The loss of the edmund fitzgerald
The Edmund Fitzgerald departed from Superior, Wisconsin, on it's last trip on November 9th, 1975, with a cargo of 26,116 tons. Traveling down Lake Superior in company with The S.S. Anderson, the two ships encountered heavy weather, and in the early evening of November 10th, suddenly sunk approximately 17 miles from the entrance to Whitefish Bay. The ore was loaded through hatchways located top side. On October 31, routine damage was noted during an inspection and were scheduled for repair after the 1975 shipping season. The hatch covers were not sealed properly, thus allowing water to enter the cargo areas. Once water entered, it could spread through the ship and cause it to sink. Throughout the storm, the ship was most likely beginning to flood. Eventually, the bow dipped down and dove into the lake and the vessel was unable to recover. Within a matter of seconds, the cargo rushed forward, the bow plowed into the bottom of the lake, and the ships structure fell apart, allowing the submerged section to roll over and destroy the other section, finally coming to rest upside-down atop the ruined middle portion of the ship. This would lead to a rapid sinking, with no time to make a distress call or attempt life-saving operations. The conditions of the recovered lifeboats support this in that they appear to have been torn from their storage racks. This event moved Gordon Lightfoot to the extent of writing a song about it. The song tells the story of The Edmund Fitzgerald, and many covers were made of this song. To listen to some, see below!
The causeWhen the Edmund Fitzgerald sank, it was carrying a lot of cargo, and thus taken down by the storm.
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the legendThe S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was one of the biggest ships to ever sail the Great Lakes. Weighing over 13,000 tons alone, it was also one that held a lot of cargo.
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Where it sankthe Edmund Fitzgerald sank 17 miles from Whitefish Bay in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
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