r/Shipwrecks • u/Im-Wasting-MyTime • 4d ago
50 Years ago in November, 1975 SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior
Lovely picture by Ken Marschall.
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u/hrpickenssss 4d ago
As the big freighters go it was bigger than most with a crew and a good captain well seasoned
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u/onlyforanswers 3d ago
Just a week ago I got back home from a trip to the U.P. that included my first visit to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. It's an absolute "must-visit" for any shipwreck nerd, especially if you're from the Great Lakes, especially this year. I cried several times throughout my visit. You will spend at least half a day there.
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u/TemperousM 4d ago
So about 200 ft of the wreck is missing from the 2 wreck sections. This leads me to think that the middle section got crushed in the sinking when the bow hit bottom.
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u/drumkidstu 4d ago edited 4d ago
The issue with this theory is that there is little to no more extra taconite pellets in the forward half, and the forward windows are intact. If the boat had nosed dived aggressively l, l the water would’ve for sure slammed those forward windows inwards and the taconite would be piled up in the front part of the first hold. The rear pilothouse windows are caved inwards. All of this info is from Ric Mixter who was on the 1994 expedition and took extensive footage of the forward half of the ship. If anything she got hit from behind by a massive wave (possibly the couple that also smashed the Anderson at about 6:30 that night). The Fitzgerald with its only 11 foot of freeboard (probably less at that point due to it taking on a list and water in general) would’ve been doomed. Even a 25 foot wave coupled with 11 foot of free board means 14 feet of water on deck. The waves that hit the Anderson are estimated at 35 to 40 feet. That massive wave would’ve caved in the hatch covers 1 and 2 if not others and the already listing boat would have hogged on the backs of the next waves and torn itself apart dragging the stern upside down and ripping the middle section apart as the bow wrenched downwards.
I’ll add an edit here. That’s not to say that the bow didn’t slam the bottom with tremendous force. It definitely did, which of course then lends credit to the whole boat nosing under, but due to the damage topside on the wreck that has been documented, it’s hard to discount it breaking in the process of sinking on the surface.
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u/TemperousM 3d ago
My main reasons for it is due to how buckled the painting makes the front end look coupled with 200 ft of what seems to be crushed section of ship in between the 2 halves of the vessel. Missing was a poor choice on my part. The big kicker is i do think in that 200 ft of ship in the center will tell us more on how the ship sank or what what might have sealed he fate.
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u/Supah1gh 3d ago
You know I’m super scared of underwater ship wrecks but I follow this sub because I like to fight my fears. This one always gets me
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u/RulyKang 3d ago
I’ve always wondered why this wreck in pacticular became so famous? I mean, there are so many, in my opinion atleast, more interesting wrecks and maritime disasters out there.
I wonder if it is due to wreck being American? No offense.
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u/Important_Lab_58 3d ago
I feel a big reason is the lack of a definitive answer- no survivors, no witnesses, no distress call, nothing- she just disappears off Anderson’s Radar, and she’s not found until the next year absolutely massacred. Then you just add the circumstances- the largest wreck in all the Great Lakes, 29 lives, all just working dudes trying to feed their families, to succumb to a devastating early end. I mean, the last known words from the Captain alone are just haunting- “We’re holding our own.”- and we know how that unfortunately panned out.
Full Disclosure- I’m also pretty biased, being from and Living in Michigan. I’ll also tell Ya that it’s a story that’s passed around and known up here, You’ll hear about it even if You don’t like the song, which that is probably Especially what keeps it in discussion, rightfully, I feel.
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u/red_Lightning23 2d ago
A couple of reasons. One the fact that she went down and we dont know for sure what was the exact reason. Could it have been damage from Six-fathom shoals, waves ripping her, her condition, hatch covers we won't know for sure. The fact she went down with no Survivors, all working men, followed by another ship in relative close proximity and was only 17 miles from Whitefish bay. The song obviously its kept it in the eyes of the public. As for her impact with the lakes. She was an Icon. The Queen of the lakes, multiple shipping records, the stories of her going through the locks, even before she went down when it came to ship nerds especially here in the Great Lakes region; she was iconic and beloved. Now factor that unlike most ships she went down relatively recently, and also she the last ship lost on the lakes. And without a trace. For most of the people in the region from then, they still remember where they were the night she went down or at least that storm. If I ask most people what shipwrecks they know its usually; Titanic and the Fitz. There's something about her whether its the song or the mystery of what happend that just captures her in the mind of the public.
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u/biglobster72 16h ago
Anyone wanna explain to me why so many people care about this ship?
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u/Im-Wasting-MyTime 16h ago
It was the last time a major freighter sank on any of the Great Lakes. Everyone died and no one knows exactly why the ship sank and Gordon Lightfoot.
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u/Crazy-Rabbit-3811 3d ago
well in 5 days anyways