Sat - December 11, 2004
The Waterway
Only three navigational charts covering the area
between Michipicoten Island and Whitefish Bay are available.
Posted at 09:56 PM Read More
The Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection
The Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection issued on
April 9, 1975, authorized the FITZGERALD to carry 49 persons, although it had
only 29 crewmen aboard on November 10, 1975.
Posted at 09:54 PM Read More
The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald
Because of the weather conditions following the
sinking of the FITZGERALD and because the wreckage was lying on the bottom of
Lake Superior in 530 feet of water, a comprehensive examination of the damage to
the FITZGERALD was not undertaken until May 1976.
Posted at 09:51 PM Read More
The Weather in November 1975
On November 8, 1975, a storm was generated over the
Oklahoma Panhandle. By 0700 on November 9, the storm was centered over
south-central Kansas and the National Weather Service (NWS) predicted that the
storm would travel in a northeasterly direction and pass just south of Lake
Superior by 1900 on November 10.
Posted at 09:48 PM Read More
Tue - December 7, 2004
NTSB Accident Report - November 10,1975
About 1915 EST., on November 10, 1975, the Great
Lakes bulk cargo vessel SS EDMUND FITZGERALD, fully loaded with a cargo of
taconite pellets, sank in eastern Lake Superior in position 46 59.91 N, 85
06.6’W, approximately 17 miles from the entrance to Whitefish Bay,
Michigan. The ship was en route from Superior, WI, to Detroit, MI, and had been
proceeding at a reduced speed in a severe storm. All the vessel’s 29
officers and crewmembers are missing and presumed dead. No distress call was
heard by vessels or shore stations.
The Safety Board considered many factors during the investigation including stability, hull strength, operating practices, adequacy of weathertight closures, hatch cover strength, possible grounding, vessel design, loading practices, and weather forecasting.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the sudden massive flooding of the cargo hold due to the collapse of one or more hatch covers. Before the hatch covers collapsed, flooding into the ballast tanks and tunnel through topside damage and flooding into the cargo hold through non-weathertight hatch covers caused a reduction of freeboard and a list. The hydrostatic and hydrodynamic forces imposed on the hatch covers by heavy boarding seas at this reduced freeboard and with the list caused the hatch covers to collapse.
Contributing to the accident was the lack of transverse weathertight bulkheads in the cargo hold and the reduction of freeboard authorized by the 1969, 1971, and 1973 amendments to the Great Lakes Load Line Regulations
The Safety Board considered many factors during the investigation including stability, hull strength, operating practices, adequacy of weathertight closures, hatch cover strength, possible grounding, vessel design, loading practices, and weather forecasting.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the sudden massive flooding of the cargo hold due to the collapse of one or more hatch covers. Before the hatch covers collapsed, flooding into the ballast tanks and tunnel through topside damage and flooding into the cargo hold through non-weathertight hatch covers caused a reduction of freeboard and a list. The hydrostatic and hydrodynamic forces imposed on the hatch covers by heavy boarding seas at this reduced freeboard and with the list caused the hatch covers to collapse.
Contributing to the accident was the lack of transverse weathertight bulkheads in the cargo hold and the reduction of freeboard authorized by the 1969, 1971, and 1973 amendments to the Great Lakes Load Line Regulations
Posted at 06:41 PM Read More
Sun - December 5, 2004
The Great Lakes Storm Season
During October, November and December, it is not
uncommon for powerful storms to track northeast across the Great Lakes region.
Building arctic air masses across Alaska and Canada surge southeast into the
Rockies and Plains States more frequently. At the same time, the still very warm
waters of the Gulf of Mexico provide a source of heat and considerable moisture
to fuel the development of low pressure systems riding the leading edge of the
arctic air masses.
Posted at 08:07 PM Read More
Thu - December 2, 2004
The Loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald
The Coast Guard conducted a thorough search in the
next several days. On the 14th, a U.S. Navy plane with a special magnetic
anomaly detector located a strong contact about 17 miles northwest of Whitefish
Point. During the next three days, the Coast Guard cutter
Woodrush
located two large pieces of wreckage in the same area under about 535 feet of
water. A Navy underwater recovery vehicle on May 20, 1976, photographed the
wreckage. The pictures clearly showed the words "Edmund Fitzgerald on the stern
piece of the sunken ship.
Posted at 06:26 PM Read More
Wed - December 1, 2004
The shipwreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
The
Fitzgerald
began Sunday, November 9, 1975, loading 26,116 tons of taconite at the
Burlington Northern Railroad Dock #1 in Superior, WI. On this 40th voyage in her
17th season, the
Fitzgerald’s
destination was a steel plant on Zug Island in the Detroit River. The weather
that morning was cloudy and cool with a light northeast wind. However, a
deepening storm system was already taking shape in the central
Plains.
Posted at 07:50 PM Read More
Tue - November 30, 2004
There were none like the Edmund Fitzgerald and none since
The Edmund
Fitzgerald was launched on June 7, 1958, from
the Great Lakes Engineering Works at River Rouge, MI, a suburb on the south side
of Detroit.
Posted at 07:07 PM Read More
It was a cold and rainy night in November...
... and the ships that were not in dock, were
riding the ever-growing waves as the storm raged across Lake
Superior.
Posted at 06:55 PM Read More
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Published On: Dec 11, 2004 09:58 PM
Published On: Dec 11, 2004 09:58 PM