SS Edmund Fitzgerald
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SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an ore carrier on Lake Superior, carrying iron ore, which sank on November 10, 1975, at around 7:30 p.m. The ship was known for being the biggest of its time, weighing in at around 13,600 tons. The Edmund Fitzgerald was one of the largest "iron boats" working the Great Lakes. Nobody knows how the boat sank; however, it is very possible that the dangerously high weight of its cargo and the violent winds and waves caused the ship to sink. All 29 men aboard the boat died, and to this day, no bodies have been recovered. To remember the men on the S.S. Fitzgerald, a song was written by the Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot and titled The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. The song describes the ship itself and touches on some theories on how it may have sunk; interestingly enough, the original song contained the following passage:
- When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya. At seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in. He said Fellas, it's been good to know ya
This passage was proven to be false as a dive team sent in to recover the bodies found the main hatch to be in perfect condition. When informed of this, Gordon Lightfoot rewrote the verse to:
- When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin Fellas, 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.
SS Edmund Fitzgerald Media
SS Edmund Fitzgerald, upbound and in ballast
SS Edmund Fitzgerald under way
The National Transportation Safety Board map of probable course of Edmund Fitzgerald and Arthur M. Anderson
One of Edmund Fitzgerald's lifeboats, on display at the Valley Camp museum ship
A USCG drawing of the relative positions of the wreck parts
Weather map of November 10, 1975.
A scale model of SS Edmund Fitzgerald
References
Other websites
- News story from CBC
- SS Edmund Fitzgerald Online Archived 2005-11-24 at the Wayback Machine