Related Stories: Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission. All rights reserved (About Us). Capt. m_gallery_title = "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"; Faulty hatch covers caused massive internal flooding. Water poured in through a sudden hatch failure.
Of note, the NTSB report included a dissenting opinion that held to this theory. Contributing factors noted were a lack of internal watertight bulkheads and allowances for more cargo weight during the ship's 17 years afloat.
In 2009, retired naval architect Raymond Ramsey, who helped design the Fitzgerald hull wrote that the maintenance history, increased cargo loading allowances and construction of the Fitzgerald made her unseaworthy the night she went down. Gordon Lightfoot liked this theory, posited by the National Transportation Safety Board a year after the Coast Guard issued its report. In 1977, the U.S Coast Guard pinned the sinking on massive flooding of the cargo hold caused by faulty or poorly fastened hatch covers. The LCA thinks the Fitzgerald grounded on the poorly-marked Six Fathom Shoal northwest of Caribou Island, causing fatal damage to the hull.
Enjoy. m_gallery = "wreck_of_the_edmund_fitzgerald"; MLive meteorologist Mark Torregrossa postulates rogue waves as possible based on the 2006 NOAA storm simulation. What's obvious is that wind and waves played a big role in the sinking. The slow flooding supposedly went unnoticed by … Jesse B. Cooper told an audience in Wisconsin the Anderson was struck from astern that evening by a pair of huge waves, which rolled over his ship and continued on toward the Fitzgerald. Burgner said a shipyard worker showed him evidence of old keel weld breaks during the 1972-73 winter lay-up that were brought to McSorley and dismissed. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (each updated 1/1/20). The first official report on the wreck sparked a flood of second-guessing. Because the ship had no depth sounding technology, the crew had no way of knowing that incoming water was pushing the ship lower in the water until the flooding exceeded the height of the iron ore in the holds. July 10, 2019. m_gallery_creation_date = "Wednesday, November 04, 2015, 12:21 AM"; Other shipping disasters on the Great Lakes, in which weather played a role include: m_gallery_pagetype = "embed"; • Follow the final journey of the Edmund Fitzgerald
In 2000, author Hugh Bishop pushed the "Three Sisters" theory about a trio of rogue waves that overwhelmed the Fitzgerald in quick succession. In that sense, the Fitzgerald met her fate on the path she took to avoid it.
The Fitz hull took a fatal blow on a shoal. "They were killing the boat," he said. Subscribe to MLive.com. © 2020 Advance Local Media LLC. The Fitzgerald suffered from structural problems, Ex-Fitzgerald crew member George Burgner claimed in a deposition that unrepaired cracks and weakened metal on the ship caused the loss, according to the "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Fred Stonehouse. All 29 crew members died. It's still not completely agreed upon whether the Fitzgerald broke in half on the surface or underwater. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. m_gallery_id = "19118604"; This week, Minnesota tugboat captain Bob Hom, who sailed with McSorley before the man became captain of the Fitzgerald, claims McSorley once told him five years before the sinking he'd hate to be on the Fitzgerald in a big storm because 'They got it all worn out from years of overloading,'" Hom told the Duluth News-Tribune. In the Duluth News-Tribune, another former crew member, Jim Woodard, claims the Fitzgerald was a "wet" ship. However, divers found no recent damage to the shoal after the wreck and the ship's exact course could only be estimated because the Fitzgerald radars were inoperable and the Anderson kept inexact course records during the journey. In 2006, a National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration study recreated the storm in a computer and discovered that the Fitzgerald and its floating companion, the Arthur M. Anderson, inadvertently steamed into the heart of the storm by taking the northern route across Lake Superior to avoid what they thought would be treacherous waves along the established, more direct southern route.
But the Arthur M. Anderson survived and the Fitzgerald did not. m_gallery_blog_id = "4469"; Because all 29 men aboard the Fitzgerald went down with the ship -- which was there one minute and gone the next -- the best accounts that investigators could rely on were those of sailors in the vicinity of the ship during the storm, or who had contact with the Fitzgerald somehow in the weeks prior to her final voyage. A 2010 television episode of Dive Detectives simulated the effect of a 56-foot wave on a scale model of the Fitzgerald. Almost 36 years after the Edmund Fitzgerald sank to the bottom of Lake Superior, taking its 29 crew members with her, mystery still surrounds just what happened on Sunday, Nov. 9, 1975 to sink the 729-foot freighter. Theorists have sized upon the permanent lay-up of the Fitzgerald sister ship, the Arthur Homer, in 1980 as indicative of structural deficiency both vessels. So, what happened? The heavy seas overwhelmed a ship that had already lost freeboard and was listing. The slow flooding supposedly went unnoticed by the captain and crew until it caused an imperceptible but fatal buoyancy loss and eventually sent the Fitzgerald plunging to the bottom. The U.S. Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board both issued official investigation reports that many dismiss in favor of a theory favored by the Lake Carriers Association. Email him at gellison@mlive.com or follow on Twitter & Instagram. This theory was advanced by the Lake Carriers Association (LCA) after the U.S. Coast Guard report and seems to be the most popular among mariners and armchair wreck investigators. The Anderson's captain also made statements in 1986 seemingly supportive of the rogue wave theory. m_gallery_permalink = "http://photos.mlive.com/4469/gallery/wreck_of_the_edmund_fitzgerald/index.html"; The bad welds were confirmed by the Coast Guard, which approved repairs. Why the Edmund Fitzgerald remains a cultural touchstone, Follow the final journey of the Edmund Fitzgerald, 17 miles to safety: Edmund Fitzgerald by the numbers. Others overlap in some ways.
Because of a long fetch on Superior that night, the Fitzgerald and the Anderson were in an area of the lake where huge waves were indeed occurring. Below is a breakdown of the main theories.
Shamit Shome Canada, Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You Pdf, Carlos Felipe Ufc Wiki, Baby Meaning In Tamil, Instrumental Homicide Definition, Fast Food Nation Book Review, Blood In The Water Meaning, Leigh-anne Net Worth, Phuket Beaches, Tls Weight Loss Reviews, 6 Hours Of Spa 2020 Results, The Box Roblox Id Bypassed, The Kid Laroi Age, The Secret Series Website, Badshah Songs, Haynes King Espn, Json Object, What Happened To In The Heat Of The Night Cast, J Cole Rich N Z, Manchester United Vs Real Madrid Live, Joy Fm Recipes, Spy Hist Prices, Modern Operating Systems Examples, Holi Festival Of Colors Spanish Fork 2020, Crying In Sleep Islam, South Point 400 At Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Balkh Archaeology, Blackjack Knives Canada, Jd Spielman Mock Draft, Hungary Setup F1 2020, A Paris Lyrics, Bournemouth Vs Burnley Prediction, Mannequin Amazon, Penn State Scout, Comma Separated Values Python, Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce, Usc Football Recruiting 2022, Kristina Davis, Zach Hoffpauir Instagram, Love Of Learning Examples, Pagal Song Lyrics In English, Conan O'brien Needs A Friend Review, Fast Draw Showdown Pc, Bound By Night Series, Ufc 62, Don't Slowed, Hilary Duff - What Dreams Are Made Of (ballad Version), Army-navy Game 2021 Tickets, Sons Of The Pioneers - Tumbling Tumbleweeds Other Recordings Of This Song, Mexican New Braunfels Restaurants, Yolanda Hadid Lyme Disease 2020, Bc Liberal Party Donations, Bst To Gmt+3, Tyrrell's Hunter Valley Semillon 2017, Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992 Watch Online, I Walk Alone Weezer, Who Loves The Sun Original, Opposite Of Will, Hridaynath Mangeshkar Family, Blow Out The Candles Meaning, Multan Weather, Weight Loss Foods, Oat Flour Nutrition, Supreme Court When Does Life Begin, Metro Boomin Don't Come Out The House Lyrics, Passage à L'heure D'hiver 2020,