Edmund Fitzgerald Memorial and Beacon Lighting

[Music] [Music] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] good afternoon and welcome to Split Rock Lighthouse and our annual Edmund Fitzgerald Memorial Beacon Lighting we'd like to thank you all for attending in person or watching the stream online it has been 48 years since the Edmund Fitzgerald underwent her final journey across Lake Superior while the Edmund Fitzgerald is the best known shipwreck on Lake Superior she is only the most recent to occur with the loss of life Lake Superior is the largest and most treacherous of the Great Lakes it contains about 350 wrecks with about 50 of those in Minnesota Waters it is estimated that as many as 10,000 shipwrecks lie at the bottom of all the Great Lakes before we move into our ceremony we'd like to highlight how the tragedy of the sinking of the Edmund fitzgeral directly impacts the work of the US Coast Guard and the maritime Community today to do this I would like to introduce Commander Jared dewitz commanding officer of the US Coast Guard Marine safety unit out of duth Commander dtz is the captain of the port and the officer in charge of marine inspections for the Western Lake Superior tri state area well good evening and thank you director it is a pleasure and an honor to be here today this is an amazing turnout I am I'm floored this is fantastic um this is the first time the Coast Guard has participated in this event and I just want to recognize the folks here on the stairs they represent most of the units here in duth there's the AIDS to navigation team there's the mar Marine safety unit there's the Coast Guard Cutter Spar and the Coast Guard Station duth here with us today so 22 or so of our folks please Round of [Applause] Applause so the weather today is pretty pretty favorable for a middle of November but I want to take us back to 1975 for those that don't know two days prior the National Weather Service indicated a storm was developing over the Oklahoma Panhandle that predicted a typical November storm that would pass just south of Lake Superior on the evening of the 10th it was no typ iCal storm as we soon found out only 17 mil from White Fish Bay the winds were reportedly as high as 66 mph BL uh blinding snowfall that limited visibility ships were rolling and pitching through a barrage of 25 foot icy waves the ship's Master Captain murle with over 40 years of sea time having capped in nine different Lakers hailed over the radio shortly before losing Communications I have a bad list lost both Radars and I'm taking Heavy Seas over the deck one of the worst Seas I've ever been in this was no typical storm it is important to note that these Lakers were built to handle any conditions the lake would throw at them from the designed thickness of Steel to the detailed stability calculations to the well-trained and seasoned Sailors that navigate on and around but when a series of independent failures align at the same time you get what we call the Swiss cheese effect and that's when casualties occur immediately following the major loss like the big fits the Coast Guard forms a Marine Board of Investigation to collect facts and evidence determine the cause and ultimately make recommendations to the commod on how to prevent future occurrences the Fitz investigation uncovered many safety concerns but I wanted to quickly capture some elements of then and now in terms of life- saving while experienced Mariners take up positions on the watch quarter station Bill the thought of emergencies were not at the Forefront in 1975 often times training on launching and operations of life saving equipment was not even done it's hard to believe that adequate inwater protective equipment was not required now when Crews sign aboard they are issued individual immersion suits and abandoned ships are done routinely probably at nauseum if you ask any of the crew members but they are prepared it's hard to believe that the fits did not have a depth sounder installed on board 1975 Noah charts did not have very good Shing indicators and once a ship lost communication and presumably sank there was no way for anyone to know for sure the Arthur M Anderson's crew heavily involved in the efforts to valiantly guide the fits could not confirm her status uh and this likely caused delay in the response efforts with all that said the technology has now allowed our ships to have real-time electronic charting that is accurate up to centimeters with alarms and signals for grounding and collision avoidance they also carry electronic position indicating devices that will float free automatically uh to rapidly assist with immediate notification in search and rescue lastly it is well known that a major contributing factor to the sinking of the fits is the loss of buoyancy resulting from massive flooding in its cargo holds the watertight envelope of a ship is critical to combat Seas washing across the decks over time the steel experiences wastage or damage that can compromise this nowadays these ships are thoroughly inspected and require uh to have high level alarms and cargo holds inside their cargo holds as well as the ability to remove that water the work my team continues to do in our shipyards alongside our Shipyard workers and our operators keep this Swiss cheap from ever aligning again just last winter our senior inspector discovered serious wastage around the hatch combings of a ship that was in the winter layup and it was eerily similar to the fits eliminating one unsafe condition can prevent a catastrophic failure so as we stand here today nearly 50 years after after the tragic loss of the big fits this casualty became a beacon of change to improve Maritime safety standards for for our Great Lakes Mariners and ships upon which they sail so that they can contribute to continue to safely move steel and Grain and ultimately preserve our national security with that I'd like to post the Coast Guard colors on behalf of of the Minnesota historical society and everyone that enjoys all the lake has to offer I would like to thank you commander dtz and your entire Coast Guard team for what you do to keep the Great Lake [Applause] safe now as We Gather to remember the crew of the Fitzgerald I'd like to take a moment to explain the tradition of the muster of the last walk the muster is a traditional nautical ceremony of remembrance to honor the Lost crewman while lost at sea including the ringing of a ship's Bell traditionally if the crew was lost while the vessel was underway the ship's Bell was rung when the crew when the Lost crewman's watch was mustard and his name was called for the first time following his loss the ringing of the Bell took place of the crewman answering I I so the so his place in the watch was not lost when a vessel in all hands are lost such as the Edmund Fitz shil on this day 48 years ago the ceremon is performed for the entire crew usually ashore it is referred to as the muster of the last watch and it honors the crew by name to this we have added a 30th and final toll for all the Lost Sailors on the great lakes and the lighting of the decommissioned Split Rock Lighthouse Beacon at the conclusion of the muster of the last watch we will proceed the muster of the last watch with the singing of the Navy Hymn by Paul Waterman Roger reinard devonni O'Brien Aaron bav and Aaron blavic after the beacon is lit the lighthouse will reopen and remain open until 6 p.m. before we do this I would like to invite Roger Riner to explain the tradition of the Navy Hymn thank you Hayes again with me today are Paul Aaron and devony we come together once a year to form the lighthouse quartet and have been doing that for over a decade now and it's our honor to participate in this solom Memorial the hymn we are about to sing is Eternal Father Strong to Save It Was Written in 1860 by William Whiting Whiting grew up near the ocean on the coast of England and at the age of 35 felt his life had been spared when a violent storm nearly claimed the ship he was traveling on this instilled for him a belief and God's command over the rage and the calm of the sea years later he was approached by a student about to travel to the United States who confided in him an overwhelming fear of the ocean Voyage Whiting shared his experiences of the ocean and sub subsequently wrote this hymn to Anchor his faith the hymn is traditionally associated with seaf farers in the maritime Services multiple armed services have adopted the hymn to include the United States Navy accordingly it is also commonly referred to as the Navy Hymn and is sung at the end of every service in the Naval Academy Chapel the hymn has a long tradition in the civilian Maritime context as well and is regularly invoked by ship's chaplain and sung during services on Ocean [Music] Crossings ET [Music] father whose arm B the Restless way who the mighty oan deep it own appoint Li keep oh he us when we cry to thee for those in on the oh savior who Mighty word the winds and waves of who on the foing deep and Cal the storm sleep oh he us when we cry to thee for those in Peril on the sea oh s Spirit who upon the chaos dark and rude Who it Angry Tom and give light and life and peace oh he us when we cry to thee for those in on the Sea trity of Love and Power our Breen shield in [Music] dangers from Rock and Tempest fire and protect them where they go th shall rise to the Glad h of Praise from Land and Sea [Music] [Applause] we will now muster the last watch of the Edmund Fitzgerald Michael E armagost third [Music] mate Frederick J beer [Music] Porter Thomas Benson [Music] Oiler Edward E bendon first assistant engineer Thomas d borgus AB maintenance man Oliver J shampo third assistant [Music] engineer Nolan F Church [Music] Porter Ransom e cundi [Music] Watchman Thomas E Edwards second assistant [Music] engineer Russell G hll second assistant [Music] engineer George J hall chief engineer Bruce L Hudson [Music] deand Allan G colan second [Music] cook Gordon F mclen [Music] wiper Joseph W Maisy special maintenance man John H McCarthy first [Music] mate Captain Ernest M Murley [Music] Master Eugene W O'Brien wheelsman Carl Ackle [Music] Watchman John J Povich [Music] wheelsman James a pratt second [Music] mate Robert C raferty [Music] stward Paul M rip [Music] deckhand John D Simmons [Music] wheelsman William J Spangler [Music] Watchman Mark a Thomas [Music] deckhand Ralph G Walton oil [Music] David E Weiss Cadet Blaine H Wilhelm [Music] Oiler we'll have a final toll for all those lost Sailors on the Great Great [Music] Lakes [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] 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Channel: Minnesota Historical Society

Views: 13,822

Keywords: Edmund Fitzgerald, Split Rock Lighthouse, Lake Superior, Lighthouses, US Coast Guard

Id: 9-vlCTWD9wI

Length: 75min 45sec (4545 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 10 2023