On May 20, 1976, the words “Edmund Fitzgerald” were clearly seen on the stern, upside down, 535 feet below the surface of the lake. 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.”
by Elle Andra-Warner September 24, 2018. July 10, 2019. Almost 36 years after the Edmund Fitzgerald sank to the bottom of Lake Superior, taking its 29 crew members with her, mystery still surrounds just what happened on Sunday, Nov. 9, 1975 to sink the 729-foot freighter. The U.S. Coast Guard investigation laid the blame on the crew not properly securing the hatches, but …
Jul 14, 2021 · The last time anyone ever heard from the Edmund Fitzgerald” Through the eyes of Capt. Cooper: The night the Edmund Fitzgerald went down (YouTube) “This is the last interview of Capt. Bernie Cooper of the Arthur M. Anderson conducted by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society before he passed in 1993. The Anderson was 10 miles behind ...
Nov 10, 2021 · Image of the Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck taken during a dive in 1995 to recover the ship's bell. The ship sank in a storm off Whitefish Point in Lake Superior on Nov. 10, 1975. Photo provided by ...
The Fitzgerald, the best known of all Great Lakes shipwrecks, sank suddenly in a gale on Nov. 10, 1975. All 29 men aboard died, and their bodies are entombed inside the wreck, 530 feet under the surface.Nov 9, 2015
NOVEMBER 10, 1975 - 12:52 P.M. As the Fitzgerald and the Anderson approached the eastern shore, the Fitzgerald proceeded farther east than the Anderson before changing to a southeasterly course toward Michipicoten Island.Nov 10, 1975
"We're holding our own, going along like an old shoe." - Last transmission from the Edmund Fitzgerald. "The topside damage was an earlier report,” said Holden. “After suffering this damage, Captain McSorley contacted Cooper and asked him to shadow him down the lake.Nov 10, 2015
Edmund Fitzgerald sank at the eastern edge of the area of high wind where the long fetch, or distance that wind blows over water, produced significant waves averaging over 23 feet (7.0 m) by 7:00 p.m. and over 25 feet (7.6 m) at 8:00 p.m.
Ships carrying iron ore, lumber, fish, and grain traversed these waters often, but when tumultuous weather hit, the results were often disastrous. Of the estimated 10,000 shipwrecks in the Great Lakes region, only about 350 of them are located in Lake Superior.
In 1977, the U.S Coast Guard pinned the sinking on massive flooding of the cargo hold caused by faulty or poorly fastened hatch covers. 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.Nov 10, 2015
The Edmund Fitzgerald sank at the eastern edge of the area of high wind where the long fetch (distance that the wind blows over water) produced significant wave heights (average of the highest 1/3 of waves) to over 7 meters (23 ft) by 0000 UTC and to over 7.5 meters (25 ft) at 0100 UTC with a maximum significant wave ...
The SS Daniel J. Morrell, like the Edmund Fitzgerald, was a victim of one of those “gales of November.” Though she lacks the notoriety of the ship popularized by Lightfoot, her own story is even stranger. Built in Michigan and launched in 1906, the Daniel J.Oct 4, 2020
530 feetIt was a feat of rare danger. The two went down an astonishing 530 feet in 36-degree water and touched the rail with a gloved hand. At that moment, they set the record for the deepest wreck dive ever in the Great Lakes and one of the deepest in the world.Nov 10, 2008
If the Dive Detectives are right, the ship was in fact sunk by a rogue wave -- a massive wall of water that can reach up to 10 storeys high but was previously dismissed as a sailors' myth. A report by the U.S. Coast Guard had previously blamed the crew for the disaster on Nov.Mar 25, 2010
The Edmund Fitzgerald was lost with her entire crew of 29 men on Lake Superior November 10, 1975, 17 miles north-northwest of Whitefish Point, Michigan. Whitefish Point is the site of the Whitefish Point Light Station and Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.
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.”.
The following May, 1976 , Woodrush was again on the scene to conduct a third sidescan sonar survey. Contacts were strong enough to bring in the U.S. Navy’s CURV III controlled underwater recovery vehicle, operating from Woodrush.
The Coast Guard launched a fixed-wing HU-16 aircraft at 10 pm and dispatched two cutters, the Naugatuck and the Woodrush. 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.
Wreck Location. The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald lies at the bottom of the southeastern portion of Lake Superior in 530 feet of water. It was originally discovered by sonar shortly after the sinking in 1975 and first documented by several expeditions in 1976 including one by Jean Michel Cousteau, son of famous oceanographer Jaques Cousteau.
The Edmund Fitzgerald was a "Laker" type iron ore bulk freighter launched on June 7, 1958 by the Great Lakes Engineering Works in River Rogue, Michigan for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company one year after its near sister ship Arthur B. Homer.
My memories of the sinking are sketchy, because I was so young when it happened. I recall Gordon Lightfoot’s popular ballad about the sinking, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” How could one forget that haunting song? I began this psychic investigation knowing next to nothing about the ship, it’s crew, or the sinking.
At 1 AM, I got into my relaxation mode and successfully connected to the Edmund Fitzgerald.
I learned that before she went down, the Edmund Fitzgerald’s radar had malfunctioned. Roughly four hours earlier, the Arthur M. Anderson, an ore carrier in the U.S. Steel fleet, commanded by Captain Jessie B. “Bernie” Cooper, had been trailing the ship and providing it with navigational aid.
Following my psychic investigation and research, I feel that the hatch covers contributed to the ship taking on too much water during the storm but was not the ultimate cause of the sinking. Despite the troubles with the hatch covers, I believe she could have safely made it to Whitefish Bay, 15 miles away if not for a major structural fault.