The Sea Swallows Again On November 10th, 1975. The S.S Edmund Fitzgerald went under in Lake Superior. The S.S Edmund Fitzgerald caried a total of 29 crew members. The ship itself weighed over 13 632 tones and was 729 feet long. It was the largest carrier on the great lakes from 1958 to 1971.
The ship left superior wisconsin and was headed for Detroit, Michigan.
What started out as a typical november storm was soon discovered to be nothing of the sort. At 7 pm on November 9th, the winds were reaching almost 40 knots. At 2 am on November 10th, the winds were reaching up to 55 knots with waves reaching 15 feet high.
Around the same time, the S.S Anderson and the S.S Fitzgerald changed courses for a safer path along the Canadian coast. Because of shifting winds, the ships were not protected by land.
When the Fitzgerald Had finally made contact with the Austar, they had lost both radars and were taking on heavy seas ( the worst ever seen by Capt.
Figure 1: Trackline/Course of the SS EDMUND FITZGE...
English: SS Edmund Fitzgerald underway.
English: SS Edmund Fitzgerald upbound and in balla...McSorely).
At 7pm, the S.S Anderson had the S.S Fitzgerald on radar. The S.S Fitzgerald had sent the message " we are holding our own". Ten minutes later, the S.S Edmund Fitzgeral disappeared from the S.S Anderson's radar.
It is not known wether the crew members abandoned ship or if they had gone down with the ship. But a ceremony was held in honour of the 29 crew members for their deaths.
English: Scale model of the Lake Superior ore boat...
English: The bell from the SS Edmund Fitzgerald on...
English: Edmund Fitzgerald Anchor