40 years ago today the Edmund Fitzgerald disappeared into Superior depths 11.10.75

wfgodot

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Edmund Fitzgerald: The Shipwreck that Never Gave Up Its Dead

40 years ago today, in her 17th year and 40th voyage, the ore freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior, taking with her all 29 members of the crew. Once the longest freighter on the Great Lakes at 729 feet, the ship was torn in half during a storm on November 10, 1975 and plunged into the black depths before the crew could escape or send out a distress signal.

What sank the Fitzgerald? One of the prevailing theories is that it was hit by a series of three consecutive rogue waves, a phenomenon called “three sisters,” which was reported by another nearby ship.
---
more, with pics, video at link

[video=youtube;hgI8bta-7aw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgI8bta-7aw[/video]
 
And there begins the song in my head, at least the last words of the refrain, ...."the wreck of the Ella FitzGERALD." Off to look up the lyrics.....:D


PS....rogue waves...every captain's fear, the sea at its most unpredictable and fierce awesome.
 
Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald

Music and lyrics ©1976 by Gordon Lightfoot


The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they called "Gitche Gumee."
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
when the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty,
that good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
when the "Gales of November" came early.

The ship was the pride of the American side
coming back from some mill in Wisconsin.
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
with a crew and good captain well seasoned,
concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
when they left fully loaded for Cleveland.
And later that night when the ship's bell rang,
could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
and a wave broke over the railing.
And ev'ry man knew, as the captain did too
'twas the witch of November come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
when the Gales of November came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
in the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came the old cook came on deck
Sayin' "Fellas, it's too rough t'feed ya."
At seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in; he said,
(**2010 lyric change: At 7 p.m., it grew dark, it was then he said,)"Fellas, it's bin good t'know ya!"
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
and the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when 'is lights went outta sight
came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does any one know where the love of God goes
when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
if they'd put fifteen more miles behind 'er.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
they may have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
in the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
the islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
with the Gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
in the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral."
The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times
for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they call "Gitche Gumee."
"Superior," they said, "never gives up her dead
when the gales of November come early!"

http://gordonlightfoot.com/wreckoftheedmundfitzgerald.shtml
 
Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald

Music and lyrics ©1976 by Gordon Lightfoot


The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they called "Gitche Gumee."
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
when the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty,
that good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
when the "Gales of November" came early.

The ship was the pride of the American side
coming back from some mill in Wisconsin.
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
with a crew and good captain well seasoned,
concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
when they left fully loaded for Cleveland.
And later that night when the ship's bell rang,
could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
and a wave broke over the railing.
And ev'ry man knew, as the captain did too
'twas the witch of November come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
when the Gales of November came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
in the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came the old cook came on deck
Sayin' "Fellas, it's too rough t'feed ya."
At seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in; he said,
(**2010 lyric change: At 7 p.m., it grew dark, it was then he said,)"Fellas, it's bin good t'know ya!"
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
and the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when 'is lights went outta sight
came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does any one know where the love of God goes
when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
if they'd put fifteen more miles behind 'er.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
they may have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
in the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
the islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
with the Gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
in the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral."
The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times
for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they call "Gitche Gumee."
"Superior," they said, "never gives up her dead
when the gales of November come early!"

http://gordonlightfoot.com/wreckoftheedmundfitzgerald.shtml


My day is whole. :)
 
So sad, what a beautiful song and tribute. Rip to the 29 strong and brave men who lost their lives on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
 
Came across this today, what a moving story: http://www.jsonline.com/news/wiscon...d-fitzgerald-wreck-b99610846z1-343326082.html

It was the last time I would see him.

A month later, on Nov. 7, he received a call that the cook scheduled to work on the SS Edmund Fitzgerald was sick. Allen, the second cook, would replace him. Hours later, he walked the gangplank of the mighty ship, and on the 9th headed out of Superior en route to a steel mill on Zug Island, near Detroit. The following evening — 40 years ago Tuesday — the Fitzgerald went down. All 29 crew members perished, Allen George Kalmon among them. He was 43.

I've had Gordon Lightfoot's song stuck in my head all day. It's one of my favorite campfire songs (yes, kind of dorky, but sometimes my friends and I sing campfire songs -- we even have a songbook).
 
Interesting radio transmissions with the Coast Guard reporting the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald and the search and rescue effort.

[video=youtube;CK3dZ0YwOwI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK3dZ0YwOwI[/video]
 
Hot damn I am old! I was 19 years old when the Edmund Fitzgerald sunk. Gordon Lightfoot's song was in heavy rotation.

I wish we all had the internet back then as I would have learned a whole lot more.

Thanks for remembering, wfgodot!
 
Michigan anticipates high winds, rain, snow as part of strong storm system moving into Midwest

National Weather Service issues gale warnings for Great Lakes region until Thursday morning


SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. -
Forecasters say Michigan will see high winds and rain mixed with snow as part of a strong storm system moving into the Midwest.

The National Weather Service issued gale warnings for the Great Lakes region that are in effect until Thursday morning...

http://www.clickondetroit.com/weath...ong-storm-system-moving-into-midwest/36380362
 
Hot damn I am old!

Thanks for remembering, wfgodot!
snip

Lol, and you're welcome; as for the former, I almost introduced the OP with the words, "Something else to make us feel old"!
 
[video=youtube;Q3uOnnIv5Qs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3uOnnIv5Qs[/video]
 

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