A grim reminder

[Davy Crockett]

Mother nature was a beast 43 years ago.

 

[BrokenBackJack]

Bad deal.

 

[johnr]

GORDON lightfoot is neat

 

[Ristorapper]

Sat up for hours the other night watching video and listening to theories on how this terrible accident ever happened.

Watched one video of an expert meteorologist on how the weather was the major factor. They(Edmund Fitzgerald and another ship that followed it the Arthur M Anderson) were basically expecting a noreaster so the two ships took a longer route from Duluth to Sioux Sainte Marie. They wanted to put there ships up close to the NE shore of Superior to get protection from the NE wind. The wind (up to 77mph) ended up blowing out of the NW and blew down the whole lake at the two ships heading SE towards Whitefish bay. Captain of the other ship (Arthur M Anderson) said it was the worst blow he had ever seen in his life. Turns out the coast guard asked this captain to go back out and look for survivors as the coast guard couldn't get any ships out there with the weather. That Captain and crew put their lives on the line and went out and looked after mulling it over for a time. Wow!! can you imagine. Turns out if that wind would have been forcast out of the NW to begin with, the ships would have taken the normal route from Duluth to SSM and made it before the big blow. interesting if ya got time on your hands to read up on it and watch videos for sure. I became interested in all this a few years ago after a fall visit to the Superior North Shore.

Meteorologist later covered many a day on either Nov. 10 or Nov. 11 on the many different years that there was bad weather on that Great Lake. STAY OFF THE WATER NOVEMBER 10 and 11 out there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Interesting how he showed the weather built up over the two days the ships took to get to their destination. Max speed for the EF was 16 mph.

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More on the theories, that she simply overturned, broke apart, ran aground, took on water. The interesting thing that happened is when the wind blew the two radar towers over on the EF. She lost radar and if you look on the map, there are a few places available to run aground. There was no evidence of running aground on half the EF that ended up on the bottom (500+ feet of water) of Lake Superior upside down. And no way to turn the other half of the ship over. Ore was spilled all over the ocean floor in a way to dispel the running aground theory. The possibility of the 7 ton hatches covering the ore coming loose and then those filling with water was gone over and possibly not the cause. Families of the crew said this would show their crew as irresponsible and that was a no no. And i think the hatches were in place on the half of the ship that was upright on the bottom of Superior. Other theories were the likely possibilities then so he said.

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https://www.pbs.org/video/university-place-storm-sank-edmund-fitzgerald/





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1NNFbR1W88

 

[BrokenBackJack]

Watched one show many years ago and they speculated it was a huge high wave that lifted the EF up out of the water and caused her to break in half. Really doesn't matter how it happened it still is sad.
May they rest in peace!

 

[zoops]

Also the anniversary of the 1940 armistice day blizzard in MN, etc. My grandfather in Duluth was out duck hunting that day and said the migration ahead of it was spectacular, the drive home not so much.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940_Armistice_Day_Blizzard

 

[tikkalover]

Mother nature has been kind of a bitch the last 2 days for deer hunting.

 

[Ristorapper]

Also the anniversary of the 1940 armistice day blizzard in MN, etc. My grandfather in Duluth was out duck hunting that day and said the migration ahead of it was spectacular, the drive home not so much.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940_Armistice_Day_Blizzard

Exact same weather phenomena that put the Fitzgerald to the bottom of Superior in '75. And it is eerie; look at the dates of that storm and the dates of the Fitzgerald storm. Nov 9- 10- 11. And the meteorologist also said other major storms in other years on those three days as well.

 

[WormWiggler]

years ago I had a conversation with an old guy at a hotel front desk. We were just killing time, and I think it was around this time of year. Anyway the Edmund Fitzgerald came up, and he had worked the shipyards in Duluth at about that time. His theory was the big heavy cover hatchs on the ships were not fastened. According to him, most all the ships just set the covers on because they were so dang heavy the train of thought was no way they would move. He said all those vise grip looking clamp things were usually so heavy with paint that no one would mess with them. According to him on the ships like the EF, the front couple hatchs were at kind of and incline, like you had to take a run at them to make it far enough to set them down.. He figures that the pitching of the ship got so wild that the front covers slid back and once water started coming in, it was a done deal. Kind of harrowing to think about what those sailors went through.. RIP

 

[Ristorapper]

yea! it was a calm as can be beautiful day when they left port that day. Did they not want to "lock down" those 7 ton hatches?? Did they get lazy?? it was the last run of the year for them. Original limits of ore on that ship were 22,000 ton. She was overloaded to 26,000......

 

[johnr]

Svnmag would have really enjoyed this thread

 

[Paddledogger]

Davey, Thanks for starting this thread in rememberance of the maritime tragedy. Even though it was 43 years ago, their souls still need our prayers. I faintly remember the news when it happened in my younger years. But we didn’t have the news at our fingertips like today. Good story to share with our kids!!!

 

[Davy Crockett]

Honestly I would have forgotten about the disaster without the song . I always had a fancy for songs that told a meaningful story so I thank G. lightfoot and the likes of him for their tributes. Same with the day the music died. I don't remember this happening but I bet it was the talk of the town in all of ND.




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Dangit now I'm in the music mood. Apollo 12 was launched 49 years ago tomorrow, My Dad and I were glued to the TV.

 

[Ristorapper]

Somewhere in the meteorologists video was where the family had wished Gordon Lightfoot change the lyrics to the original song. When he did/does do a concert, the new lyrics are not the same as the original. Now i'll have to research what has changed.

Convinced by the evidence presented in an episode of the new Canadian made-for-TV documentary series Dive Detectives, airing on History Television Mar. 31, Gordon Lightfoot has changed the lyric of his 1976 hit, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”, to remove the implication that human error played a part in the 1975 Lake Superior shipping tragedy in which 29 lives were lost.
“He’s not re-recording the song, but he has already changed a line for live performances,” a spokesperson for Lightfoot said Thursday. “He was pretty impressed by what he saw in the film, new evidence that unsecured hatch covers didn’t cause the ship to sink.”
The traditional verse goes: “When supper time came the old cook came on deck /Saying ‘Fellows it’s too rough to feed ya’ /At 7 p.m. a main hatchway caved in /He said, ‘Fellas it's been good to know ya.”
Lightfoot’s lyrics have now been changed to: “When supper time came the old cook came on deck /Saying ‘Fellows it’s too rough to feed ya’ /At 7 p.m. it grew dark, it was then/He said, ‘Fellas it's been good to know ya’,” Lightfoot’s spokesperson said.
“He may change it again, but this is the version that he’s doing in his concerts right now,” she said.

 

[Davy Crockett]

RIP to the crew of the Edmund and to Gordon Lightfoot .