So true. I cannot believe the folks who made this video could not of gotten special permission from Gordon Lightfoots "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." I can't believe this song was never played on the airwaves in the U.K.
Like everyone else says, you HAVE to listen to Gordon Lightfoot - The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. It almost tells the story better than this guy! Joking, of course it is a great song though and it's a big part of the history of the Wreck.
@@jamesmatthewneeland5707 That doesn't really take away from the historical significance of the song, but it makes sense there would be inconsistencies. It was written like a year after the wreck, they didn't have all the information we do now.
I was once on a puddle jumper to Duluth and met a guy who just graduated from the Greek maritime academy. I asked him what the hell he was doing leaving the warmth of the Mediterranean and he said if you can train on Lake Superior you can handle anything.
No. Worse. Ocean waves roll and pitch. Great Lakes waves, roll, pitch and yaw. This causes short, choppy seas coming from 3 directions. A nasty combination.
They ARE inland oceans. Superior has a chasm, just like a deep in the Pacific. Plus, the whole region is still experiencing earthquakes and the rising of the land from when the glaciers of 10,000 years ago moved off. The unimaginable weight of two or more miles of ice, over tens of thousands of square miles, had a massive effect. I had canoed the length of Superior in 1979 with a canoe brigade, in a replica 34 foot trade canoe. 18 men, 21 days, from Sault St. Marie to Thunder bay.
Two things, the "Great Lakes" aren't really lakes ... they are inland freshwater seas. And as many others have said , you guys would love the classic Gordon Lightfoot song about the SS Edmund Fitzgerald .
I live on lake Erie. the most dangerous of the five. I was caught on a sail boat in a sudden thunderstorm and spent the night cold sick, and praying to God to see the next morning. Since then I have not set foot on another boat.
@@ssilent8202 Lake Michigan is the most dangerous for human casualties due to its shape causing dangerous ripe tides parallel to the shore. Lake superior has more shipwrecks but has less visitors due to its more remote area, so officially it is less dangerous
@@sams-pg7hj Yeah, it all depends on what you mean by "most dangerous". Frankly, they're all pretty treacherous, especially in late autumn/early winter.
My grandpa's brother (Uncle Jack) was a Great Lakes Seaman his entire life and the Edmund Fitzgerald was his ship. For three days our family thought he perished with the others until he called my grandpa asking if he heard the ship went down. Jack was on shore-leave for that journey. Jack was a loner and didn't think to call his family letting us know he was OK. He did know every man on that ship very well. To this day, when I hear Gordon Lightfoot's song, I still get tears.
The picture they showed for Captain Ernest McSorley was incorrect. That picture was of the captain of the SS Arther M Anderson; Captain Jesse B. Cooper, which was in close contact with the Fitz when she went down. She also helped search for survivors, even at great risk to their own ship and crew. Just figured I would throw that out there.
@@misstrunchbull3953 I mean, that's a pretty big mix-up for this little documentary, especially when they mention that McSorley may have been partly responsible for the tragedy. Showing the picture of the captain who risked his life to return to the water and lead the search effort in that moment could be seen as disrespectful at the very least.
Hi Boys.... here is some size info for you to relate to regarding Lake Superior: Lake Superior has a surface area of 31,700 square miles (82,103 km 2), which is approximately the size of South Carolina or Austria.It has a maximum length of 350 statute miles (560 km; 300 nmi) and maximum breadth of 160 statute miles (257 km; 139 nmi). Its average depth is 80.5 fathoms (483 ft; 147 m) with a maximum depth of 222.17 fathoms (1,333 ft; 406 m). When storms blow up on the Great Lakes, they are just as powerful as ocean storms.
In some ways The Great Lakes are worse than the ocean because the waves are steeper and come with greater frequency. And, with Superior ... the water is bitterly cold. You don't live long if you go in.
The song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot is famous in the US and Canada. I don't know if it was a hit anywhere else. But it's worth listening to. Just FYI, hurricane force winds begin at 75 mph, but that would be a Category I, the weakest type. But as someone who has experienced hurricanes, I have to say, 75 mph sustained winds are brutal enough.
I grew up in Duluth, Minnesota, a port on Lake Superior where these ore boats (including the Edmund Fitzgerald) come and go on a steady basis. I remember when this wreck happened. Lake Superior is a beast any time of the year, but winters on Lake Superior are just plain evil.
Heard that song every freaking day for over a month while in Middle school in the late 70's hating the song for a long time , now Love and have been up to Whitefish several times as it's one of my favorite places, The shipwreck museum there is fantastic.
Same- born in northern Michigan to yoopers in 1978, when I was little my Grandpa would play the song all the time, I had no idea why it was so important to him when I was 5 but remember it vividly.
Why called "Great Lakes"? Lake Superior ALONE has enough water to cover all of North America AND South America in one foot of water. ...actual fact. Not a typo.
The most amazing thing about the famous song by Gordon Lightfoot is that it tells the whole story so well. When the storms go on the Great Lakes, it's like the water agitating in a washing machine.
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum has the Fitzgerald’s bell and ring it 29 times on November 10th as well. Plus on more time for all other lives lost on the Lakes
I thought this was going to be the song! Haunting: "... The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee. Superior, they said, never gives up her dead when the gales of November come early..." Gitche Gumee was the Indian name for Lake Superior "Shining Big Water".
Clevelander here on the shores of Erie. The Great Lakes are mind blowing to my European friends. You simply don't know how much of a sea they are. In the war of 1812 America and GB engaged in naval battle on them. We still recognize the heroes of those battles. You'd need big Lakes to have that much maritime war.
I had a cousin that was one of the investigators that dove on the wreck. Our family are Commercial Fishmen from Alaska, and we have a long relationship with loses at sea. When he showed his photos of the wreck to other skippers, he and they all came up with the same likely series of events. On that fateful day Fits had lost radar and as a result was having the Arther M do her plotting for her. It's likely by all witness accounts that Fitz touched bottom on a shallow area (Due to not having radar and miscalculating her position) and popped a hole in her hull causing the list from water in the forded hold. The Arther M was in a shift change and was struck by a series of large waves from behind that prompted concern for the Fitz. The men on watch on the Arther M could see the Fits on the horizon just about five minutes ahead of them. Here lights even in the snow where usually visible and Aruther M had Fits on her radar. The first mate had just spoken to the Fits and was told they were "Plodding along like an old shoo" the Shipper of the Aurther M recalled that it made him worry as if the ship was getting heavy there may be a hole they did not know about, and that water might be collecting in the Ore pellets in the cargo hold. Another larger set of rouge waves hit the Rather M from her stern and after she recovered the first mate looked up to see Fits for a moment as she disappeared into a thick snow squall. He walked over to the radar to get a fix then he would call them. Fitz was not on his radar. He looked up and scanned for her but visually there was just open water ahead. He looked at his radar again to no avail, then called his captain to the bridge. The bow of the Fitz had some damage and there was a deposit of lake bottom mud on her deck. The forepeak was scrapped and dented in a peculiar manner. The center section of the ship where her stern separated looked first to have telescoped then twisted. (Metal was first squished like an accordion but then twisted and separated). As no crew had made any attempt to leave the ship whatever happened had to be both fast and catastrophic as many where not far from escape routes, and there was no emergency call, and Arther M only 5 minutes behind never seen any sign of the ship so whatever happened had to sink the entire thing in minutes. Many theories abound but the one my cousin settled on was that the first of the set of rouge waves struck her from behind tipping her bow down and making her race forwerd. She dipped her bow as she was taking on loads of water into the forward cargo hold and the pellets shifted causing her to nose down like a submarine. The next waves would have only hastened her submarining dive down. At 729 feet long she could have hit the bottom as she was crossing a 300 foot area. If this happened the collision would easily account for the accordion fracturing and the twisting of the hull in the center making the aft of the ship tare away. The entire ship would have been completely submerged in less than two minutes. No one would have had a chance to escape. As someone who has lost family and friends at sea, this tragedy hits home with me. I will never forget sitting up with my Dad listening to the surreal radio traffic of that night. Radio traffic between Captain Jesse Cooper and US Coastguard the night of Nov. 10, 1975, a short time after the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald disappeared; th-cam.com/video/W1fOWi0teiY/w-d-xo.html Eternal Father, strong to save, Whose arm hath bound the restless wave, Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep Its own appointed limits keep; Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee, For those in peril on the sea!
I worked for the Canadian subsea company that did the ADS dive and retrieved the bell from the wreck (the yellow suit diver shown at the wreck windows). Superior is called the inland sea
I grew up in Michigan and was about 11 years old when this happened. It was a huge deal here. The five Great lakes; Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario, contain 20% of the world's freshwater.
My first trip to the uk was due to this shipwreck. My high school performed Ten November at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh in 96. The Great Lakes are as scary as the sea.
Lake Superior is the second largest lake in the world. Second only to the Caspian Sea. It's roughly 2 1/2 hours from my home in Minnesota. We fish for Lake trout on the lake all summer. The US Coast Guard has full size ships and helicopters that patrol it. Yes Daz you're correct it is fucking big lol The waves can reach a height of 29 feet on the lake and people actually surf there during November
Lake Superior is the largest and northernmost of the Great Lakes of North America, and among freshwater lakes, it is the world's "largest" by surface area, and the third-largest by volume. It holds 10% of the world's surface fresh water
The winds that the Arthur M Anderson reported in the open water were a steady 55mph gusting to 70. The captain reported his ship had 11 feet of freeboard (the deck was 11 feet above water). He reported taking waves over the hatch crane (which is about 10 feet above the deck). Edit - There were also 2 salt water vessels that were further west were also asked to turn back to search. The declined as the seas were far too rough. A 'saltie' is a vessel that normally runs on the oceans. They were in seas that were heavier than they were comfortable with.
My grandfather worked on freighters on the great lakes during this time, he knew many on board who perished. It affected him so much he quit and started a butcher shop. Growing up within a quarter mile of Lake Erie the tricky part of waves on the great lakes is they wave length crest to crest is much shorter than ocean waves. When you have 10ft plus wave on the great lakes during a storm they come at a much more rapid pace with a shorter wave length than oceanic waves and pound the heck out of you.
the first time i saw the great lakes i was blown away i was in cleveland .. im from the desert so i had never seen waves that big on a lake.. i ended up moving to chicago and milwuakee and living on lake michigan .: it was the same as living by an ocean
The Great Lakes are so large they create their own weather patterns and influence regional climate. Most of the bad weather that happen in the upper parts of the US to the East coast are caused by the Great Lakes.
@@catherinelw9365 hate that damned `lake-effect' snow though. and it sure as hell did not help matters during the blizzard of 1978, that's for damned sure !!!!
Have to admit I chuckled a little when I heard "I thought I had seen big lakes while in Switzerland...." Knowing that Lake Superior is almost exactly twice the size of the entire Country of Switzerland. Yeah, it's a "Great" lake, all 31,700 square Miles (82,000 square Kilometers) of it. Plus they are as great to look at as they are in size.
I remember one time i was flying from Edmonton to Toronto and I fell alseep on the plane; When I woke up I almost had a heart attack cause when I looked out the window all I saw was water and I thought somehow nobody woke me up at my destination and that the plane was at that moment was flying over the Atlantic to Europe. And then I realized I was just flying over one of the great lakes
I’m a former mariner from the northeast. I sailed the Atlantic. Make no mistake. The Great Lakes are seas. But they’re freshwater so they’re called lakes. To this day, the Arthur m Anderson still sails the lakes. And when she comes into port now, she gives a master salute (3 long blasts and 2 short ones instead of 1 long 2 shorts, like the rest of the fleet)
The Arthur M Anderson is still sailing the Great Lakes.. If you download the Marine Tracker App it is possible to search for it and it will show you exactly where it is out in the lakes..
The Great Lakes are essentially freshwater inland seas. They act like oceans do, except in a way more unpredictable manner. Even moderate windstorms on the Great Lakes can be devastating when out in the water. Waves on an ocean can come at you from one of two directions: away from shore or towards shore. On the Great Lakes, waves can and will come at you from all directions. And during storms, they may be even taller than ocean storm waves. The winds can even pick up to hurricane-force. Hurricane-force ice storms… the bane of sailors on the Great Lakes
Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake on Earth at 82,100 km^2. The Caspian Sea is the only larger landlocked body of water but it is saltwater. Lake Baikal in Russia is the largest by water volume.
You need to react to the song by Gordon Lightfoot, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I would suggest the video on Jon Champion channel, it shows the crew pictures one by one with their information as the song plays. Name age and crew job. Can't add the link as i'm using a phone to comment.
For future reference, if you want to share a link via phone (at least an android as that's what I have. IPhone or others may be different) go to video you want to link and select share. There should be an option to copy the link. Once done return to you comment and paste.
Going back to colonial times, the Great Lakes have claimed many shipwrecks. They are all quite vulnerable to cold gale winds and the waters can get nasty quickly.
My father grew up in Hammond Indiana which is just a hour away from Chicago, Illinois on Lake Michigan. He used to tell me stories of the terrible storms that plague the Great Lakes. The lakes are so big that they generate their own weather patterns. A winter storm can grow to hurricane size and dump feet of snow called Lake effect snow. Lake Superior is 349 miles long and has an average depth of 500 feet with a maximum depth of 406 meters (1,332 feet) and is the biggest and deepest of the Great Lakes. The Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot wrote a song about the Fitzgerald. If you want an insight to what storms are like on the Great Lakes then listen to The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgearld.
Lake Superior is said to be the lake that never gives up her dead due to the extreme cold that preserves the bodies and prevents decomposition and being all freshwater not saltwater.
From what I understand waves on the Great Lakes don't have the height of their ocean counterparts but they occur at greater frequency. Meaning big ships get slammed hard by choppy waves which is a very dangerous situation. The Lakes also have their own unique current patterns and storm fronts can change very rapidly and affect shipping conditions with little warning. Add to that fresh water has much less buoyancy than saltwater plus freezing temperatures and you have a recipe for disaster if things go wrong.
One of the most likely explanations for the Fitzgerald's sinking is that she hit bottom in the shallows around Caribou Island, which was a part of the lake that was not properly charted at the time. Capt. Bernie Cooper of the Anderson even said on multiple occasions that the Fitzgerald was closer to the shallows than it should've been. As the water came into the cargo holds, the Fitzgerald rode lower and lower into the water. Around 7:15 pm, two large rouge waves hit the Anderson and rolled all the way up her deck, forcing the nose under before popping back up. Capt. Cooper thought that those waves are what did the Fitzgerald in. The ship would've plunged bow first into the bottom, with nearly 200 feet of the vessel above the surface. The shifting of the 26,000 ton cargo, coupled with the tourqe of the still spinning propeller is likely what cause the ship to break in two and flip the stern upside-down, which is how it rests on the bottom. Sorry for the huge comment, but hopefully this answers your questions.
On this note, you guys should react to "Caitlin Doughty Edmund Fitzgerald." She's a famous speaker and youtuber and visited the site and spoke to survivor families. Fascinating stuff. Evidently, the lake is so deep and the water so cold, it preserves bodies for years.
To help put the size of Lake Superior in context- it has a larger surface area - 31,700 sq. miles (82,000 sq kilometers) than Scotland - 30,090 sq miles (77,900 sq kilometers). It is about 3/5 the size of England. Big water, with massive storms. RIP to the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The Arthur Anderson I still see today in operation occasionally. Still chugging along the lakes. And whenever you see it you are reminded of the Fitzgerald
I like the fact they said the theory that she snapped in half BEFORE sinking "wasn't possible", yet there is video right here on this website of another cargo/tanker (the MV Arvin in Turkish waters) doing exactly that - snapping in half (they actually filmed the moment it broke from inside the ship's bridge), although that ship was actually anchored because of the storm rather than trying to power through it. It too sank, and sadly cost the lives of three brave men, but the rest of her 12-strong crew were saved. Oddly, the year the MV Arvin was built was the very same year the Fitzgerald sank.
My best friend worked on the lake freighters in the 70's and I would drive home down to the docks in Toledo, Ohio to get aboard his ship. I saw the Fitzgerald many times when there and it was so big. It's nickname was the "Toledo Express" because it traveled here on her very first trip and many many times more. The waves on the lakes are different than ocean waves. Lake waves are highly peaked where ocean waves roll. Many Salt water Captains would rather be in an ocean storm than a lake storm. The Captain of the Anderson has said his ship had been overtaken by three huge waves and would have caught the Fitzgerald around the time it vanished. There are thousands of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes. Enjoyed your video!
I was born and grew-up right on the Lake Michigan shoreline in Michigan. Never lived more than 10 miles from the shore until I moved to Seattle in my late 20s. The Great Lakes are HUGE and can also be very dangerous as weather changes suddenly. I was a little kid the night the Edmund Fitzgerald went down, but my mother tells me that she remembers this night very well, nasty weather across the entire region with high-winds and big waves coming off of the lake.
factors pinpoint that it was overloaded causing it to bottom out on a reef, which taking on water gave it it's list. The wave spacing during the storm was enough for it to dive nose first and drive it into the bottom thus snapping it in half. They used bottom sonar to find out there is a huge trench made by the nose of the boat which is about 200+ yards long.
I grew up on the shores of Lake Erie and remember when this happened. I used to watch these big boats go by everyday on their way to Cleveland. Listen to the song by Gordon Lightfoot.
My hometown is Duluth, MN, which was a harbor the Fitz came in and out of. There is a museum there dedicated to the Fitz. The lake is not only the biggest inland lake in the world, but it is also the deepest and coldest of the Great Lakes. It has claimed many ships. Weather up there is brutal from Nov. til sometimes as late as March. We call those storms "Snowacaines". My parents used to stay at a family cabin on Superior's northern coast, and were ther the first weekend of November. They decided to leave when the waves were hitting the sides of the cabin. It was a good thing they left, because when they reached Duluth, they heard portions of the North Shore Drive had washed out after they came through. Brutal storms.
Im grateful to have been able to grow up in Michigan going to Lake Michigan every year for vacation. Absolutely beautiful its a different sort a feeling than what you get from the ocean but it’s equally nostalgic.
I grew up in Michigan too and my parents had a place in Harbor Springs (on Lake Michigan.) The great thing about the Great Lakes is there's nothing in there that can kill you, and you come out of the water nice and clean vs. all salty like the ocean (can't say the same for Lake Erie though lol.)
@@nancysexton4364 lol same ive been all over northern west side of Michigans lower peninsula. And recently started going to beaver island over the past coupke years some family members of mine live there year round. The first time i swam in the ocean was a trip the waves are super fun just to mess around in .but i learned my lesson quick and got dragged accorss the beach in a riptide😂
@@joestewart5406 Same here. Like all good Michiganders. Dad drove us down to FL every Easter break, and one of my first times in the ocean I vividly remember getting caught in an undertow that ripped off the top of my bathing suit. Also got stung by man o wars, but sure loved going down there every spring! :-)
Loved the reaction. I live in Wisconsin and Lake Superior is an absolutely beautiful sleeping giant on most days. The ice caves are a must see. A documentary, “Great Lakes Untamed” stated that water that feeds Lake Superior will take 2 centuries to make it into Lake Michigan do to its size and depth. It could also cover both North and South America in a foot of water.
Those winter storms are insane on Lake Superior. The Arthur M. Anderson still works the lakes. I watched her come through Duluth on their harbor cam there a while back. She's famous for being the last ship to be in contact with the Fitzgerald before she sank and there are always lots of people lining the entrance to the bay to watch her come in.
Northwestern Mutual's normal practice was to purchase ships for operation by other companies.[27] In Edmund Fitzgerald's case, they signed a 25-year contract with Oglebay Norton Corporation to operate the vessel.[16] Oglebay Norton immediately designated Edmund Fitzgerald the flagship of its Columbia Transportation fleet.[21]
England is 1.5 times as big as Lake Superior. Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes of North America, the world’s largest freshwater lake by surface area, and the third-largest freshwater lake by volume. It is shared by Ontario to the north, Minnesota to the west, and Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the south. Superior is the farthest north and west of the Great Lakes chain, and the highest in elevation, draining through the St. Mary’s River into Lake Huron. The 5 Great Lakes account for 20% of the worlds fresh water.
If you are curious there are many webcams on the rivers between the lakes and locks to see these ships in real time as they pass. Duluth, St Clair river, and Detroit river are the main places. But also others. It’s not just American and Canadian ships, there are some ocean going ones from Europe that make their way through occasionally
Discovery Channel has a great show on the entire event. When you here the song it will touch you deeply. A first class bit of story telling by Mr. Lightfoot.
My parents both graduated high school with the oiler Thomas Bentsen who went down on the Edmund Fitzgerald. One of the saddest events on the great lakes.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down Of the big lake they called 'gitche gumee' The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead When the skies of November turn gloomy With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty That good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed When the gales of November came early The ship was the pride of the American side Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most With a crew and good captain well seasoned Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms When they left fully loaded for Cleveland And later that night when the ship's bell rang Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'? The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound And a wave broke over the railing And every man knew, as the captain did too, T'was the witch of November come stealin' The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait When the gales of November came slashin' When afternoon came it was freezin' rain In the face of a hurricane west wind When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin' Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya At seven pm a main hatchway caved in, he said Fellas, it's been good t'know ya The captain wired in he had water comin' in And the good ship and crew was in peril And later that night when his lights went outta sight Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald Does any one know where the love of God goes When the waves turn the minutes to hours? The searches all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her They might have split up or they might have capsized They may have broke deep and took water And all that remains is the faces and the names Of the wives and the sons and the daughters Lake Huron rolls, superior sings In the rooms of her ice-water mansion Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams The islands and bays are for sportsmen And farther below Lake Ontario Takes in what Lake Erie can send her And the iron boats go as the mariners all know With the gales of November remembered In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed, In the maritime sailors' cathedral The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down Of the big lake they call 'gitche gumee' Superior, they said, never gives up her dead When the gales of November come early
Hurricane force starts a 75 mph @ 65 kts. The tragedy after the Fitz sank is that the authorities assumed incompetency on the part of the crew and all theories go forward from that point. Likely they were taking on water in flooding that wasn't detected. Each wave they would sit lower & lower until the bow finally 'submarined' and survival was impossible. That is only the most likely story. Much is unknown.
I live in Wisconsin and I can affirm that the great lakes are HUGE! The lakes are so big that they actually are not safe to swim in most of the year because the water is so cold, and also because the lakes are so big the water can be really turbulent, which is how the Edmund Fitzgerald went down, because the storms and waves can be as turbulent as storms at sea! I live right by Lake Michigan and I've only swam in it a few times in my whole life, we do make good use of the lakes being so cold by using it for power; we have power plants that use the cold water of lake Michigan to turn steam back to water to generate energy
Heard a lot of theories over the years... the most plausible being that the ship was raised up from behind by a large wave, which submerged her nose and drove her straight to the bottom. The force of the impact mixed with the immense weight of the cargo caused her to break in half. Whatever happened, you can be sure it was quick and unavoidable.
Born and raised in Michigan. The total surface area of the Great Lakes is 94,250 square miles. They are 20% of the world's fresh water. Still remember when "The Big Fitz" went down.
Lived in the area of the sinking, at the time it sunk. Winds were reported by the Coast Guard, with gusts of 90 to 100 miles per hour. Waves were also reported as high as 30 to 40 feet at times. These were not the only boats in the area that night. I remember that night & storm it wax horrendous.
Marine engineer here. Ships can, and do, snap in half with some regularity - because of the rapidity that cargo is typically loaded on the lakes ~ 10,000 tons / hour, ships have been snapped in 2 while loading. But the question of the Fitzgerald is when she snapped in 2. The Fitzgerald is so long, (222.5 meters) that if her bow had "dived", it could have hit the bottom of the lake (160 meters at the wreck) while her stern was still afloat. Some theorize that this is what snapped her in 2. They point to the fact that the bow hit the bottom hard enough to dig a deep furrow. The peak of the storm that night was approaching hurricane force and wave heights between 5 and 10 meters or more may have been encountered. It is known that she was gaining water in the forward cargo holds - but no one knows for sure why. The lake is always cold, the water temperature in November would likely have been 6C-7C.
There's a Shipwreck Museum of the Great Lakes at Whitefish Point and they have the account by Capt. Cooper: "According to Captain Cooper, about 6:55 pm, he and the men in the Anderson’s pilothouse felt a “bump”, felt the ship lurch, and then turned to see a monstrous wave engulfing their entire vessel from astern. The wave worked its way along the deck, crashing on the back of the pilothouse, driving the bow of the Anderson down into the sea. “Then the Anderson just raised up and shook herself off of all that water - barrooff - just like a big dog. Another wave just like the first one or bigger hit us again. I watched those two waves head down the lake towards the Fitzgerald, and I think those were the two that sent him under.”
Saw a documentary about the Edmund Fitzgerald and why it sunk. Since the ship broke in half it's believed two rogue waves, one on each end of the ship, lifted the ship out of the water and because of its long length with not enough water under it in the middle to support the weight and it's heavy cargo caused it to break in half. Makes sense to me.
The Great Lakes are huge. They are more like a string of small inland seas that are connected to the Atlantic ocean. I have heard many stories of sailors the travel the oceans say that the "lakes" are every bit ad dangerous in a storm. When people hear "lake", they think small body of water, but these " lakes" deserve every bit of respect for their Size and power as any large ocean. They are massive, cold and deep. Superior is the coldest and as much as 1300 feet deep in some parts. You should review the song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, by Gordon Lightfoot. It is a haunting ballad of the ship's sinking the was written days after the ship sank and was released in 1976 to commemorate the first anniversary of the event. Growing up in Michigan, I was a teenager when this happened. Today, at 62, I still get chills every time I hear that song.
I've been through the Suez Canal twice on deployment. The 1st pilot boards your vessel when you enter the canal and about halfway through he gets off and a 2nd pilot comes on for the 2nd half of the transit. If you are headed south the 2nd pilot gets off once you get to the Gulf of Suez.
The bow of the Edmund Fitzgerald has massive crush damage. One theory that seems to fit is that the ship rode a rogue wave and the bow plunged into the lake and struck the lake bottom. A possible fractured hull could explain why it broke apart when the bow struck the lake bottom. With the screws still turning, the stern capsized before coming to rest on the lake bottom.
The Gordon Lightfoot song will make any old man cry, so be sure Mike has some tissues ready!
So true. I cannot believe the folks who made this video could not of gotten special permission from Gordon Lightfoots "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." I can't believe this song was never played on the airwaves in the U.K.
I hope they react to the song.
I'm not a fan.
"The churchbells chimed till it rang 29 times for each man on the Edmund Fitzgeraaaald!"
With a load of iron ore 26,000 tons more than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty.
Like everyone else says, you HAVE to listen to Gordon Lightfoot - The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. It almost tells the story better than this guy! Joking, of course it is a great song though and it's a big part of the history of the Wreck.
Ditto
@@jamesmatthewneeland5707 it’s called, “artistic license”
@@jamesmatthewneeland5707 That doesn't really take away from the historical significance of the song, but it makes sense there would be inconsistencies. It was written like a year after the wreck, they didn't have all the information we do now.
@@jamesmatthewneeland5707 it’s a song not, a documentary. If he put music to an editorial it would be plagiarism.
I was once on a puddle jumper to Duluth and met a guy who just graduated from the Greek maritime academy. I asked him what the hell he was doing leaving the warmth of the Mediterranean and he said if you can train on Lake Superior you can handle anything.
WWII pilots trained on Lake Michigan, including the senior George Bush.
I remember that after pearl harbor the navy relocated a lot of their ships to the great lakes
I live in michigan, I can tell you the great lakes are huge & they act just like an ocean.
No. Worse. Ocean waves roll and pitch. Great Lakes waves, roll, pitch and yaw. This causes short, choppy seas coming from 3 directions. A nasty combination.
Can confirm, love living in the largest freshwater system in the world. Its nice here, you should come check it out.
They hold nearly 20% or one fifth of the fresh water in the world.
Exactly they shouldn't be called the great lakes, the should called " The Great N American inland Sea
They ARE inland oceans. Superior has a chasm, just like a deep in the Pacific.
Plus, the whole region is still experiencing earthquakes and the rising of the land from when the glaciers of 10,000 years ago moved off.
The unimaginable weight of two or more miles of ice, over tens of thousands of square miles, had a massive effect.
I had canoed the length of Superior in 1979 with a canoe brigade, in a replica 34 foot trade canoe. 18 men, 21 days, from Sault St. Marie to Thunder bay.
Two things, the "Great Lakes" aren't really lakes ... they are inland freshwater seas.
And as many others have said , you guys would love the classic Gordon Lightfoot song about the SS Edmund Fitzgerald .
I live on lake Erie. the most dangerous of the five. I was caught on a sail boat in a sudden thunderstorm and spent the night cold sick, and praying to God to see the next morning. Since then I have not set foot on another boat.
I always though Superior was regarded as “most dangerous” ..?
@@ssilent8202 Lake Michigan is the most dangerous for human casualties due to its shape causing dangerous ripe tides parallel to the shore. Lake superior has more shipwrecks but has less visitors due to its more remote area, so officially it is less dangerous
@@sams-pg7hj Yeah, it all depends on what you mean by "most dangerous". Frankly, they're all pretty treacherous, especially in late autumn/early winter.
@@calliarcale I just mean human casualties and drownings or rescues
My grandpa's brother (Uncle Jack) was a Great Lakes Seaman his entire life and the Edmund Fitzgerald was his ship. For three days our family thought he perished with the others until he called my grandpa asking if he heard the ship went down. Jack was on shore-leave for that journey. Jack was a loner and didn't think to call his family letting us know he was OK. He did know every man on that ship very well. To this day, when I hear Gordon Lightfoot's song, I still get tears.
The picture they showed for Captain Ernest McSorley was incorrect. That picture was of the captain of the SS Arther M Anderson; Captain Jesse B. Cooper, which was in close contact with the Fitz when she went down. She also helped search for survivors, even at great risk to their own ship and crew. Just figured I would throw that out there.
How does it feel to finally put that random trivia knowledge to use in a big way?
@@misstrunchbull3953 It is the greatest feeling .. I just can't describe it. My life is complete now.
@@misstrunchbull3953 I mean, that's a pretty big mix-up for this little documentary, especially when they mention that McSorley may have been partly responsible for the tragedy. Showing the picture of the captain who risked his life to return to the water and lead the search effort in that moment could be seen as disrespectful at the very least.
@@misstrunchbull3953 are you being facetious? It's a great disservice to both Captains Mcsorely and Cooper.
I thought so, too.
The Great Lakes should really be thought of as inland seas. They are enormous -- especially Lake Superior.
Hi Boys.... here is some size info for you to relate to regarding Lake Superior: Lake Superior has a surface area of 31,700 square miles (82,103 km 2), which is approximately the size of South Carolina or Austria.It has a maximum length of 350 statute miles (560 km; 300 nmi) and maximum breadth of 160 statute miles (257 km; 139 nmi). Its average depth is 80.5 fathoms (483 ft; 147 m) with a maximum depth of 222.17 fathoms (1,333 ft; 406 m). When storms blow up on the Great Lakes, they are just as powerful as ocean storms.
In some ways The Great Lakes are worse than the ocean because the waves are steeper and come with greater frequency. And, with Superior ... the water is bitterly cold. You don't live long if you go in.
The song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot is famous in the US and Canada. I don't know if it was a hit anywhere else. But it's worth listening to. Just FYI, hurricane force winds begin at 75 mph, but that would be a Category I, the weakest type. But as someone who has experienced hurricanes, I have to say, 75 mph sustained winds are brutal enough.
Absolutely!. It's a great song. And now that they know the background I think it will be even better.
Cannot listen to it without crying.
@@eponine1966 I tear up from Northern WI and did years in the navy, mother nature giveth and taketh away.
Since March 2010, Gordon Lightfoot performs the song with the changed lyric about the hatchway. It's now "At 7 PM, it grew dark, it was then he said".
And on the wide open waters of Lake Superior, the winds can pick up speed, so a category 1 can become a 2 or 3 in the middle of the lake.
I grew up in Duluth, Minnesota, a port on Lake Superior where these ore boats (including the Edmund Fitzgerald) come and go on a steady basis. I remember when this wreck happened. Lake Superior is a beast any time of the year, but winters on Lake Superior are just plain evil.
The "Gales of November" on Superior are legendary.
Cannot imagine driving up/down the basin wall any less evil during the winters
I will only visit when no snow on the ground
Michigander here - some teachers would play the song wreak of the edmund fitzgerald every year around the time it sank - it is widely known.
Where I grew up in Minnesota as well...
Heard that song every freaking day for over a month while in Middle school in the late 70's hating the song for a long time , now Love and have been up to Whitefish several times as it's one of my favorite places, The shipwreck museum there is fantastic.
I personally play it every anniversary. Windsor guy here
Same- born in northern Michigan to yoopers in 1978, when I was little my Grandpa would play the song all the time, I had no idea why it was so important to him when I was 5 but remember it vividly.
@@juicesghost8501 just wondering, being born and still a michigander, i wonder if anyone else would get the joke of `yoopers and trolls' ?
Well now you have to have a listen to the Gordon Lightfoot song if you haven't heard it. Most people wouldn't know of it if not for his song.
I would have never heard of this ship if not for Lightfoot’s song.
Most definitely
Search TH-cam for Opie and Anthony Edmond Fitzgerald
@@paultaylor933 A very funny bit
Why called "Great Lakes"? Lake Superior ALONE has enough water to cover all of North America AND South America in one foot of water.
...actual fact. Not a typo.
You can see all of the Great Lakes from space with no magnification.
Lake Superior is the largest freshwater body of water in the world
The most amazing thing about the famous song by Gordon Lightfoot is that it tells the whole story so well. When the storms go on the Great Lakes, it's like the water agitating in a washing machine.
Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
Best line in the song
Great verse!
The Gordon Lightfoot song is one of the best musical epitaphs ever created, and well worth the listen.
As far as I know, the bell of the Maritime Cathedral still rings 29 times, once for each life lost, on the anniversary of this devastating event.
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum has the Fitzgerald’s bell and ring it 29 times on November 10th as well. Plus on more time for all other lives lost on the Lakes
@@kylev.2373 And one for Gordon now.
I thought this was going to be the song! Haunting: "... The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee. Superior, they said, never gives up her dead when the gales of November come early..." Gitche Gumee was the Indian name for Lake Superior "Shining Big Water".
The cook said " its been good to know ya" ....gets me every time in the song.
Brilliant ode to the crew.
yes the Gordan Lightfoot song.
"I don't know the measurements, but it's fookin' big" hahaha nice!
Clevelander here on the shores of Erie. The Great Lakes are mind blowing to my European friends. You simply don't know how much of a sea they are. In the war of 1812 America and GB engaged in naval battle on them. We still recognize the heroes of those battles. You'd need big Lakes to have that much maritime war.
I had a cousin that was one of the investigators that dove on the wreck. Our family are Commercial Fishmen from Alaska, and we have a long relationship with loses at sea. When he showed his photos of the wreck to other skippers, he and they all came up with the same likely series of events. On that fateful day Fits had lost radar and as a result was having the Arther M do her plotting for her. It's likely by all witness accounts that Fitz touched bottom on a shallow area (Due to not having radar and miscalculating her position) and popped a hole in her hull causing the list from water in the forded hold. The Arther M was in a shift change and was struck by a series of large waves from behind that prompted concern for the Fitz. The men on watch on the Arther M could see the Fits on the horizon just about five minutes ahead of them. Here lights even in the snow where usually visible and Aruther M had Fits on her radar. The first mate had just spoken to the Fits and was told they were "Plodding along like an old shoo" the Shipper of the Aurther M recalled that it made him worry as if the ship was getting heavy there may be a hole they did not know about, and that water might be collecting in the Ore pellets in the cargo hold. Another larger set of rouge waves hit the Rather M from her stern and after she recovered the first mate looked up to see Fits for a moment as she disappeared into a thick snow squall. He walked over to the radar to get a fix then he would call them. Fitz was not on his radar. He looked up and scanned for her but visually there was just open water ahead. He looked at his radar again to no avail, then called his captain to the bridge.
The bow of the Fitz had some damage and there was a deposit of lake bottom mud on her deck. The forepeak was scrapped and dented in a peculiar manner. The center section of the ship where her stern separated looked first to have telescoped then twisted. (Metal was first squished like an accordion but then twisted and separated). As no crew had made any attempt to leave the ship whatever happened had to be both fast and catastrophic as many where not far from escape routes, and there was no emergency call, and Arther M only 5 minutes behind never seen any sign of the ship so whatever happened had to sink the entire thing in minutes. Many theories abound but the one my cousin settled on was that the first of the set of rouge waves struck her from behind tipping her bow down and making her race forwerd. She dipped her bow as she was taking on loads of water into the forward cargo hold and the pellets shifted causing her to nose down like a submarine. The next waves would have only hastened her submarining dive down. At 729 feet long she could have hit the bottom as she was crossing a 300 foot area. If this happened the collision would easily account for the accordion fracturing and the twisting of the hull in the center making the aft of the ship tare away. The entire ship would have been completely submerged in less than two minutes. No one would have had a chance to escape. As someone who has lost family and friends at sea, this tragedy hits home with me. I will never forget sitting up with my Dad listening to the surreal radio traffic of that night.
Radio traffic between Captain Jesse Cooper and US Coastguard the night of Nov. 10, 1975, a short time after the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald disappeared; th-cam.com/video/W1fOWi0teiY/w-d-xo.html
Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
I worked for the Canadian subsea company that did the ADS dive and retrieved the bell from the wreck (the yellow suit diver shown at the wreck windows). Superior is called the inland sea
I grew up in Michigan and was about 11 years old when this happened. It was a huge deal here.
The five Great lakes; Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario, contain 20% of the world's freshwater.
Michigander here too. Remember following it via the Free Press. Huge news.
I grew up in Superior so every day you go downtown you see the Fitzgerald monument and it's little sister the Whaleback that they turned into a museum
My first trip to the uk was due to this shipwreck. My high school performed Ten November at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh in 96. The Great Lakes are as scary as the sea.
Want a cookie
@@chade7669 If she doesn't want one, can I have the one you were going to give her? Thanks.
Lake Superior is the second largest lake in the world. Second only to the Caspian Sea. It's roughly 2 1/2 hours from my home in Minnesota. We fish for Lake trout on the lake all summer. The US Coast Guard has full size ships and helicopters that patrol it. Yes Daz you're correct it is fucking big lol The waves can reach a height of 29 feet on the lake and people actually surf there during November
I love Lake Superior Whitefish.
@@rustyrelicsfarm2406 great fish!! I love them too
@@spy44yogi Especially fried and served with 🍟 Chips.
@@rustyrelicsfarm2406 I like o cook skin on fries in a deep fryer as he fish is cooking and some sweet corn on the cob.
Lake Superior is the largest and northernmost of the Great Lakes of North America, and among freshwater lakes, it is the world's "largest" by surface area, and the third-largest by volume. It holds 10% of the world's surface fresh water
The winds that the Arthur M Anderson reported in the open water were a steady 55mph gusting to 70. The captain reported his ship had 11 feet of freeboard (the deck was 11 feet above water). He reported taking waves over the hatch crane (which is about 10 feet above the deck).
Edit - There were also 2 salt water vessels that were further west were also asked to turn back to search. The declined as the seas were far too rough. A 'saltie' is a vessel that normally runs on the oceans. They were in seas that were heavier than they were comfortable with.
My grandfather worked on freighters on the great lakes during this time, he knew many on board who perished. It affected him so much he quit and started a butcher shop. Growing up within a quarter mile of Lake Erie the tricky part of waves on the great lakes is they wave length crest to crest is much shorter than ocean waves. When you have 10ft plus wave on the great lakes during a storm they come at a much more rapid pace with a shorter wave length than oceanic waves and pound the heck out of you.
the first time i saw the great lakes i was blown away i was in cleveland .. im from the desert so i had never seen waves that big on a lake..
i ended up moving to chicago and milwuakee and living on lake michigan .: it was the same as living by an ocean
@@dayra6425 greetings from the shore of Lake Michigan! Your forgot the part about no tide , no salt, no sharks.
@@nebbindog6126 there’s a tide
I'm going to throw my opinion on top of the growing pile. A reaction to the song is now mandatory.
The Great Lakes are so large they create their own weather patterns and influence regional climate. Most of the bad weather that happen in the upper parts of the US to the East coast are caused by the Great Lakes.
"The Lake Effect".
@@catherinelw9365 hate that damned `lake-effect' snow though. and it sure as hell did not help matters during the blizzard of 1978, that's for damned sure !!!!
You can't even see across Lake St. Clair, which is between Lake Huron and Lake Erie, and isn't even great!
Have to admit I chuckled a little when I heard "I thought I had seen big lakes while in Switzerland...." Knowing that Lake Superior is almost exactly twice the size of the entire Country of Switzerland. Yeah, it's a "Great" lake, all 31,700 square Miles (82,000 square Kilometers) of it. Plus they are as great to look at as they are in size.
I remember one time i was flying from Edmonton to Toronto and I fell alseep on the plane;
When I woke up I almost had a heart attack cause when I looked out the window all I saw was water and I thought somehow nobody woke me up at my destination and that the plane was at that moment was flying over the Atlantic to Europe.
And then I realized I was just flying over one of the great lakes
I’m a former mariner from the northeast. I sailed the Atlantic. Make no mistake. The Great Lakes are seas. But they’re freshwater so they’re called lakes. To this day, the Arthur m Anderson still sails the lakes. And when she comes into port now, she gives a master salute (3 long blasts and 2 short ones instead of 1 long 2 shorts, like the rest of the fleet)
The Arthur M Anderson is still sailing the Great Lakes.. If you download the Marine Tracker App it is possible to search for it and it will show you exactly where it is out in the lakes..
All five of the Great Lakes do, in fact, have their own tidal systems separate from any ocean and are all independent from each other
Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes in both surface area and depth. It contains four fifths of all the water contained in the Great Lakes.
My grandfather was a welder who helped build the ship. He was there the day it was launched in 1958.
I'm from Chicago, every time I take my out of town friends to Lake Michigan it blows their minds. It's a lake, but the ask if it's an ocean.... lmao 🤣
Sunk near by my home town! We would spend a whole day at school learning about it every year
The Great Lakes are essentially freshwater inland seas. They act like oceans do, except in a way more unpredictable manner. Even moderate windstorms on the Great Lakes can be devastating when out in the water.
Waves on an ocean can come at you from one of two directions: away from shore or towards shore. On the Great Lakes, waves can and will come at you from all directions. And during storms, they may be even taller than ocean storm waves. The winds can even pick up to hurricane-force.
Hurricane-force ice storms… the bane of sailors on the Great Lakes
Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake on Earth at 82,100 km^2. The Caspian Sea is the only larger landlocked body of water but it is saltwater. Lake Baikal in Russia is the largest by water volume.
and Huron is 3rd and Michigan 4th largest freshwater lake in the world
As others have commented, the Office Blokes must react to Gordon Lightfoot's epic song.
You need to react to the song by Gordon Lightfoot, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I would suggest the video on Jon Champion channel, it shows the crew pictures one by one with their information as the song plays. Name age and crew job. Can't add the link as i'm using a phone to comment.
For future reference, if you want to share a link via phone (at least an android as that's what I have. IPhone or others may be different) go to video you want to link and select share. There should be an option to copy the link. Once done return to you comment and paste.
@@williammundy6562 thanks! I give it a try.
Genuinely thought you were reacting to the song the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald when I saw the thumbnail lol either way good video
Going back to colonial times, the Great Lakes have claimed many shipwrecks. They are all quite vulnerable to cold gale winds and the waters can get nasty quickly.
Widest length across English Channel-150 miles. Widest length across Lake Superior- 159 miles.
Just for reference.
I grew up in Chicago (south end of Lake Michigan) and we still sing the song November 10th every year.
1975 sounds so long ago to younger people, but I’m 58 and was in high school then.
My father grew up in Hammond Indiana which is just a hour away from Chicago, Illinois on Lake Michigan. He used to tell me stories of the terrible storms that plague the Great Lakes. The lakes are so big that they generate their own weather patterns. A winter storm can grow to hurricane size and dump feet of snow called Lake effect snow. Lake Superior is 349 miles long and has an average depth of 500 feet with a maximum depth of 406 meters (1,332 feet) and is the biggest and deepest of the Great Lakes. The Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot wrote a song about the Fitzgerald. If you want an insight to what storms are like on the Great Lakes then listen to The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgearld.
Lake Superior is said to be the lake that never gives up her dead due to the extreme cold that preserves the bodies and prevents decomposition and being all freshwater not saltwater.
YES! PLEASE react to Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald"! Thanks, Gents!
An extra fun fact - the Arthur M Anderson, the ship that went back to look for survivors, still plies the lakes hauling bulk cargo to this day.
Definitely, "The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald". It is a legendary song for us people of The Great Lakes, especially of the mid-70s.
From what I understand waves on the Great Lakes don't have the height of their ocean counterparts but they occur at greater frequency. Meaning big ships get slammed hard by choppy waves which is a very dangerous situation. The Lakes also have their own unique current patterns and storm fronts can change very rapidly and affect shipping conditions with little warning. Add to that fresh water has much less buoyancy than saltwater plus freezing temperatures and you have a recipe for disaster if things go wrong.
sometimes, they can get the same height, if not higher, if i'm not mistaken, one of the record waves for lake superior was at around 50 ft.
One of the most likely explanations for the Fitzgerald's sinking is that she hit bottom in the shallows around Caribou Island, which was a part of the lake that was not properly charted at the time. Capt. Bernie Cooper of the Anderson even said on multiple occasions that the Fitzgerald was closer to the shallows than it should've been. As the water came into the cargo holds, the Fitzgerald rode lower and lower into the water. Around 7:15 pm, two large rouge waves hit the Anderson and rolled all the way up her deck, forcing the nose under before popping back up. Capt. Cooper thought that those waves are what did the Fitzgerald in. The ship would've plunged bow first into the bottom, with nearly 200 feet of the vessel above the surface. The shifting of the 26,000 ton cargo, coupled with the tourqe of the still spinning propeller is likely what cause the ship to break in two and flip the stern upside-down, which is how it rests on the bottom. Sorry for the huge comment, but hopefully this answers your questions.
I was 18 and stationed in Ontario Canada when news of the ship sinking was reported, it was a haunting song even then!
I was three weeks shy of my 11th birthday when the FITZ went down. Always hits home, as my own uncle was lost on Lake Huron when his boat sank.
Superior is so cold,all the sailors are perfectly preserved and stay with the ship. "Superior never gives up her dead"
On this note, you guys should react to "Caitlin Doughty Edmund Fitzgerald." She's a famous speaker and youtuber and visited the site and spoke to survivor families. Fascinating stuff. Evidently, the lake is so deep and the water so cold, it preserves bodies for years.
I was going to say the same thing!
Caitlin is also a mortician and has great videos
Arthur M Anderson still sails today. She was in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin in July 2021 for some minor repairs and arrived in Duluth today.
To help put the size of Lake Superior in context- it has a larger surface area - 31,700 sq. miles (82,000 sq kilometers) than Scotland - 30,090 sq miles (77,900 sq kilometers). It is about 3/5 the size of England. Big water, with massive storms. RIP to the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The Arthur Anderson I still see today in operation occasionally. Still chugging along the lakes. And whenever you see it you are reminded of the Fitzgerald
I like the fact they said the theory that she snapped in half BEFORE sinking "wasn't possible", yet there is video right here on this website of another cargo/tanker (the MV Arvin in Turkish waters) doing exactly that - snapping in half (they actually filmed the moment it broke from inside the ship's bridge), although that ship was actually anchored because of the storm rather than trying to power through it. It too sank, and sadly cost the lives of three brave men, but the rest of her 12-strong crew were saved. Oddly, the year the MV Arvin was built was the very same year the Fitzgerald sank.
My best friend worked on the lake freighters in the 70's and I would drive home down to the docks in Toledo, Ohio to get aboard his ship. I saw the Fitzgerald many times when there and it was so big. It's nickname was the "Toledo Express" because it traveled here on her very first trip and many many times more. The waves on the lakes are different than ocean waves. Lake waves are highly peaked where ocean waves roll. Many Salt water Captains would rather be in an ocean storm than a lake storm. The Captain of the Anderson has said his ship had been overtaken by three huge waves and would have caught the Fitzgerald around the time it vanished. There are thousands of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes. Enjoyed your video!
I was born and grew-up right on the Lake Michigan shoreline in Michigan. Never lived more than 10 miles from the shore until I moved to Seattle in my late 20s. The Great Lakes are HUGE and can also be very dangerous as weather changes suddenly. I was a little kid the night the Edmund Fitzgerald went down, but my mother tells me that she remembers this night very well, nasty weather across the entire region with high-winds and big waves coming off of the lake.
factors pinpoint that it was overloaded causing it to bottom out on a reef, which taking on water gave it it's list. The wave spacing during the storm was enough for it to dive nose first and drive it into the bottom thus snapping it in half. They used bottom sonar to find out there is a huge trench made by the nose of the boat which is about 200+ yards long.
The Great Lakes were formed by glaciers during the last ice age.
I grew up on the shores of Lake Erie and remember when this happened. I used to watch these big boats go by everyday on their way to Cleveland. Listen to the song by Gordon Lightfoot.
My hometown is Duluth, MN, which was a harbor the Fitz came in and out of. There is a museum there dedicated to the Fitz. The lake is not only the biggest inland lake in the world, but it is also the deepest and coldest of the Great Lakes. It has claimed many ships. Weather up there is brutal from Nov. til sometimes as late as March. We call those storms "Snowacaines". My parents used to stay at a family cabin on Superior's northern coast, and were ther the first weekend of November. They decided to leave when the waves were hitting the sides of the cabin. It was a good thing they left, because when they reached Duluth, they heard portions of the North Shore Drive had washed out after they came through. Brutal storms.
Im grateful to have been able to grow up in Michigan going to Lake Michigan every year for vacation. Absolutely beautiful its a different sort a feeling than what you get from the ocean but it’s equally nostalgic.
I grew up in Michigan too and my parents had a place in Harbor Springs (on Lake Michigan.) The great thing about the Great Lakes is there's nothing in there that can kill you, and you come out of the water nice and clean vs. all salty like the ocean (can't say the same for Lake Erie though lol.)
@@nancysexton4364 lol same ive been all over northern west side of Michigans lower peninsula. And recently started going to beaver island over the past coupke years some family members of mine live there year round. The first time i swam in the ocean was a trip the waves are super fun just to mess around in .but i learned my lesson quick and got dragged accorss the beach in a riptide😂
@@joestewart5406 Same here. Like all good Michiganders. Dad drove us down to FL every Easter break, and one of my first times in the ocean I vividly remember getting caught in an undertow that ripped off the top of my bathing suit. Also got stung by man o wars, but sure loved going down there every spring! :-)
Loved the reaction. I live in Wisconsin and Lake Superior is an absolutely beautiful sleeping giant on most days. The ice caves are a must see. A documentary, “Great Lakes Untamed” stated that water that feeds Lake Superior will take 2 centuries to make it into Lake Michigan do to its size and depth. It could also cover both North and South America in a foot of water.
Those winter storms are insane on Lake Superior. The Arthur M. Anderson still works the lakes. I watched her come through Duluth on their harbor cam there a while back. She's famous for being the last ship to be in contact with the Fitzgerald before she sank and there are always lots of people lining the entrance to the bay to watch her come in.
Northwestern Mutual's normal practice was to purchase ships for operation by other companies.[27] In Edmund Fitzgerald's case, they signed a 25-year contract with Oglebay Norton Corporation to operate the vessel.[16] Oglebay Norton immediately designated Edmund Fitzgerald the flagship of its Columbia Transportation fleet.[21]
England is 1.5 times as big as Lake Superior. Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes of North America, the world’s largest freshwater lake by surface area, and the third-largest freshwater lake by volume. It is shared by Ontario to the north, Minnesota to the west, and Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the south. Superior is the farthest north and west of the Great Lakes chain, and the highest in elevation, draining through the St. Mary’s River into Lake Huron. The 5 Great Lakes account for 20% of the worlds fresh water.
If you are curious there are many webcams on the rivers between the lakes and locks to see these ships in real time as they pass. Duluth, St Clair river, and Detroit river are the main places. But also others. It’s not just American and Canadian ships, there are some ocean going ones from Europe that make their way through occasionally
Storms on Lake Superior can make the waters legendary and some of the most dangerous waters to be in.
Discovery Channel has a great show on the entire event. When you here the song it will touch you deeply. A first class bit of story telling by Mr. Lightfoot.
My parents both graduated high school with the oiler Thomas Bentsen who went down on the Edmund Fitzgerald. One of the saddest events on the great lakes.
Best description of Lake Superior I've ever heard. Lake Superior is 31,700 square miles. At its furthest points across, its 159 miles across
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called 'gitche gumee'
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early
The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ship's bell rang
Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?
The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too,
T'was the witch of November come stealin'
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashin'
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind
When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin'
Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya
At seven pm a main hatchway caved in, he said
Fellas, it's been good t'know ya
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went outta sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Does any one know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searches all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her
They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters
Lake Huron rolls, superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams
The islands and bays are for sportsmen
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered
In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
In the maritime sailors' cathedral
The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call 'gitche gumee'
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early
One of you blokes had it right when he said Superior was " f***ing big!" It is the size of some inland seas!
Yeah ive been up to Duluth in Minnesota. Its on lake superior, its like looking out at the ocean. It really feels like your on the ocean.
3:08 - Dave: "How big is Lake Superior?"
It's the largest freshwater lake in the world. Much larger than Ireland, and slightly smaller than Austria.
Keep up the good works guys, I enjoy watching your reactions to various videos.
Hurricane force starts a 75 mph @ 65 kts. The tragedy after the Fitz sank is that the authorities assumed incompetency on the part of the crew and all theories go forward from that point. Likely they were taking on water in flooding that wasn't detected. Each wave they would sit lower & lower until the bow finally 'submarined' and survival was impossible. That is only the most likely story. Much is unknown.
I've spent a lot of time around Lake Superior... She's a mean one when she wants to be...
I live in Wisconsin and I can affirm that the great lakes are HUGE! The lakes are so big that they actually are not safe to swim in most of the year because the water is so cold, and also because the lakes are so big the water can be really turbulent, which is how the Edmund Fitzgerald went down, because the storms and waves can be as turbulent as storms at sea! I live right by Lake Michigan and I've only swam in it a few times in my whole life, we do make good use of the lakes being so cold by using it for power; we have power plants that use the cold water of lake Michigan to turn steam back to water to generate energy
1000+ foot freighters are commonplace on the Great Lakes nowadays
Heard a lot of theories over the years... the most plausible being that the ship was raised up from behind by a large wave, which submerged her nose and drove her straight to the bottom. The force of the impact mixed with the immense weight of the cargo caused her to break in half. Whatever happened, you can be sure it was quick and unavoidable.
Born and raised in Michigan. The total surface area of the Great Lakes is 94,250 square miles. They are 20% of the world's fresh water. Still remember when "The Big Fitz" went down.
Lived in the area of the sinking, at the time it sunk. Winds were reported by the Coast Guard, with gusts of 90 to 100 miles per hour. Waves were also reported as high as 30 to 40 feet at times. These were not the only boats in the area that night. I remember that night & storm it wax horrendous.
Marine engineer here.
Ships can, and do, snap in half with some regularity -
because of the rapidity that cargo is typically loaded on the lakes ~ 10,000 tons / hour, ships have been snapped in 2 while loading.
But the question of the Fitzgerald is when she snapped in 2.
The Fitzgerald is so long, (222.5 meters) that if her bow had "dived",
it could have hit the bottom of the lake (160 meters at the wreck) while her stern was still afloat.
Some theorize that this is what snapped her in 2.
They point to the fact that the bow hit the bottom hard enough to dig a deep furrow.
The peak of the storm that night was approaching hurricane force and wave heights between 5 and 10 meters or more may have been encountered.
It is known that she was gaining water in the forward cargo holds - but no one knows for sure why.
The lake is always cold, the water temperature in November would likely have been 6C-7C.
There's a Shipwreck Museum of the Great Lakes at Whitefish Point and they have the account by Capt. Cooper: "According to Captain Cooper, about 6:55 pm, he and the men in the Anderson’s pilothouse felt a “bump”, felt the ship lurch, and then turned to see a monstrous wave engulfing their entire vessel from astern. The wave worked its way along the deck, crashing on the back of the pilothouse, driving the bow of the Anderson down into the sea.
“Then the Anderson just raised up and shook herself off of all that water - barrooff - just like a big dog. Another wave just like the first one or bigger hit us again. I watched those two waves head down the lake towards the Fitzgerald, and I think those were the two that sent him under.”
Saw a documentary about the Edmund Fitzgerald and why it sunk. Since the ship broke in half it's believed two rogue waves, one on each end of the ship, lifted the ship out of the water and because of its long length with not enough water under it in the middle to support the weight and it's heavy cargo caused it to break in half. Makes sense to me.
The Great Lakes are huge. They are more like a string of small inland seas that are connected to the Atlantic ocean. I have heard many stories of sailors the travel the oceans say that the "lakes" are every bit ad dangerous in a storm. When people hear "lake", they think small body of water, but these " lakes" deserve every bit of respect for their Size and power as any large ocean. They are massive, cold and deep. Superior is the coldest and as much as 1300 feet deep in some parts. You should review the song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, by Gordon Lightfoot. It is a haunting ballad of the ship's sinking the was written days after the ship sank and was released in 1976 to commemorate the first anniversary of the event. Growing up in Michigan, I was a teenager when this happened. Today, at 62, I still get chills every time I hear that song.
I've been through the Suez Canal twice on deployment. The 1st pilot boards your vessel when you enter the canal and about halfway through he gets off and a 2nd pilot comes on for the 2nd half of the transit. If you are headed south the 2nd pilot gets off once you get to the Gulf of Suez.
The Great Lakes are essentially land locked oceans
@@Leon-bp6kb he’s referring to sheer size
@@Leon-bp6kb dude you’re taking it way too serious lol this isn’t a geography test
Yep, the remnants of the ice shelf that was over North America about 20k years ago.
@@Leon-bp6kb you’ve obviously never seen the great lakes .. you’ve never seen people surf on a lake
. largest fresh water lakes in the world ..
@@TehShadowDeath remnants*
The bow of the Edmund Fitzgerald has massive crush damage. One theory that seems to fit is that the ship rode a rogue wave and the bow plunged into the lake and struck the lake bottom. A possible fractured hull could explain why it broke apart when the bow struck the lake bottom. With the screws still turning, the stern capsized before coming to rest on the lake bottom.