poster
Registered: 07/06/05
Posts: 1
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The National Transportation Safety Board report on the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior, November 10th, 1975 can be found here. Based on the report, the final resting place of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald is at 4659.91' N by 8506.60' W. At the end of the report are links to these images. (All from the US Coast Guard reports) Trackline of the Edmund Fitzgerald and the Avafors: The plan view of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald: Possibly the most important image (could be overlaid) showing the final pieces arrangement of the Fitzgerald on the lake bed: Here is a link to the official U S Coast Guard report about investigation. 
Attachments
36485-EFitzgeraldUpdated.kmz (650 downloads)Preview this file with the Google Earth Plugin (learn more)
Edited by Hill (09/22/08 01:06 PM)
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#24597 - 11/10/05 06:48 PM
Re: The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
[Re: Hill]
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Traveler
Registered: 10/30/05
Posts: 58
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I'm bumping this post to remember the men of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald. Twenty-nine seafarers lost in a Lake Superior storm 30 years ago today. http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_314073531.html
_________________________
Good morning and welcome alongside......
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#24598 - 04/09/06 11:10 AM
Re: The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
[Re: Hill]
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Traveler
Registered: 02/04/06
Posts: 111
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I love that pic of the Fitz with water over the deck. It really brings into perspective how the sinking might have happened.
_________________________
The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyong them into the impossible.
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#24599 - 04/09/06 11:19 AM
there others disasters happend in November
[Re: Hill]
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Traveler
Registered: 09/20/05
Posts: 3851
Loc: Miami Beach Florida
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there others shipwrecks happend in November in Great Lakes
Lake Superior Leafield: 18 victims Henry B. Smith: 23 victims Lake Michigan Plymouth (barge): 7 victims Lake Huron Argus: 28 victims James Carruthers: 22 victims Hydrus: 25 victims John A. McGean: 28 victims Charles S. Price: 28 victims Regina: 20 victims Isaac M. Scott: 28 victims Wexford: 20 victims Lake Erie Lightship 82: 6 victims Of the twelve ships that sank in the storm, five have never been found: Henry B. Smith, Leafield, James C. Carruthers, Hydrus, and the barge Plymouth. The most recent discovery was that of Wexford in the summer of 2000.
Edited by Majoska (04/09/06 01:11 PM)
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#24600 - 04/09/06 11:23 AM
Re: The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
[Re: Hill]
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Traveler
Registered: 09/20/05
Posts: 3851
Loc: Miami Beach Florida
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A musical perfomance in memory of the Edmund Fitzgerald's sinking.
In 1986, writer Steven Dietz and songwriter/lyricist Eric Peltoniemi wrote the musical Ten November in memory of the Edmund Fitzgerald's sinking. In 2005, the musical was re-edited into a new musical called The Gales of November, which opened on the 30th anniversary of the sinking at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota, narrated by Kevin Kling, performed by the singers Prudence Johnson, Ruth MacKenzie, and Claudia Schmidt, and backed by Peter Ostroushko (Violin and Mandolin), Dan Chouinard (Accordion and Piano), Eric Peltoniemi (Acoustic Guitar), and Jeff Willkomm (Electric Bass Guitar).
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