Hi friends! This video is really more of an overview of the events when El Faro sank but our good friend Sam from Brick Immortar has put together an extensive analysis of the saga here which I highly recommend watching! th-cam.com/video/-BNDub3h2_I/w-d-xo.html
Glad you're mentionnint his video, because without even starting to watch yours (and i WILL watch it in full), I couldn't help thinking that Brick Immortat did the most detailed video possible on the topic, while still conveying a very emotional message at the same time. It is a MASTERPIECE. It's around 1h20 and every second is worth it.
If you want the full measure of the terror in the sinking, read the NTSB report available online. It's gut-wrenching reading the crew speaking to one-another, captured from the VDR, and just knowing it doesn't end well for them. The helmsman, Fred Hamm, unable to make his way out of the wheelhouse, begging...pleading for help, then finally accepting his fate and saying "I'm a goner" is something that will haunt me until the day I die. I can't imagine how tough it must've been to have actually had to listen to the audio of that. Tragedies like this are always regrettable, but AVOIDABLE tragedies are inexcusable.
@nate3432... Should we trample your right to privacy and listen to your family as they spend their last moments in terror?? Stop and think for a second.
@@videodistro I would want my last moments to be broadcast, especially if they are to draw attention to the pain caused to myself by greed. I've worked in conditions like these and I know that my last moments if recorded, would never be heard. Society is only open and free if information is.
I’m in the Coast Guard myself. Reading the report and the Bridge recorder transcript is chilling. There was a days worth of voice recordings and you can hear the crew and captain were taking about different information. The information the master was using was outdated. But the crew had the updated weather. As for safety gear, if you work on a ship don’t count on the company to provide anything other than the basic requirements. I can’t stress enough the need to get in to immersion suits early. The need to update safety gear. The need to protect yourself. One of the best purchases anyone (even an outdoorsy person) can invest in is a PLB. Works exactly like a ships EPIRB and it can fit in your pocket. I purchased one for a couple hundred dollars and use it at work, on hikes, when I travel internationally. Works worldwide and no subscription required
The BI video is a lovely tribute to the sailors who perished unnecessarily in this tragedy. His title sums it up perfectly- “disastrous indifference” Really terrible inaction from the captain which the second mate saw early on in her emails back home. RIP
@@mhoppy6639 I'd definitely recommend the BI video too! Those emails from the second mate were chilling; I've sailed through some very nasty weather on the Great Lakes, so by mentally multiplying the worst of it to the tune of the Edmund Fitzgerald, I can start to imagine what she was going through when she was writing them. RIP to the entire crew.
@ you are a very brave man sir. I’ve watched many vids on the Great Lakes from over here in England and I think that many of my countrymen think that the Great Lakes system is just like our own Lake District but just a bit bigger. Whenever I hear this I try to disabuse them of this viewpoint cos I have the utmost respect for any sailor whether in the military or the merchant marine. I’m forever thankful that it’s you guys who ensure we eat, use our everyday products, drive our cars and bikes, use our computers. Basically, all of us globally have our lifestyles because of the men and women who do this job. Bravo.
@@mhoppy6639 I'm not sailing anymore, but having grown up, and lived most of my life on the north shores of one or another of the Lakes, I've always had an understanding that these are not what the rest of the world thinks of as lakes! They're really inland freshwater seas, with their own weather systems and their own mix of beauty and nastiness. I can see Lake Ontario out my window right now, and it's a "nice" day for November - gray and windy, with just a good bit of chop in the harbour. There are whitecaps farther out, and I'm glad to be on dry land right now! I love these Lakes, but also know them too well to trust them and their weather. Sailing was good work for that time of my life, and I don't regret it, but life on land is definitely safer and more comfortable in the long term!
@@VXGaming I thought brick immortal had done a second video when I saw that first. Excited to see that it’s ocean liner designs. Both these channels are really great with the content they put out.
A high school friend of mine was on the El Yunque when El Faro was lost. They went to the wreck site shortly after the sinking, recovered a life ring, and dropped some flowers. Really moving stuff. What a horrible tragedy.
Hope your buddy is okay. Losing coworkers is hard, and to find out it was preventable makes the murder of so many innocent people so utterly incomprehensible
One of the sailors on there was a shipmate of mine from a trip on the Maersk Kentucky, and 3 more of them were people I knew from Maine Maritime Academy. It didn't hit me as hard as some of my friends, but when that ship went down, it took a big chuck of the hearts out of the class of 2011, 2010, and 2014, plus all the others in between and that's just from the guys I know. Absolute brutal event.
I can't begin to imagine the horror those poor crew members went through in their final moments. Especially in the weather conditions they were facing. May they all rest in peace. 😔
I wonder what happened to the one body in the survival suit. Sadly they were probably mangled by something before making it free of the ship. But the sea temperatures were definitely survivable.
Do you know what a hurricane is? Do you understand what it does to the water in an ocean and how dangerous it makes an otherwise normal sea become? @@nate3432
Truly a senseless tragedy…. I was on an Aircraft Carrier and we responded to a Bulk Carrier that sank in the Atlantic.. Only half of the crew survived.. We steamed by a barely inflated life raft to check for survivors.. but it was empty..
That’s the sense that I get. Utterly senseless and Tote Maritime had no protocols in place to deal with this sort of thing. Corporate profitism and awful indifference at its worst.
As always, top notch work. Those radio calls make my stomach clench. As a fan of both you and Brick Immortar, I don't know why I'm ever surprised when we learn that another poorly maintained vessel is lost.
I live in Jacksonville, my company uses this company to ship containers to PR. This was a devastating event. Fantastic breakdown of the sinking. Thank you for your efforts!
@@Spike-sk7ql Pretty much. Just one more trip before a complete overhaul... One more trip before the end of the season... One more trip before I retire... Not just the Fitzgerald, but the Bradley, the Morrell, and so many others have been lost to One More Trip syndrome.
Richard Pusatere, the chief engineer was a graduate of my college. We still honor the crew on the anniversary of the sinking and the family usually comes for the ceremony. My metrology professor still talks about what it was like having Rich in class, as do many of the engine side professors I’m sure.
One of the most fascinating shipwrecks since the _Titanic_ , IMO. Glad you finally did a video on this. Always boggled my mind how the captain consistently failed to use the most up-to-date weather information to plot a safe (or at least safer) course around the storm rather than sailing right into the core of it.
Because his mind was blind to that and he needed one of his crewmates to forcibly tell him "no, you're not reading it correctly. we will die if we go into this hurricane, and must go the opposite way NOW." It's an integral part of the chain of command.
I've listened to the stories of most of the high profile sinkings and this one still captivates me the most. I think it is because is it so recent and so well documented with the crew's communications and such. My heart goes out to all who suffered loss because of this tragedy.
Wasn't expecting you to do a video on the El Faro, but it's great to see you give this story the good ol' Mike Brady touch. It was an accident that, like many others, absolutely did not need to happen, if only the vessel was properly maintained and kept up to date. Even with the captain's errors, I'm almost willing to put money on the fact that if El Faro was in tip top shape - no corrosion; proper damage control; preferably a stronger engine, etc. - she would have lived. I still remember back in 2015 when a young 6th grader met the remnants of Joaquin up here in MA. I was in absolute awe and excitement at the storm, but couldn't have known that several thousand miles away, that same storm caused a massive ship to go down with all hands.
From what I know, not having enough lube oil to fill the sump was the sole reason for the engine going off line. As a former CE, and sailing at the same time, the engine is designed to run at a substantial list with no harm. A 30-0-30 or more roll does not affect the turbine, but it messes with everything else if you are not used to it. I was on a States Line vessel in ‘77 that went into an eye of a typhoon. I shut the main engine down as we lost a main steam line gasket due to dropping the bow into a trough. We got things back together many hours later. The Christmas cruise crew had to learn a few things as we were mostly relief crew. Yes the sea is a harsh mistress. It has bitten many times, at least I have never had to call the tow truck to get us home. Have fun
RE: "I'm almost willing to put money on the fact that if El Faro was in tip top shape - no corrosion" WHAT?: Nothing in what I've seen supports a view that El Faro was in 'Tip Top' shape. Testimony contradicted this. Rust is hard to prevent over decades Repairs require placing the ship in drydock for an extended period in order to cut out entire bulkheads and panels, weld in new ones, and subject the result to a safety review. Did that ever occur?
@@gregparrott "I'm almost willing to put money on the fact that if El Faro was in tip top shape - no corrosion; proper damage control; preferably a stronger engine, etc. - she would have lived." They never said it was. They wrote that they believe if it had been maintained, that would have been enough to avert the disaster.
Thank you Mike for taking on the El Faro. Since she sank I'm obsessed with her story and how she sank. This story and her crew never really let me go. So thank you so much for telling her story.
You’re dead right I’ve listened to the brick immortar video several times and it’s absolutely tragic how the Captain acted in these circumstances. The company’s communication about his non-promotion was awful and I’m sure it contributed to his determination not to divert to a safer course. Nature’s oceans are the ultimate power and combined with adverse weather systems will always conquer hubris, courage and even experience if it’s not respected.
I've not heard of this story before. It's desperately saddening, that so many ordinary working working people would die for pure hubris. I'm from a family of Thames Watermen, and Wavy Navy members; I've lived on the south coast of England all my life. Both gave me a very healthy respect for the sea and rivers. Grand Dad always told me to respect the water, "There's always more..." I'm so glad my idea of being a blue sea radio officer, came to nought. I'm now going to watch the programme Brick has done. Never, ever take the sea for granted.
@@mhoppy6639 For sure. It does sound a lot like the companies he worked for continually mistreated him for being cautious, even fired him for it, which was always going to drive a person to make reckless decisions. At sea the captain is the ultimate bearer of responsibility, but you see these patterns where the companies put their captains in situations where they have to choose between risk and unemployment, where even a single mistake falls heavily on them, and they may die and have their reputation become one of failure.
@@n8pls543 I found the BI commentary very interesting. He was told he was going to be promoted the. They internally decided he wasn’t going to get shifted upwards but _never communicated this to him_ so Davidson was probably anxious. I do wonder whether he had that “Completion Bias” that’s sometimes referred to. All other considerations are secondary to getting to your goal. With a tragic result.
I’m from Long Island, Bahamas. I was there when hurricane Joaquin hit and when El Farro sunk. Goods from the containers floated ashore for weeks after the storm. A true tragedy.
She was very old and not reliable anymore after 41 years of service, "rust bucket" she was called by the crew. It is very difficult to maintain ship of that age in good shape and to keep her in range with all requirements of IMO and SOLAS. That vessel should have been scrapped and demolished years before 2016.
Really good video with great emotion, and such a sad tradgedy and reminder that the ocean is always more powerful. Keep up the good work Mike and the rest off the Unsinkables team
Loved the Sam shout-out 😊 Brick Immortar is one of my favorites, right along with everybody's friend, Mike Brady. I agree that Sam's El Faro video is one of his best, and so sad. This ship is always a gut punch. Thanks, Mike!
Double dose of Mike Brady this weekend...after switching on a documentary on TV about the Titanic ( Titanic in Colour - Channel 4 Saturday) and seeing our very own Mike Brady amongst usual crop of generic history experts. Nice to see our favourite ocean liner expert being given some more of the limelight, especially given the particular depth of knowledge you have on the subject. Unlike some of the more general info you usually get. They even remembered to label the photos of Not Titanic with the right labels, so you knew the pictures were Olympic. Nice job.
I’ve watched a lot of documentaries about El Faro, I’m a little surprised how little time you spent on the questionable choices of the captain and the numerous safety issues and violations that turned up in the NTSB report. Still, great video
@rmsteutonic3686 well I guess It's better to be in one of these huge round inflatable life raft compared to remaining in a ship that's about to sink. That's what these rafts are made for, you wait inside til rescue is coming.
@@sauce1232 Well, the lifeboats the El Faro had were open topped ones so, with that in mind I'd like to return that question, where would you rather be in such a storm, a big steel ship that has at least some hope of braving it or what is bascially a glorified rowboat? Edit: Also for the record, sorry if that came off as combative, it wasn't my intention, I hope it does not but... nuances vs communication via text 'n all.
@sergeysmirnov1062 Yeah they're life boats where shit Indeed. I checked and now they make awesome inflatable rafts with roof, that resist absolutely any condition. Pretty sick, if only they had some of these...
I had just deployed to Guantanamo Bay with one of the Coast Guard's Port Security Units when Joaquin was starting to hit the Caribbean. My chief's brother was Assistant Engineer Keith Griffin. We sent chief back home immediately. He eventually came back but I could tell from time to time that the loss of the El Faro weighed heavily on him even though he didn't show it. I remember the USCGC Northland pulling in. The crew were scrambling to the commissary to resupply. I think they had just about to pull in after a patrol when they got the call to head out to search for the El Faro. I think our commanding officer went over to talk to their commanding officer to let him know that they're not just searching for the crew of another merchant ship, but that they were also searching for the brother of a fellow shipmate.
I still remember the cold yet humid morning in 2015 when I was getting ready for school that October. As I washed my face getting ready for school, CBS Morning News reported on a merchant vessel that had gone missing in a hurricane but i didnt really thought much of it, i would have thought that they would be rescued since i thought they where on one of those enclosed large life boats. It’s scary and sad to think about how they were battling for their lives in the unforgiving, cold ocean while I slept under warm blankets that night, 700 nautical miles away in Florida.
Showing the photos of the lost with the Navy Hymn left me in tears. I know the story all too well. I have read two books and have seen several videos, along with reams of news stories and even Coast Guard reports. All have me convinced that Mike Davidson's depraved indifference led to the loss of the vessel and all 33 souls on board. That is not to speak ill of the dead, but as the old saying goes, "Mistakes were made."
What a horrifying ordeal! I kept myself together until the end, when the recording of the Navy Hymn started playing. I completely broke down. I associate that hymn with JFK's funeral, and even after 61 years, it still utterly destroys me.
Long time supporter of the channel from Puerto Rico! I have some ideas for maritime history of PR if you’re ever interested: The sign of the SS Normandie and the hotel that honored the ship (which is storage), the sinking of the Antonio Lopez in 1898 (its wreck is on the Register of Historical Places), and the SS Coamo (in honor of the town in PR of the same name) which was the largest loss of merchant crew during WW2. You can also check out with the Maritime Museum in San Juan (Museo Del Mar) and its director Manuel Minero who is very knowledgeable on Caribbean maritime history and good friend of mine
Horrible horrible night weather wise. The USCG had their hands full. But, it wouldn't have suprised me one bit if that storm had blown itself out by dawn the next day and that area had a beautiful and glorious morning. That lake is as deadly as her history says she is. She doesn't suffer fools at all. We have all heard her nickname- " The witch of November" and the extra pay the sailors get for making a last minute "run" in November is NOT worth it.
@@clairewyndham1971 My dad mentioned that the weather was really rough and that men were seasick, I found this on Wikipedia about the Woodrush, it may not be exactly what he said but it would be close to how he described it. “As the only available U.S. Coast Guard cutter available to respond to the Fitzgerald sinking on 10 November 1975, Woodrush was ordered from Duluth at "full speed" through a "gale and high seas" and arrived on scene within 24 hours.[5][6] She combed the area along with the SS William Clay Ford and the SS Arthur M. Anderson until daybreak, when debris and oil were finally located.”
@SynchronizorVideos - living on Superior, i know for a fact that the USCG has been the difference in life and death in several rescues. The Sailors that work the great lakes will tell you that it's harder to sail the Great Lakes than any ocean. Hats off to the Coasties! Next Nov. It will be 50 years since the Eddie Fitz went down.. Those storms are still raging here and there. Amazing!
Ship owners stress safety for public consumption, all the while harassing and even fining or firing officers for being “overly cautious”and not making sufficient time. I suspect something very much like this occurred to the El Faro officers following the Chesapeake Bay incident. The owners know that if they are caught out there are unlikely to be credible survivors to contradict their claims.
Finally, it is precious that you think the conditions aboard the El Faro and her sister ships were the exception rather than an industry rule, one that is covered up by the Coast Guard, the unions, the insurance companies, the p&i (protection and indemnity) clubs, the regulatory agencies, and the media. The shipping industry is in all probability the most corrupt industry on the planet.
Ultimately, yes. But what gets me every time is him trying repeatedly to get help from shore and just getting the run around, repeatedly calling in and asking for a QI, and nobody took him seriously. It was the captains fault - but he was left in a very bad situation, both due to his history and very much due to the negligence of those on shore, who couldnt even bother to answer his repeated calls.
I would say it was 80% the captain’s fault and 20% the company’s fault. While the captain has ultimate say over what happens at sea the company made no effort to check in and make sure that he was using the most up to date weather forecasts or that he was prepared for an emergency. He had to worry about keeping to their schedule and possibly being penalized for being overly cautious but in return they could simply wash their hands of responsibility if anything went wrong. That’s not a great way to foster a safety culture.
@@juliadagnall5816 This, yes. The unfortunate part about giving the captain ultimate responsibility at sea is that a company can very easily use that to do very irresponsible things and shove the blame squarely upon the captain. If you continually berate the captains who follow the rules, eventually they will all be forced to make risky decisions for their careers on a regular basis, and then it becomes their fault for choosing risk and livelihood over procedure. Similarly you can blame a captain for not ensuring the vessel was in a safe condition -- while completely ignoring any requests from the captain to do anything about it. I'm not sure if at some point a captain is expected to single-handedly put a vessel into drydock and finance the repairs themself...
This is a fantastic primer to understanding what you're going into, if you haven't already watched what BI put out. They're both excellent. This one is honestly feeling more easily listened to. The BI one was heartbreaking, honestly
It's amazing that even to this day, there are there are changes to safety standards in maritime. The ocean is just that unforgiving. Rest in peace to all 32 crew members of the El Faro. Great video as always, Mike.
Even if the ship was well-maintained, and she used closed lifeboats, I think it's still a fool's errand to decide to put out directly into a storm's path, let alone a hurricane. How many tragedies born of corporate corner-cutting, greed, and/or overconfidence do we need to experience before we learn eternal respect for the elements and nature?
He didn't know he was heading directly into the storm because he was using outdated weather information. The owners of the ship gave captains the authority to deviate for safety at their discretion. The captain had done so on a prior trip that season, and wanted to do the same on the return leg of this trip. Both were approved by management without any question.
Brilliant Mike, absolutely brilliant! Your respectful and sincere telling of this tragedy does you credit. People who put their lives in danger so that others can enjoy the nice things in life are my heroes and deserve more praise than they get. Keep up the good work so they can get the the recognition they truly deserve.
I’ve watched Brick Immortars video covering this ship more than once but love your channel as well and love to get it from a different perspective! Love the work you do thanks my friend Mike Brady! To add, the recorded call when the captain goes “oh man” is so haunting and defeated, and the failures of the company to recognize or take action on the unfolding disaster is something disgusting in and of itself, even if they would have been incapable of helping.
@@__-fm5qv And should probably serve as a big glowing sign suggesting that many if not most shipping companies are willing to ignore rules and procedures when it benefits them, while the captain who chooses to not get fired will take the blame if things go wrong.
People always put profits before people and then are shocked when loss of life happens. Those ships were a disgrace and to entrust so many crew members to them is truly criminal. Please put people before profits!
And now, with the world's biggest profit-maker coming to cut the Federal budget (which will include cuts to standards, H+S, etc), even more people will become profit's victims, as the muskrat and ramasham do their "jobs" of destroying regulations that keep others safe, while of course they would never dream of spending one day actually working on such a ship,never mind putting themselves at risk.
I remember hearing about this while I was in college. It was a really weird feeling to be seeing her loss on the news while going to school to design ships.
I have no idea why the master didn't make a general distress call over the radio instead of having somebody from his company relay phone messages. Even though there's nothing they could have done, he still should have made a general distress call over the radio. You should have realized every action he took would be scrutinized down to the most minute detail if there was a loss of vessel or loss of life. The fact that he sailed right into it mind-blowing. These companies penalize Masters for caution, I understand it costs them money but the shipping companies have money to burn. I don't think they should be able to punish somebody for taking actions based on safety. If there's a storm and a skipper feels like it's too dangerous to go through and he runs and hides behind an island or something, or goes out of his way to avoid it, or even docks in a protected port until it blows over, I don't think they should be able to punish him for that. Even if the storm completely misses and it was all for nothing, any action taken out of caution for the vessel or safety of the crew and passengers should not be able to be disciplined. Because what happens is they get disciplined, and then they get gun shy, or they hear stories about other co-workers being disciplined for exercising and abundance of caution, and then they push the limits out of fear for their jobs, and then things like the El faro happen. The shipping companies have billions and billions of dollars, they literally have money to burn. I don't care if it costs the shipping company 50 million to reroute there is no cargo on this planet that is worth the loss of one human life. Unless it's the cure for cancer or something. All lifeboats on ships entering US economic exclusion zone should be covered, self-righting self-bailing motorized, there should be one at the bow, one at the stern, and one on each side of the vessel that way it doesn't matter where you are when an emergency happens you have access to a life raft, they should have enough food and water on board to sustain everybody for 2 weeks, I don't care how much bigger they have to make them or how much it would cost the shipping companies, if they can add displacement for cargo during construction, they can add displacement for the crews safety during construction. The people that operate these vessels should be the priority. If it is not, they should not be allowed to enter our waters. Ships that sail under a flag of convenience should be required to meet minimum standards before they enter our economic exclusion zone. Cut them off from the money fountain. See how fast they change their standards. Impound ships and refuse to release them until agreements are made, the next time that ship enters U.S. Waters if the changes have not been made, the ship gets seized. And that company gets cut off from doing further trade in US ports. Hit them where it hurts, unfortunately that is the wallet. That's the only thing these people understand, or care about is money.
You play their game or lose your job - and you're prevented from ever having another one. I don't play the game in my company and there's certainly a bonus bounty on my head, as consequence. Good!
When you fire captains for putting safety above profit this is what you get, these sailors weren't the victim of mans hubris, they were sacrificed at the altar of the almighty dollar
But TOTE Maritime had previously been totally fine with Captain Davidson putting safety before speed. There is a trail of emails from the next to last transit to San Juan just a week before, in which Davidson told the company he was going to steer a safer course as a precaution, and they responded "Good decision - we agree." (And he didn't have to request permission from the company - it was entirely within his discretion.) So it's not at all clear why Davidson might have felt any pressure to take more risks, if indeed he did.
I was gonna write practically the same thing: Profit often kills - soI'm gonna add that makes me shudder to think of the bonfire of H+S regulations and oversight that the world's richest muskrat is about to start making in his "job" of cutting the US Federal budget, while he and his (temporary) master, the Don will ofcourse continue to travel in private jets and on private boats totally up todate in their safety and procedures...
@@humanbeing2420Watching Brick Immortars video, it came to light that TOTE was manufacturing a new class of ships that ran on LNG, and Captain Davidson wanted to captain one of those new ships. But a few weeks back, his safety mindset on a run to San Juan got him some reprimands on being too safe. It’s theorized (in Immortars video) that the pressure of wanting to become a captain of a new class of vessel led him to be more risky with his ship in this particular instance, and with the state of the ship as it was, as well as the change in course during the journey, well . . .
@@loganlove9986 You're right about the new class of ship that Davidson wanted to captain. But is it true that he was reprimanded? I read Rachel Slade's Into the Raging Sea - a well-written, highly detailed book about the tragedy - and I don't recall that. IIRC, she speculates that perhaps Davidson thought that getting to San Juan on time on this trip would increase his chances of getting that promotion, but i don't recall anything about TOTE having indicated that to Davidson, or reprimanding him.
hey just a question, have you done a video on the Edmund Fitzgerald, i searched but i didn't find it. if you haven't i'd love to see one because the Fitzgerald is one of my fav ships!
History Mystery Man does a series on the mighty Fitz every year around this time. His sit downs with Captain Darrel Walton (nephew of someone who is in her stern) are tremendous.
I'd love that too! Worked a few seasons on Lake Freighters when I was younger, and when the weather gets heavy, the Mighty Fitz is always in the back of everyone's mind. Not that there aren't hundreds of equally fascinating and tragic wrecks in the Great Lakes to look into, but she's the legend for a reason.
@@KingGodzillaFan what's pretty awesome, is if you live on or near the Great Lakes, you can see the Arthur M. Anderson still sailing the Lakes today. She was just in Buffalo last week, dropping off sand for the new stadium. When I see her though, is always in the western part of Lake Erie.
Good documentary of this tragedy. One item that was not mentioned here. but immediately caught world news once the wreck was examined was that the storm was so powerful that the entire bridge had been sheared off of the ship and rested on the sea floor about a quarter mile from the rest of the ship. I believe the image shown at 18:58 is the bridge, sitting by itself on the sea floor.
Random thing about El Faro's captain - he apparently hailed from the same town I grew up in (Windham) but I was long gone before 2015 - actually, I was in central Europe of all places. I don't recall any of the opprobrium normally attached to him among locals though (my parents would have mentioned it).
Or worse...you often don't see meaningful changes due to loss of life. One specific company may change it's methods (at least temporarily), or one business may fail, or a few people may get fired, but in the grand scheme of things...nothing often changes.
You've talked about it briefly before in a video about bad designs, but the HMS Captain disaster of 1870 deserves a longer video about it due to bureaucracy, mismanagement, over ambition, political strife between the navy and the public, and more, leading to deaths of 472 people with only 18 survivors. Just looking at the vessel, it was an inevitably doomed to become a deathtrap. More so considering the recent efforts in the last few years to locate the wreck, with a possible candidate matching the configurations discovered in 2022. It's a very fascinating story.
Another well-done episode, Mike and the OLD team. One of my favorite channels and I appreciate all the work you do to keep the content interesting, thought-provoking and well-researched.
Mr. Brady you legend. Commenters, why is that even when a ship is sinking, customer service workers are still beyond incompetent? I swear it sounded like her first day on the job
Tote maritime had no corporate safety policy in place for this sort of event. Captain was using out of date weather information, he was asking under the cloud of ambiguous messaging from the company about his possible promotion and he was very very hubristic about the conditions because of his previous experience in the Alaskan waters. The cargo was horribly secured and the ship was poorly maintained. The executives’ terrible decision making coupled with the captain making poor course choices made this tragedy not inevitable, eminently possible, given the conditions here. It’s so sad.
Deeply sobering, Mike. Even with a captain of solid, reliable reputation, it only takes one mistake to send a ship to the bottom, and all seafarers live on time borrowed from the fates, and mother nature. Most times, that's enough for a lifetime, but not always. Rest in peace.
Fantastic video, I’ve been fascinated with the El Faro for a while now. Such a sad story, an overconfident captain with a unfit vessel in the worst situation. You’ve told the stories of so many ships. But I’ve barely seen anyone talk about the N.S Savannah. She never sank but she’s still a beautiful ship with an interesting past.
Thank you, Mr. Brady, for yet another riveting tale of life on the sea. You are truly a gentleman to recommend Sam and "Brick Immortar." That type of respect for other creators and your audience is a true touchstone for integrity and the spreading of knowledge.
I’m currently in Rockland Maine closing up my summer home and I saw a new memorial to the crew of the El Faro today. O e of the crew was a kid from here in Rockland. RIP to all- except the captain.
El Faro's loss reminds me of the loss of USS Cyclops in 1918. We officially don't know what happened to the Cyclops, but the similarities to the El Faro is quite eerie. Cyclops left Rio de Janeiro with a full load of Manganese Ore on Feb. 16th. Cyclops was operating with her port engine while her starboard had been reported with a cracked engine cylinder and out of order. Horribly overloaded with Manganese Ore, she made an unscheduled stop Barbados due to the Plimsoll Line being underwater, but she had been given a clean bill at Rio. Somewhere between Barbados and Virginia, she vanished without a trace. The main difference is that El Faro has been found and surveyed, the Cyclops has had no trace of her ever found so far. The U.S. Navy believes that the Cyclops was sunk due to an unexpected storm and sever structural loss from a combination of corroded I-Beams from the cargo and overload. More outlandish theories include the Bermuda Triangle, and German U-Boats. Germany has denied ever sighting Cyclops at an point during or after WWI. One article from a descendent of one of the crew believes that after leaving Barbados, the Cyclops was steaming just Northeast of Puerto Rico and was caught in an offseason Hurricane. The Cyclops operating with one engine and overloaded was caught with nowhere to run. Waves crashed over the deck, sweeping away one or more cargo hatches/ covers allowing water to liquify the manganese ore. The ships length was just long enough to have a sizable distance between each wave allowed the ship's hull to snap and she sunk without warning taking all hands with her. This would indicate that the Cyclops disappeared into the Puerto Rico Trench which at its deepest point is the Milwaukee Deep at 28,675 ft (8.740 meters) or roughly 5 miles below the surface. The region is also an active fault zone, though the Puerto Rico Tench subduction zone hasn't seen a significant movement in over 200 years. Regardless of what happened to the Cyclops, I do not believe that the mystical Bermuda Triangle had anything to due with her loss or the actions of her captain (Despite the claims he was a German sympathizer). The Cyclops' story feels to similar to the El Faro's in too many ways. The only differences being 97 years apart from each other and more modern technology in the El Faro's case. The Cyclops' sister Proteus and Nereus also vanished without a trace during WWII. Given that all three ships (Cyclops, Proteus, Nereus) all had corrosive ore cargos in their holds when they vanished, it is safe to say that they suffered hull failures in a storm or even calm seas and sank with little to no warning. Until all three sister or even one is found we will never truly know.
@@humanbeing2420 True the legend of the Triangle became popular in the 70's, but talks about the Triangle first began in 1950. The area where the Cyclops and her sisters sank are still within that region or near it, namely the Puerto Rico to Miami portion of the Triangle. Many believers point to the Cyclops being one of the "original victims," (With the HMS Atlanta being the first) after a lot of digging into the phenomenon that is the Bermuda Triangle. It doesn't stop people from speculating and theorizing. We won't really know what happened to Cyclops or her sisters until their wrecks are found. I still believe a violent storm or sudden catastrophic hull failure did them in.
I’m so glad you finally covered this This tragedy has encapsulated me ever since I saw brick immortars video…so intriguing I wish you would’ve made it longer!
Great video on the tragic loss of El Faro. Why didn't the captain steering away from the storm will be a mystery. Sam's video is just incredible. I watched it several times
He was using weather information that was 12 hours old and he didn't know it. He thought they would pass south of the hurricane but instead they went directly into it.
@@humanbeing2420 Yes, except he even ignored the message from the coast guard telling him that he was sailing into a hurricane. That seems like something you would hold to a higher degree value than your weather app.
At first I was hesitant, since I'm a big Brick Immortar fan and his video, i thought, was THE telling of the El Faro. Yet again, Mike, you surprised me. I think your approach complements and adds to the tragic story of this tale. Especially the approach of a build up to the event; I wrote off the captain as a fool from Brick's video, but now i see it's much more nuanced. He wasn't so much a fool, perhaps compromised, but not a fool, and cared about his crew.
Can we just take a moment to appreciate how our friend Mike Brady takes what would otherwise be a rather dull topic into a fascinating video that I can actually watch all the way through
I was in College when this happened. It was so gut wrenching when they started piecing together what happened. I had always wondered what it was like to hear about the Edmund Fitzgerald going down in the 70s. Seeing it happening in real time with El Faro was so tragic. Rest in Peace sailors. 💙⚓️😢
Another great video from our friend Mike Brady! Great video man, as usual. The El Faro has always interested me more than any other ship wreck I know and can think of, and out of all the other videos on it that I’ve watched, this has been the best!
Our friend Mike Brady always provides us with well narrated, researched and produced videos. This one pulls the heartstrings and I'll watch the Brick Immortar video 👍
As a former merchant mariner, this story infuriates me on so many levels. Accidents can happen, but deliberating sailing into a hurricane is idiotic. The captain gambles because he thinks his job is at stake. This is precipitated by Tote Marine previously punishing the Capitan. The QI call was embarrassing. "Can you spell it (El Faro)". How do you not know the names of your ships? All the crew could do was helplessly watch as the Captain sailed the ship right into the storm.
Hi friends! This video is really more of an overview of the events when El Faro sank but our good friend Sam from Brick Immortar has put together an extensive analysis of the saga here which I highly recommend watching! th-cam.com/video/-BNDub3h2_I/w-d-xo.html
Glad you're mentionnint his video, because without even starting to watch yours (and i WILL watch it in full), I couldn't help thinking that Brick Immortat did the most detailed video possible on the topic, while still conveying a very emotional message at the same time. It is a MASTERPIECE. It's around 1h20 and every second is worth it.
@@liberteus yes, that is an EXCELLENT video.
Helo Mike Brady
Could you look into the Hansa Constitution?
2:03 if u look closer u can see the flags of :
-Poland
-Russia
-Hungary
-Austria
(And I i think that's green...)
-Bulgaria
If you want the full measure of the terror in the sinking, read the NTSB report available online. It's gut-wrenching reading the crew speaking to one-another, captured from the VDR, and just knowing it doesn't end well for them. The helmsman, Fred Hamm, unable to make his way out of the wheelhouse, begging...pleading for help, then finally accepting his fate and saying "I'm a goner" is something that will haunt me until the day I die. I can't imagine how tough it must've been to have actually had to listen to the audio of that. Tragedies like this are always regrettable, but AVOIDABLE tragedies are inexcusable.
Poor guy was overweight, suffering from Diabetes. He had no chance.
I don't think the investigator felt anything more than it's his daily job.
Being unable to listen to the audio is censorship.
@nate3432...
Should we trample your right to privacy and listen to your family as they spend their last moments in terror??
Stop and think for a second.
@@videodistro I would want my last moments to be broadcast, especially if they are to draw attention to the pain caused to myself by greed. I've worked in conditions like these and I know that my last moments if recorded, would never be heard. Society is only open and free if information is.
I’m in the Coast Guard myself. Reading the report and the Bridge recorder transcript is chilling. There was a days worth of voice recordings and you can hear the crew and captain were taking about different information.
The information the master was using was outdated. But the crew had the updated weather.
As for safety gear, if you work on a ship don’t count on the company to provide anything other than the basic requirements. I can’t stress enough the need to get in to immersion suits early. The need to update safety gear. The need to protect yourself. One of the best purchases anyone (even an outdoorsy person) can invest in is a PLB. Works exactly like a ships EPIRB and it can fit in your pocket. I purchased one for a couple hundred dollars and use it at work, on hikes, when I travel internationally. Works worldwide and no subscription required
What is a PLB?
@@snjert8406Personal Location Beacon
@@snjert8406personal location beacon
Personal locator beacon
@@bradlevantis913 smashing helpful comment. Thank you.
I enjoy Mike's videos.
Brick Immortar made a great 1.5 hour documentary on this disaster. Goes into great detail on everything.
The BI video is a lovely tribute to the sailors who perished unnecessarily in this tragedy.
His title sums it up perfectly- “disastrous indifference”
Really terrible inaction from the captain which the second mate saw early on in her emails back home. RIP
@@mhoppy6639 I'd definitely recommend the BI video too!
Those emails from the second mate were chilling; I've sailed through some very nasty weather on the Great Lakes, so by mentally multiplying the worst of it to the tune of the Edmund Fitzgerald, I can start to imagine what she was going through when she was writing them. RIP to the entire crew.
@ you are a very brave man sir. I’ve watched many vids on the Great Lakes from over here in England and I think that many of my countrymen think that the Great Lakes system is just like our own Lake District but just a bit bigger.
Whenever I hear this I try to disabuse them of this viewpoint cos I have the utmost respect for any sailor whether in the military or the merchant marine. I’m forever thankful that it’s you guys who ensure we eat, use our everyday products, drive our cars and bikes, use our computers. Basically, all of us globally have our lifestyles because of the men and women who do this job. Bravo.
@@mhoppy6639 I'm not sailing anymore, but having grown up, and lived most of my life on the north shores of one or another of the Lakes, I've always had an understanding that these are not what the rest of the world thinks of as lakes! They're really inland freshwater seas, with their own weather systems and their own mix of beauty and nastiness.
I can see Lake Ontario out my window right now, and it's a "nice" day for November - gray and windy, with just a good bit of chop in the harbour. There are whitecaps farther out, and I'm glad to be on dry land right now! I love these Lakes, but also know them too well to trust them and their weather. Sailing was good work for that time of my life, and I don't regret it, but life on land is definitely safer and more comfortable in the long term!
T/y for the link; was unaware another about. The El Faro tragedy haunting and have seen other YTs of - the NTSB hearings, too.
No better duo exists on TH-cam than Oceanliner Designs and Brick Immortar.
Indeed, I actually was thinking about watching Brick's El Faro video just before Mikes appeared.
@@VXGaming I thought brick immortal had done a second video when I saw that first. Excited to see that it’s ocean liner designs. Both these channels are really great with the content they put out.
i think that Mike's telling is a tad better than Bricks, and I am a B.I. superfan.
IMHO, B.I. can do better than YukTub.
I view this is a great companion piece. To me, Sam and Mike are in the Platinum Standard of TH-cam creators.
A high school friend of mine was on the El Yunque when El Faro was lost. They went to the wreck site shortly after the sinking, recovered a life ring, and dropped some flowers. Really moving stuff. What a horrible tragedy.
Hope your buddy is okay. Losing coworkers is hard, and to find out it was preventable makes the murder of so many innocent people so utterly incomprehensible
I lost a good friend from my youth on this one. I’ll always remember his family and what a great man he was.
So sorry for your loss.
One of the sailors on there was a shipmate of mine from a trip on the Maersk Kentucky, and 3 more of them were people I knew from Maine Maritime Academy. It didn't hit me as hard as some of my friends, but when that ship went down, it took a big chuck of the hearts out of the class of 2011, 2010, and 2014, plus all the others in between and that's just from the guys I know. Absolute brutal event.
@@Deadbuck73 I'm so sorry for your loss
@@nomar5spaulding Very sorry for you. This one definitely hits home for us.
Thank you all for all of your responses.
The fact that it is resting perfectly upright, not even dug into the sand, is a haunting image.
I can't begin to imagine the horror those poor crew members went through in their final moments.
Especially in the weather conditions they were facing.
May they all rest in peace. 😔
I wonder what happened to the one body in the survival suit. Sadly they were probably mangled by something before making it free of the ship. But the sea temperatures were definitely survivable.
Do you know what a hurricane is? Do you understand what it does to the water in an ocean and how dangerous it makes an otherwise normal sea become? @@nate3432
Truly a senseless tragedy…. I was on an Aircraft Carrier and we responded to a Bulk Carrier that sank in the Atlantic.. Only half of the crew survived.. We steamed by a barely inflated life raft to check for survivors.. but it was empty..
That’s the sense that I get. Utterly senseless and Tote Maritime had no protocols in place to deal with this sort of thing. Corporate profitism and awful indifference at its worst.
As always, top notch work. Those radio calls make my stomach clench. As a fan of both you and Brick Immortar, I don't know why I'm ever surprised when we learn that another poorly maintained vessel is lost.
And poorly captained
19:00 BrickImmortar's El Faro video is actually what got me interested in ship videos on youtube.
Yeah that guys channel is fantastic
I live in Jacksonville, my company uses this company to ship containers to PR. This was a devastating event. Fantastic breakdown of the sinking. Thank you for your efforts!
Every company uses this company genius
@@American_Savage no, a hole, not every one uses that shipping company. If you ship from Jax to PR you probably do. But we use Crowley as well.
How many times have I heard " One more time, before hitting the dry docks. Just one more trip ".
Anytime I hear someone say "Just one more ________.", I run like hell.
Like the Fitz...
My best friend did the one last trip mostly to cover debt and be more present to his growing son. He came back in a coffin .
Just about every single Great Lakes freighters that has been lost, maybe?
@@Spike-sk7ql Pretty much. Just one more trip before a complete overhaul... One more trip before the end of the season... One more trip before I retire... Not just the Fitzgerald, but the Bradley, the Morrell, and so many others have been lost to One More Trip syndrome.
Richard Pusatere, the chief engineer was a graduate of my college. We still honor the crew on the anniversary of the sinking and the family usually comes for the ceremony. My metrology professor still talks about what it was like having Rich in class, as do many of the engine side professors I’m sure.
Rich was my "little brother" on cruise. He was a really good guy.
One of the most fascinating shipwrecks since the _Titanic_ , IMO. Glad you finally did a video on this. Always boggled my mind how the captain consistently failed to use the most up-to-date weather information to plot a safe (or at least safer) course around the storm rather than sailing right into the core of it.
Because his mind was blind to that and he needed one of his crewmates to forcibly tell him "no, you're not reading it correctly. we will die if we go into this hurricane, and must go the opposite way NOW." It's an integral part of the chain of command.
I've listened to the stories of most of the high profile sinkings and this one still captivates me the most. I think it is because is it so recent and so well documented with the crew's communications and such. My heart goes out to all who suffered loss because of this tragedy.
What a tragedy. Ive listened to the radio calls and it still is shocking how fast she went down. Thanks Mike, you bring so much detail to each story.
I don’t think she went down fast so much as the crew wasn’t aware that the ship was foundering until water was sweeping containers off the deck.
Wasn't expecting you to do a video on the El Faro, but it's great to see you give this story the good ol' Mike Brady touch. It was an accident that, like many others, absolutely did not need to happen, if only the vessel was properly maintained and kept up to date. Even with the captain's errors, I'm almost willing to put money on the fact that if El Faro was in tip top shape - no corrosion; proper damage control; preferably a stronger engine, etc. - she would have lived. I still remember back in 2015 when a young 6th grader met the remnants of Joaquin up here in MA. I was in absolute awe and excitement at the storm, but couldn't have known that several thousand miles away, that same storm caused a massive ship to go down with all hands.
From what I know, not having enough lube oil to fill the sump was the sole reason for the engine going off line. As a former CE, and sailing at the same time, the engine is designed to run at a substantial list with no harm. A 30-0-30 or more roll does not affect the turbine, but it messes with everything else if you are not used to it. I was on a States Line vessel in ‘77 that went into an eye of a typhoon. I shut the main engine down as we lost a main steam line gasket due to dropping the bow into a trough. We got things back together many hours later. The Christmas cruise crew had to learn a few things as we were mostly relief crew. Yes the sea is a harsh mistress. It has bitten many times, at least I have never had to call the tow truck to get us home. Have fun
RE: "I'm almost willing to put money on the fact that if El Faro was in tip top shape - no corrosion"
WHAT?: Nothing in what I've seen supports a view that El Faro was in 'Tip Top' shape. Testimony contradicted this. Rust is hard to prevent over decades Repairs require placing the ship in drydock for an extended period in order to cut out entire bulkheads and panels, weld in new ones, and subject the result to a safety review. Did that ever occur?
@@gregparrott "I'm almost willing to put money on the fact that if El Faro was in tip top shape - no corrosion; proper damage control; preferably a stronger engine, etc. - she would have lived." They never said it was. They wrote that they believe if it had been maintained, that would have been enough to avert the disaster.
@@n8pls543 Ahh yes, I missed the 'if', and thought he made an assertion which contradicts what was said,starting at 15:20
Thank you Mike for taking on the El Faro. Since she sank I'm obsessed with her story and how she sank. This story and her crew never really let me go. So thank you so much for telling her story.
You’re dead right I’ve listened to the brick immortar video several times and it’s absolutely tragic how the Captain acted in these circumstances. The company’s communication about his non-promotion was awful and I’m sure it contributed to his determination not to divert to a safer course.
Nature’s oceans are the ultimate power and combined with adverse weather systems will always conquer hubris, courage and even experience if it’s not respected.
I've not heard of this story before. It's desperately saddening, that so many ordinary working working people would die for pure hubris. I'm from a family of Thames Watermen, and Wavy Navy members; I've lived on the south coast of England all my life. Both gave me a very healthy respect for the sea and rivers. Grand Dad always told me to respect the water, "There's always more..." I'm so glad my idea of being a blue sea radio officer, came to nought. I'm now going to watch the programme Brick has done. Never, ever take the sea for granted.
@@mhoppy6639 For sure. It does sound a lot like the companies he worked for continually mistreated him for being cautious, even fired him for it, which was always going to drive a person to make reckless decisions. At sea the captain is the ultimate bearer of responsibility, but you see these patterns where the companies put their captains in situations where they have to choose between risk and unemployment, where even a single mistake falls heavily on them, and they may die and have their reputation become one of failure.
@@n8pls543 I found the BI commentary very interesting. He was told he was going to be promoted the. They internally decided he wasn’t going to get shifted upwards but _never communicated this to him_ so Davidson was probably anxious. I do wonder whether he had that “Completion Bias” that’s sometimes referred to. All other considerations are secondary to getting to your goal. With a tragic result.
Recently boarded this community as an aviation guy
Loving this
If you havent, consider Learning about sailing. Sailing is very similar to flying, using the sails as wings.
I’m from Long Island, Bahamas. I was there when hurricane Joaquin hit and when El Farro sunk. Goods from the containers floated ashore for weeks after the storm. A true tragedy.
RIP to my 5 fellow compatriots and the rest of the crew, greetings from Poland sir Mike.
There's a memorial in Gdynia dedicated to those 5 crew
My respects to your fellows as a Mainer of Polish descent. If you need brave compatriots while far from home, I can think of little better.
She was very old and not reliable anymore after 41 years of service, "rust bucket" she was called by the crew. It is very difficult to maintain ship of that age in good shape and to keep her in range with all requirements of IMO and SOLAS. That vessel should have been scrapped and demolished years before 2016.
Sailed into a massive storm. Left it too late to get off the ship. Once you get into the details, it wasn't some random event.
Bingo. Terrible decisions.
Really good video with great emotion, and such a sad tradgedy and reminder that the ocean is always more powerful. Keep up the good work Mike and the rest off the Unsinkables team
Sad what happened to her, it’s such a shame when any ship goes down 😢
Loved the Sam shout-out 😊 Brick Immortar is one of my favorites, right along with everybody's friend, Mike Brady. I agree that Sam's El Faro video is one of his best, and so sad. This ship is always a gut punch. Thanks, Mike!
Double dose of Mike Brady this weekend...after switching on a documentary on TV about the Titanic ( Titanic in Colour - Channel 4 Saturday) and seeing our very own Mike Brady amongst usual crop of generic history experts. Nice to see our favourite ocean liner expert being given some more of the limelight, especially given the particular depth of knowledge you have on the subject. Unlike some of the more general info you usually get. They even remembered to label the photos of Not Titanic with the right labels, so you knew the pictures were Olympic. Nice job.
Man. I wish I could watch that. I don't have cable, though, and I can't find it on TH-cam. 😞
😂😂😂😂😂😂🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
I’ve watched a lot of documentaries about El Faro, I’m a little surprised how little time you spent on the questionable choices of the captain and the numerous safety issues and violations that turned up in the NTSB report. Still, great video
I know nothing about ships. But when a ship is in such situation, they can't drop inflatable life rafts and leave?
@@sauce1232it would be precarious when in the middle of a hurricane, and even then, where do you go?
@rmsteutonic3686 well I guess It's better to be in one of these huge round inflatable life raft compared to remaining in a ship that's about to sink.
That's what these rafts are made for, you wait inside til rescue is coming.
@@sauce1232 Well, the lifeboats the El Faro had were open topped ones so, with that in mind I'd like to return that question, where would you rather be in such a storm, a big steel ship that has at least some hope of braving it or what is bascially a glorified rowboat?
Edit: Also for the record, sorry if that came off as combative, it wasn't my intention, I hope it does not but... nuances vs communication via text 'n all.
@sergeysmirnov1062 Yeah they're life boats where shit Indeed. I checked and now they make awesome inflatable rafts with roof, that resist absolutely any condition. Pretty sick, if only they had some of these...
I had just deployed to Guantanamo Bay with one of the Coast Guard's Port Security Units when Joaquin was starting to hit the Caribbean. My chief's brother was Assistant Engineer Keith Griffin. We sent chief back home immediately. He eventually came back but I could tell from time to time that the loss of the El Faro weighed heavily on him even though he didn't show it. I remember the USCGC Northland pulling in. The crew were scrambling to the commissary to resupply. I think they had just about to pull in after a patrol when they got the call to head out to search for the El Faro. I think our commanding officer went over to talk to their commanding officer to let him know that they're not just searching for the crew of another merchant ship, but that they were also searching for the brother of a fellow shipmate.
I still remember the cold yet humid morning in 2015 when I was getting ready for school that October. As I washed my face getting ready for school, CBS Morning News reported on a merchant vessel that had gone missing in a hurricane but i didnt really thought much of it, i would have thought that they would be rescued since i thought they where on one of those enclosed large life boats. It’s scary and sad to think about how they were battling for their lives in the unforgiving, cold ocean while I slept under warm blankets that night, 700 nautical miles away in Florida.
Were you 5 years old? It wasn’t that long ago dude chill
I love how you always treat these sorts of videos with the respect they deserve ❤️
Showing the photos of the lost with the Navy Hymn left me in tears. I know the story all too well. I have read two books and have seen several videos, along with reams of news stories and even Coast Guard reports. All have me convinced that Mike Davidson's depraved indifference led to the loss of the vessel and all 33 souls on board. That is not to speak ill of the dead, but as the old saying goes, "Mistakes were made."
What a horrifying ordeal! I kept myself together until the end, when the recording of the Navy Hymn started playing. I completely broke down. I associate that hymn with JFK's funeral, and even after 61 years, it still utterly destroys me.
Me too. It always does. I tear up just hearing the words "Navy Hymn" because I can hear it in my head.
I'm one of your friends from Puerto Rico, love your videos!
Long time supporter of the channel from Puerto Rico! I have some ideas for maritime history of PR if you’re ever interested: The sign of the SS Normandie and the hotel that honored the ship (which is storage), the sinking of the Antonio Lopez in 1898 (its wreck is on the Register of Historical Places), and the SS Coamo (in honor of the town in PR of the same name) which was the largest loss of merchant crew during WW2.
You can also check out with the Maritime Museum in San Juan (Museo Del Mar) and its director Manuel Minero who is very knowledgeable on Caribbean maritime history and good friend of mine
Not surprised that the USCG went out after the El Faro, my dad was on the USCGC Woodrush when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down.
Horrible horrible night weather wise. The USCG had their hands full. But, it wouldn't have suprised me one bit if that storm had blown itself out by dawn the next day and that area had a beautiful and glorious morning. That lake is as deadly as her history says she is. She doesn't suffer fools at all. We have all heard her nickname- " The witch of November" and the extra pay the sailors get for making a last minute "run" in November is NOT worth it.
Coasties are built different. Those folks deserve all the respect.
@@clairewyndham1971 My dad mentioned that the weather was really rough and that men were seasick, I found this on Wikipedia about the Woodrush, it may not be exactly what he said but it would be close to how he described it.
“As the only available U.S. Coast Guard cutter available to respond to the Fitzgerald sinking on 10 November 1975, Woodrush was ordered from Duluth at "full speed" through a "gale and high seas" and arrived on scene within 24 hours.[5][6] She combed the area along with the SS William Clay Ford and the SS Arthur M. Anderson until daybreak, when debris and oil were finally located.”
@SynchronizorVideos - living on Superior, i know for a fact that the USCG has been the difference in life and death in several rescues. The Sailors that work the great lakes will tell you that it's harder to sail the Great Lakes than any ocean. Hats off to the Coasties! Next Nov. It will be 50 years since the Eddie Fitz went down.. Those storms are still raging here and there. Amazing!
Somebody give this young man a professorship. He’s so knowledgeable! Thank you, Mike. I always learn so much from you!
I sailed one of the sister ships of the El Faro as Engineer 5 seperate times. My heart goes out to the families of those who passed.
The sinking of this ship has always had a place in my heart, I've read the transcripts & the report...just heartbreaking
Ship owners stress safety for public consumption, all the while harassing and even fining or firing officers for being “overly cautious”and not making sufficient time. I suspect something very much like this occurred to the El Faro officers following the Chesapeake Bay incident. The owners know that if they are caught out there are unlikely to be credible survivors to contradict their claims.
Finally, it is precious that you think the conditions aboard the El Faro and her sister ships were the exception rather than an industry rule, one that is covered up by the Coast Guard, the unions, the insurance companies, the p&i (protection and indemnity) clubs, the regulatory agencies, and the media. The shipping industry is in all probability the most corrupt industry on the planet.
I've seen many documentaries on the El faro.. 100 % Captain's fault.
Ultimately, yes. But what gets me every time is him trying repeatedly to get help from shore and just getting the run around, repeatedly calling in and asking for a QI, and nobody took him seriously. It was the captains fault - but he was left in a very bad situation, both due to his history and very much due to the negligence of those on shore, who couldnt even bother to answer his repeated calls.
Agree! More people need to acknowledge this!
I would say it was 80% the captain’s fault and 20% the company’s fault. While the captain has ultimate say over what happens at sea the company made no effort to check in and make sure that he was using the most up to date weather forecasts or that he was prepared for an emergency. He had to worry about keeping to their schedule and possibly being penalized for being overly cautious but in return they could simply wash their hands of responsibility if anything went wrong. That’s not a great way to foster a safety culture.
Not 100% the crew played their part as well.
@@juliadagnall5816 This, yes. The unfortunate part about giving the captain ultimate responsibility at sea is that a company can very easily use that to do very irresponsible things and shove the blame squarely upon the captain. If you continually berate the captains who follow the rules, eventually they will all be forced to make risky decisions for their careers on a regular basis, and then it becomes their fault for choosing risk and livelihood over procedure. Similarly you can blame a captain for not ensuring the vessel was in a safe condition -- while completely ignoring any requests from the captain to do anything about it. I'm not sure if at some point a captain is expected to single-handedly put a vessel into drydock and finance the repairs themself...
Brick immortar did an in depth video on this; highly recommend it
Brick Immortar is great; love that man and his insights into safety.
Duh. Mike already said that. 🙄
This is a fantastic primer to understanding what you're going into, if you haven't already watched what BI put out. They're both excellent.
This one is honestly feeling more easily listened to. The BI one was heartbreaking, honestly
Honestly shocked you decided to take on the EL Faro. When I learned of this ship I was shocked
It's amazing that even to this day, there are there are changes to safety standards in maritime. The ocean is just that unforgiving. Rest in peace to all 32 crew members of the El Faro. Great video as always, Mike.
Oceanliner Designs and Brick Immortar are the GOATS
Even if the ship was well-maintained, and she used closed lifeboats, I think it's still a fool's errand to decide to put out directly into a storm's path, let alone a hurricane. How many tragedies born of corporate corner-cutting, greed, and/or overconfidence do we need to experience before we learn eternal respect for the elements and nature?
He didn't know he was heading directly into the storm because he was using outdated weather information.
The owners of the ship gave captains the authority to deviate for safety at their discretion. The captain had done so on a prior trip that season, and wanted to do the same on the return leg of this trip. Both were approved by management without any question.
Brilliant Mike, absolutely brilliant! Your respectful and sincere telling of this tragedy does you credit. People who put their lives in danger so that others can enjoy the nice things in life are my heroes and deserve more praise than they get. Keep up the good work so they can get the the recognition they truly deserve.
It’s always a good day when our friend Mike Brady posts a new video.
I’ve watched Brick Immortars video covering this ship more than once but love your channel as well and love to get it from a different perspective! Love the work you do thanks my friend Mike Brady!
To add, the recorded call when the captain goes “oh man” is so haunting and defeated, and the failures of the company to recognize or take action on the unfolding disaster is something disgusting in and of itself, even if they would have been incapable of helping.
Congratulations to that company that fired Davidson for being too cautious with their ship.
💯 %. Corporations with executives safe and warm on dry land making utterly incompetent decisions that profoundly affect people’s lives.
I can't help but think that experience probably made him less willing to be cautious in the future.
@@__-fm5qv And should probably serve as a big glowing sign suggesting that many if not most shipping companies are willing to ignore rules and procedures when it benefits them, while the captain who chooses to not get fired will take the blame if things go wrong.
I had heard the exact opposite in regards to El Faro's seaworthiness
People always put profits before people and then are shocked when loss of life happens. Those ships were a disgrace and to entrust so many crew members to them is truly criminal. Please put people before profits!
And now, with the world's biggest profit-maker coming to cut the Federal budget (which will include cuts to standards, H+S, etc), even more people will become profit's victims, as the muskrat and ramasham do their "jobs" of destroying regulations that keep others safe, while of course they would never dream of spending one day actually working on such a ship,never mind putting themselves at risk.
I remember hearing about this while I was in college. It was a really weird feeling to be seeing her loss on the news while going to school to design ships.
I have no idea why the master didn't make a general distress call over the radio instead of having somebody from his company relay phone messages. Even though there's nothing they could have done, he still should have made a general distress call over the radio. You should have realized every action he took would be scrutinized down to the most minute detail if there was a loss of vessel or loss of life. The fact that he sailed right into it mind-blowing. These companies penalize Masters for caution, I understand it costs them money but the shipping companies have money to burn. I don't think they should be able to punish somebody for taking actions based on safety. If there's a storm and a skipper feels like it's too dangerous to go through and he runs and hides behind an island or something, or goes out of his way to avoid it, or even docks in a protected port until it blows over, I don't think they should be able to punish him for that. Even if the storm completely misses and it was all for nothing, any action taken out of caution for the vessel or safety of the crew and passengers should not be able to be disciplined. Because what happens is they get disciplined, and then they get gun shy, or they hear stories about other co-workers being disciplined for exercising and abundance of caution, and then they push the limits out of fear for their jobs, and then things like the El faro happen. The shipping companies have billions and billions of dollars, they literally have money to burn. I don't care if it costs the shipping company 50 million to reroute there is no cargo on this planet that is worth the loss of one human life. Unless it's the cure for cancer or something. All lifeboats on ships entering US economic exclusion zone should be covered, self-righting self-bailing motorized, there should be one at the bow, one at the stern, and one on each side of the vessel that way it doesn't matter where you are when an emergency happens you have access to a life raft, they should have enough food and water on board to sustain everybody for 2 weeks, I don't care how much bigger they have to make them or how much it would cost the shipping companies, if they can add displacement for cargo during construction, they can add displacement for the crews safety during construction. The people that operate these vessels should be the priority. If it is not, they should not be allowed to enter our waters. Ships that sail under a flag of convenience should be required to meet minimum standards before they enter our economic exclusion zone. Cut them off from the money fountain. See how fast they change their standards. Impound ships and refuse to release them until agreements are made, the next time that ship enters U.S. Waters if the changes have not been made, the ship gets seized. And that company gets cut off from doing further trade in US ports. Hit them where it hurts, unfortunately that is the wallet. That's the only thing these people understand, or care about is money.
You play their game or lose your job - and you're prevented from ever having another one. I don't play the game in my company and there's certainly a bonus bounty on my head, as consequence. Good!
When you fire captains for putting safety above profit this is what you get, these sailors weren't the victim of mans hubris, they were sacrificed at the altar of the almighty dollar
But TOTE Maritime had previously been totally fine with Captain Davidson putting safety before speed. There is a trail of emails from the next to last transit to San Juan just a week before, in which Davidson told the company he was going to steer a safer course as a precaution, and they responded "Good decision - we agree." (And he didn't have to request permission from the company - it was entirely within his discretion.) So it's not at all clear why Davidson might have felt any pressure to take more risks, if indeed he did.
I was gonna write practically the same thing: Profit often kills - soI'm gonna add that makes me shudder to think of the bonfire of H+S regulations and oversight that the world's richest muskrat is about to start making in his "job" of cutting the US Federal budget, while he and his (temporary) master, the Don will ofcourse continue to travel in private jets and on private boats totally up todate in their safety and procedures...
@@humanbeing2420Watching Brick Immortars video, it came to light that TOTE was manufacturing a new class of ships that ran on LNG, and Captain Davidson wanted to captain one of those new ships. But a few weeks back, his safety mindset on a run to San Juan got him some reprimands on being too safe. It’s theorized (in Immortars video) that the pressure of wanting to become a captain of a new class of vessel led him to be more risky with his ship in this particular instance, and with the state of the ship as it was, as well as the change in course during the journey, well . . .
@@loganlove9986 You're right about the new class of ship that Davidson wanted to captain. But is it true that he was reprimanded? I read Rachel Slade's Into the Raging Sea - a well-written, highly detailed book about the tragedy - and I don't recall that. IIRC, she speculates that perhaps Davidson thought that getting to San Juan on time on this trip would increase his chances of getting that promotion, but i don't recall anything about TOTE having indicated that to Davidson, or reprimanding him.
hey just a question, have you done a video on the Edmund Fitzgerald, i searched but i didn't find it. if you haven't i'd love to see one because the Fitzgerald is one of my fav ships!
History Mystery Man does a series on the mighty Fitz every year around this time. His sit downs with Captain Darrel Walton (nephew of someone who is in her stern) are tremendous.
I'd love that too! Worked a few seasons on Lake Freighters when I was younger, and when the weather gets heavy, the Mighty Fitz is always in the back of everyone's mind. Not that there aren't hundreds of equally fascinating and tragic wrecks in the Great Lakes to look into, but she's the legend for a reason.
@@thing_under_the_stairs yeah!
@@Spike-sk7ql ty for letting me know
@@KingGodzillaFan what's pretty awesome, is if you live on or near the Great Lakes, you can see the Arthur M. Anderson still sailing the Lakes today. She was just in Buffalo last week, dropping off sand for the new stadium. When I see her though, is always in the western part of Lake Erie.
Good documentary of this tragedy. One item that was not mentioned here. but immediately caught world news once the wreck was examined was that the storm was so powerful that the entire bridge had been sheared off of the ship and rested on the sea floor about a quarter mile from the rest of the ship. I believe the image shown at 18:58 is the bridge, sitting by itself on the sea floor.
Thank you, Mike. Especially for including photos of the crew
Brick immortar did a fantastic job with this story. And so did you. Thanks for a great video. Rest in peace those that lost their lives.
Ships above the water are very interesting.
Ships under the water look weird.
We ❤ ships and Mike Brady (Pitt). 🎉.
Random thing about El Faro's captain - he apparently hailed from the same town I grew up in (Windham) but I was long gone before 2015 - actually, I was in central Europe of all places. I don't recall any of the opprobrium normally attached to him among locals though (my parents would have mentioned it).
I don't know why it always takes a blood sacrifice to see meaningful changes.
Or worse...you often don't see meaningful changes due to loss of life. One specific company may change it's methods (at least temporarily), or one business may fail, or a few people may get fired, but in the grand scheme of things...nothing often changes.
This is the one i’ve been waiting for! Such a fascinating tradegy, I can’t believe more people don’t know about it.
The VDR black box transcript of the El Faro is haunting... definitely worth the read.
This was incredibly chilling for some reason. Yoyr narration is so good, the phrasing too. Thanks for another outstanding video, Mike.
You've talked about it briefly before in a video about bad designs, but the HMS Captain disaster of 1870 deserves a longer video about it due to bureaucracy, mismanagement, over ambition, political strife between the navy and the public, and more, leading to deaths of 472 people with only 18 survivors. Just looking at the vessel, it was an inevitably doomed to become a deathtrap. More so considering the recent efforts in the last few years to locate the wreck, with a possible candidate matching the configurations discovered in 2022. It's a very fascinating story.
Another well-done episode, Mike and the OLD team. One of my favorite channels and I appreciate all the work you do to keep the content interesting, thought-provoking and well-researched.
Mr. Brady you legend. Commenters, why is that even when a ship is sinking, customer service workers are still beyond incompetent? I swear it sounded like her first day on the job
Tote maritime had no corporate safety policy in place for this sort of event. Captain was using out of date weather information, he was asking under the cloud of ambiguous messaging from the company about his possible promotion and he was very very hubristic about the conditions because of his previous experience in the Alaskan waters.
The cargo was horribly secured and the ship was poorly maintained. The executives’ terrible decision making coupled with the captain making poor course choices made this tragedy not inevitable, eminently possible, given the conditions here. It’s so sad.
Deeply sobering, Mike. Even with a captain of solid, reliable reputation, it only takes one mistake to send a ship to the bottom, and all seafarers live on time borrowed from the fates, and mother nature. Most times, that's enough for a lifetime, but not always. Rest in peace.
i held it together till the end. the hymm at the end did me in! 😢😢
A crossover of my two favorite meritime youtubers!
Fantastic video, I’ve been fascinated with the El Faro for a while now. Such a sad story, an overconfident captain with a unfit vessel in the worst situation. You’ve told the stories of so many ships. But I’ve barely seen anyone talk about the N.S Savannah. She never sank but she’s still a beautiful ship with an interesting past.
Thank you, Mr. Brady, for yet another riveting tale of life on the sea.
You are truly a gentleman to recommend Sam and "Brick Immortar." That type of respect for other creators and your audience is a true touchstone for integrity and the spreading of knowledge.
Nice overview and yes, I've seen Sam's Indepth documentary of this tragic shipwreck. Enjoyed them both.
Mike Brady is one of the few narratives I enjoy listening to. To bring this to us and make it real. Thank you❤
I’m currently in Rockland Maine closing up my summer home and I saw a new memorial to the crew of the El Faro today. O e of the crew was a kid from here in Rockland. RIP to all- except the captain.
I remember the news stories at the time this happened. So sad. Thank you Mike. Excellent video as usual.
El Faro's loss reminds me of the loss of USS Cyclops in 1918. We officially don't know what happened to the Cyclops, but the similarities to the El Faro is quite eerie. Cyclops left Rio de Janeiro with a full load of Manganese Ore on Feb. 16th. Cyclops was operating with her port engine while her starboard had been reported with a cracked engine cylinder and out of order. Horribly overloaded with Manganese Ore, she made an unscheduled stop Barbados due to the Plimsoll Line being underwater, but she had been given a clean bill at Rio. Somewhere between Barbados and Virginia, she vanished without a trace. The main difference is that El Faro has been found and surveyed, the Cyclops has had no trace of her ever found so far.
The U.S. Navy believes that the Cyclops was sunk due to an unexpected storm and sever structural loss from a combination of corroded I-Beams from the cargo and overload. More outlandish theories include the Bermuda Triangle, and German U-Boats. Germany has denied ever sighting Cyclops at an point during or after WWI.
One article from a descendent of one of the crew believes that after leaving Barbados, the Cyclops was steaming just Northeast of Puerto Rico and was caught in an offseason Hurricane. The Cyclops operating with one engine and overloaded was caught with nowhere to run. Waves crashed over the deck, sweeping away one or more cargo hatches/ covers allowing water to liquify the manganese ore. The ships length was just long enough to have a sizable distance between each wave allowed the ship's hull to snap and she sunk without warning taking all hands with her. This would indicate that the Cyclops disappeared into the Puerto Rico Trench which at its deepest point is the Milwaukee Deep at 28,675 ft (8.740 meters) or roughly 5 miles below the surface. The region is also an active fault zone, though the Puerto Rico Tench subduction zone hasn't seen a significant movement in over 200 years.
Regardless of what happened to the Cyclops, I do not believe that the mystical Bermuda Triangle had anything to due with her loss or the actions of her captain (Despite the claims he was a German sympathizer). The Cyclops' story feels to similar to the El Faro's in too many ways. The only differences being 97 years apart from each other and more modern technology in the El Faro's case. The Cyclops' sister Proteus and Nereus also vanished without a trace during WWII. Given that all three ships (Cyclops, Proteus, Nereus) all had corrosive ore cargos in their holds when they vanished, it is safe to say that they suffered hull failures in a storm or even calm seas and sank with little to no warning. Until all three sister or even one is found we will never truly know.
Cyclops couldn't have gone down in the Bermuda Triangle - that only happened in the 1970's.
@@humanbeing2420 True the legend of the Triangle became popular in the 70's, but talks about the Triangle first began in 1950. The area where the Cyclops and her sisters sank are still within that region or near it, namely the Puerto Rico to Miami portion of the Triangle. Many believers point to the Cyclops being one of the "original victims," (With the HMS Atlanta being the first) after a lot of digging into the phenomenon that is the Bermuda Triangle. It doesn't stop people from speculating and theorizing. We won't really know what happened to Cyclops or her sisters until their wrecks are found. I still believe a violent storm or sudden catastrophic hull failure did them in.
My Man, I would kill to see a Collab between you and Big Old Boats
Great work as usual. What a terrible loss.🎉
I’m so glad you finally covered this
This tragedy has encapsulated me ever since I saw brick immortars video…so intriguing
I wish you would’ve made it longer!
Thanks for adding the naval hymn at the end
Great video on the tragic loss of El Faro. Why didn't the captain steering away from the storm will be a mystery. Sam's video is just incredible. I watched it several times
How sad. They must have been so scared! RIP.
As 40 years a mariner, you don’t get scared until it is too late to correct the problem, and then it is too late.
It is just amazing that the captain nearly sailed his ship into the eye of the hurricane.
He was using weather information that was 12 hours old and he didn't know it. He thought they would pass south of the hurricane but instead they went directly into it.
@@humanbeing2420 Yes, except he even ignored the message from the coast guard telling him that he was sailing into a hurricane. That seems like something you would hold to a higher degree value than your weather app.
Rest in peace all those lost 😢 20:08
Wow, this one was a hard watch, but I couldn't put it down. Thanks for sharing these sailors' story, Mike.
Yet again Mike, fantastic production, absolutely thoroughly enjoyed it 👍👍👍👍
At first I was hesitant, since I'm a big Brick Immortar fan and his video, i thought, was THE telling of the El Faro. Yet again, Mike, you surprised me. I think your approach complements and adds to the tragic story of this tale. Especially the approach of a build up to the event; I wrote off the captain as a fool from Brick's video, but now i see it's much more nuanced. He wasn't so much a fool, perhaps compromised, but not a fool, and cared about his crew.
Can we just take a moment to appreciate how our friend Mike Brady takes what would otherwise be a rather dull topic into a fascinating video that I can actually watch all the way through
I was in College when this happened. It was so gut wrenching when they started piecing together what happened. I had always wondered what it was like to hear about the Edmund Fitzgerald going down in the 70s. Seeing it happening in real time with El Faro was so tragic. Rest in Peace sailors. 💙⚓️😢
Another great video from our friend Mike Brady! Great video man, as usual. The El Faro has always interested me more than any other ship wreck I know and can think of, and out of all the other videos on it that I’ve watched, this has been the best!
Our friend Mike Brady always provides us with well narrated, researched and produced videos. This one pulls the heartstrings and I'll watch the Brick Immortar video 👍
As a former merchant mariner, this story infuriates me on so many levels. Accidents can happen, but deliberating sailing into a hurricane is idiotic. The captain gambles because he thinks his job is at stake. This is precipitated by Tote Marine previously punishing the Capitan. The QI call was embarrassing. "Can you spell it (El Faro)". How do you not know the names of your ships? All the crew could do was helplessly watch as the Captain sailed the ship right into the storm.
Awesome episode Mike. El Faro is one of my favourite stories. Like anything it could have been avoided.
Just a quick nod to your improving skills with 3D modeling. I can absolutely see how far you've come from the 2.5D content. Keep up the great work!
Another one of your friends from Puerto Rico here. Love your videos!
@00:49 Whose space station is that? Nifty.
We don't discuss the black knight satellite....
the Fox Affiliate Korean Evener, or the F.A.K.E. Station to be specific.