The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in Lake Superior during a storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29 men. When launched on June 7, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes, and she remains the largest to have sunk there. She was located in deep water on November 14, 1975, by a U.S. Navy aircraft detecting magnetic anomalies, and found soon afterwards to be in two large pieces.

For 17 years, Edmund Fitzgerald carried taconite iron ore from mines near Duluth, Minnesota, to iron works in Detroit, Toledo, and other Great Lakes ports. As a workhorse, she set seasonal haul records six times, often breaking her own record. Captain Peter Pulcer was known for piping music day or night over the ship's intercom while passing through the St. Clair and Detroit rivers (between lakes Huron and Erie), and entertaining spectators at the Soo Locks (between Lakes Superior and Huron) with a running commentary about the ship. Her size, record-breaking performance, and "DJ captain" endeared Edmund Fitzgerald to boat watchers.

Carrying a full cargo of ore pellets with Captain Ernest M. McSorley in command, she embarked on her ill-fated voyage from Superior, Wisconsin, near Duluth, on the afternoon of November 9, 1975. En route to a steel mill near Detroit, Edmund Fitzgerald joined a second taconite freighter, SS Arthur M. Anderson. By the next day, the two ships were caught in a severe storm on Lake Superior, with near hurricane-force winds and waves up to 35 feet (11 m) high. Shortly after 7:10 p.m., Edmund Fitzgerald suddenly sank in Canadian (Ontario) waters 530 feet (88 fathoms; 160 m) deep, about 17 miles (15 nautical miles; 27 kilometers) from Whitefish Bay near the twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario—a distance Edmund Fitzgerald could have covered in just over an hour at her top speed.

Edmund Fitzgerald previously reported being in significant difficulty to Arthur M. Anderson: "I have a bad list, lost both radars. And am taking heavy seas over the deck. One of the worst seas I've ever been in." However, no distress signals were sent before she sank; Captain McSorley's last (7:10 P.M.) message to Arthur M. Anderson was, "We are holding our own." Her crew of 29 perished, and no bodies were recovered. The exact cause of the sinking remains unknown, though many books, studies, and expeditions have examined it. Edmund Fitzgerald may have been swamped, suffered structural failure or topside damage, experienced shoaling, or suffered from a combination of these.

The disaster is one of the best-known in the history of Great Lakes shipping. Gordon Lightfoot made it the subject of his 1976 hit song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" after reading an article, "The Cruelest Month", in the November 24, 1975, issue of Newsweek. The sinking led to changes in Great Lakes shipping regulations and practices that included mandatory survival suits, depth finders, positioning systems, increased freeboard, and more frequent inspection of vessels.

model made by Lucas Gustaffson

#edmundfitzgerald #milwaukee #caljucotcas

[andrewmcleod]

Hi. Thank you for this awesome clip. What is the music playing? sounds wonderful and yet, also eerie considering the content of the clip. Good day !

[dd]

In the summer of 1973 when I was eleven years old I saw the Fitzgerald docked in Superior. It was a beautiful ship.

[russellmiller]

Gordon Lightfoot donated all the money he made from the song to the families of the men who perished in this tragedy.That was a good thing he did for those people

[Modeltnick]

Beautiful job with this video. The Arthur Anderson still mourns as it wanders the Great Lakes.

[billycox]

The Edmund Fitzgerald, still talked about today, and will never be forgotten. That's a good thought.

[winterplays]

I've lived in Michigan all my 21 years of life. You don't grow up without hearing about this terrible tragedy. Everytime I see pictures of the wreck however, it both tears at my heart, and amazes me how well intact the bow section is.

[michaelbruning]

Don't forget the sinking of the Carl D. Bradley in 1957-58, where a large number of the crew were from Rogers City, Michigan. Grandfather's, Father's and Son's were lost then. Out of a crew of 33, 2 survived. The caskets were lined up across the front of the Catholic Church and up the aisle to the entrance. An entire single community suffered for months, and the scars remain today. Carl D. Bradley - lost in Lake Michigan in November 58, but not forgotten.

[Leprechaunproduction]

Creepy fact for the day: The Great Lakes preserve bodies very well due to the extreme cold and the lack of flesh-eating organisms, which means that the bodies of the Fitzgerald's crew are still inside the ship and probably still recognizable. So if the lake was suddenly drained and you got to walk around the wreck, you'd find the still-intact corpses of the men who died on her over 45 years ago.

[patrickmurphy]

A beautiful visualization of a legendary ship.

[johnbrozman]

Quite a unique video of the Edmund Fitzgerald (Mighty Fitz)!
It touches your soul as the camera pans the wreckage while the music plays in sync. I like the sunrise in the background as the rising sun gives hope to another day. Very respectful as well. Thank you.

[cascadesouthernmodeltrains]

Leading theory of her sinking is a large wave came at her from the stern and lifted the stern to a degree that the Fitz’s engines drove her into the bottom. The impact on the bottom broke her back and the torque from the rotating propeller flipped the stern upside down as it hit the bottom. This fits with the damage to the bow, the missing (obliterated) middle section and also how the 2 pieces ended up right next to each other. Also with the suddenness of her disappearance from radar this checks every box.

Had she sunk from water filling the hatches she would have sank slowly and the crew, at least some would have been able to escape. Also a slow sinking would not have caused the damage to the middle or bow. We also know she didn’t capsize (except the stern) as her holds are still full. Another indicator she want down fast was the bridge visor, it was smashed against the bridge, this wouldn’t have happened either with a slow decent into the water. And lastly the captain of the Anderson had witnessed a large wave passing his ship headed right to the Fitz. This wave was large enough to pull the stern up enough to drive the Fitz into the bottom. It had only missed the Anderson by a hundred or so feet.

[robertbraden]

R.I.P. to all those on board the Fitzgerald.

[lithuaniangiant]

The forces that tore this ship apart boggles my mind.

[Tom_A.K.]

"we're holding our own" ... Always in our hearts.💔 ... 29 souls Rest In Peace ...

[uncommonsense]

It would be really cool if at the end when you were flying out the scene that you displayed a translucent layer that represented the surface of the lake. It would give an incredible perspective to how deep she lay if you past over her in a boat.

[thomaskositzki]

What an eerie yet cool idea to 3D-model shipwrecks!

[trustnuthinman]

Sank November 10th 1975 I remember I was with my girlfriend and worst white out I ever saw I was so sad I wanted to take my dads boat to see if we could help?we were 45 minutes from whitefish Island I never forgot rest well beautiful lady and your family 🌹🌹🌹🌹🙏

[danasimcho]

I lived in Pittsburgh when the Edmund Fitzgerald went missing & watched, waited, & prayed as we all watched the news day after day. I am so glad the families & friends of her crew finally have closure. It must be awful to wonder day after day for years. However, we all need to remember that the men have families who are still living & to be mindful & considerate of their feelings when we make our comments.

[jimzaharia]

Emotional; beautiful video- thank you for posting!

[AdhamOhm]

The way the stern settled upside down in such a relatively shallow depth (the ship was actually longer than the lake is deep where it sank). I can't imagine how treacherous those waves were that night for them to completely tear this ship up.