The EDMUND FITZGERALD foundered on Lake Superior during a severe storm November 10, 1975 at approximately 7:10 pm about 17 miles north-northwest of Whitefish Point, MI at position 47°0'N by 85°7'W in Canadian waters. The FITZGERALD was running downbound loaded with 26,116 tons of taconite ore pellets from Superior, WI for Detroit, MI. During the height of the storm in 70 knot winds, 25 foot waves combed her deck decreasing her normal 12 feet of freeboard. Several times tons of water washed over her deck and challenged her buoyancy. Her sinking was so quick that no radio message was given though she had been in frequent visual and radio contact with the steamer ARTHUR M. ANDERSON. The FITZGERALD disappeared from sight in a furious snow squall and then from radar. Captain McSorley of the "FITZ" had indicated he was having difficulty and was taking on water. She was listing to port and had two of three ballast pumps working. She had lost her radar and damage was noted to ballast tank vent pipes and he was overheard on the radio saying, "don't allow nobody (sic) on deck." McSorley said it was the worst storm he had ever seen. All 29 officers and crew, including a Great Lakes Maritime Academy cadet, went down with the ship, which lies broken in two sections in 530 feet of water.
Comments (20)
One does not even have to be among the hearing to know that Gordon Lightfoot is one of the best writers who has ever been. His music is great and perfectly matched to his lyrics, but open a Lightfoot songbook and just read the words sometime. This guy is a poet extraordinaire. The stepson of the captain of the Edmund Fitzgerald was a good friend of mine. I suppose that only Lightfoot knows what mix of fact and fiction or experience and fantasy makes up each of his songs, but I know that, on this song, at least, he did real research. I met my friend when I hired into a place he was already working. When the song came on the radio, I turned it up while commenting that it was one of my favorites. When it was over, I turned it back down and said that it always gave me something like chills. He said it always gave him the creeps, because it was about his dad’s ship. He and I had already hit it off prior to that, but I have known a lot of BSers, and, although I did not say anything like that, he must have sensed that I was thinking that he was probably another, because the next day he brought some newspaper clippings. Some were about the Fitz going down. Some were about Lightfoot coming to town and interviewing my friend’s mother and families of other crew members. No one knows what the last words of the crew actually were, but my friend said that Lightfoot nailed what they probably said and, more to the creeps-giving point, how they probably said it.
You feel like you just read a god book by the time the song ends. One of the only perfectly crafted songs I can think of.
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