Edmund Fitzgerald drowned in Lake Superior 48 years ago
Today Edmund Fitzgerald drowned in Lake Superior 48 years ago. The incident on November 10, 1975, reportedly killed all 29 crew on board. Called the worst single accident in Lake Superior's history.
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| Edmund Fitzgerald (Photo: Greenmars) |
The vessel, which weighs more than 13,000 tons and is 730 feet (222,504 meters) long, launched in 1958, is the largest aircraft carrier on the Great Lakes and the first ship to carry more than a million tons of iron ore through Soo Locks.
Edmund Fitzgerald Disappeared Suddenly
On November 9, Fitzgerald left Superior Wisconsin with 26,000 tons of iron ore bound for Detroit, Michigan. Later that afternoon, Fitzgerald captain Ernest McSorely and a 44-year veteran contacted Avafor — another ship on Lake Superior.
As reported by History, Ernest McSorley reported that his ship had faced "one of the worst seas he has ever entered". Fitzgerald lost radar equipment and his ship tilted to one side.
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Within hours later, another ship made contact and said that Fitzgerald was working on its own. But some time later, the ship disappeared from radar screens.
Subsequent investigations revealed that the sinking of the American Fitzgerald happened very suddenly.
No distress signal was sent and the condition of the vessel indicates that no attempt was made to abandon ship. One suspected cause of the accident was that Fitzgerald was carrying too much cargo, it could also put the ship too deep into the water and make it vulnerable to large waves that came suddenly.
Official reports also suspect that the hatch or space where goods are stored to cargo may be damaged, this is also one of the causes of the sudden movement of cargo, which can then overturn the ship.
Fitzgerald's ship was eventually found 530 feet (161,544 meters) below sea level, 17 miles (23.3 km) from Whitefish Bay, the northeastern tip of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
The vessel had broken into two pieces, found 150 feet (45.72 meters) apart.
Since none of the 29 crew survived, there will most likely never be a definitive explanation for the sinking of the Fitzgerald. Only the waters were silent witnesses to the tragedy.
The sinking of the Fitzgerald was the worst on the Great Lakes since the sinking of the Daniel J. Morell at Lake Huron.
The following year, the disaster was immortalized in a song called The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, sung by Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot.