The Edmund Fitzgerald Mystery

on the 10th of november 1975 the largest ship to ever sink on the great lakes slipped under the waters of lake superior and took every member of its crew with it the exact cause was a mystery that spawned a massive investigation but the truth remains shrouded even to this day this vessel the edmund fitzgerald remains a stark reminder of the dangers the mariners face when going to sea on the waters of the great lakes the great lakes how do you describe something so vast to someone unfamiliar with them these aren't simple run-of-the-mill backyard freshwater lakes they're as vast as seas i could tell you they are the largest freshwater system in the world and contains 84 of north america's fresh water in fact they contain 20 percent of the world's fresh water the largest lake is the largest lake in the world based on surface area this lake aptly named lake superior could fit the four smaller lakes of the great lakes inside of it it's 350 miles wide 160 miles long its average shoreline is 2726 miles long and it's an average of 500 feet deep and a max of 1332 feet deep but those are just numbers they don't give you a true scope of the lakes or an idea of how dangerous they are what about the fact that the lakes are home to an estimated 6 000 shipwrecks in the graves of nearly 30 000 sailors these massive freshwater seas are more dangerous than most would believe and yet they are nonetheless extremely useful around 125 million tons of cargo are shipped across the great lakes every year forty percent of that being produced from america's breadbasket things like wheat corn oats and soybeans but another forty percent are minerals and important ores iron taconite coal salt and stone fueling the us's huge industrial machine in fact our story centers around a massive powerhouse in that industry ordered on february 1st of 1957 by the northwest mutual life insurance company the ss edmund fitzgerald was going to be an absolute behemoth of a lake freighter at the time she was designed to be exactly one foot less than the maximum allowable limit on the great lakes 729 feet this being because the locks in sault ste marie michigan often just called the sioux locks were 730 feet her beam was the maximum allowed limit of 75 feet at the time of her commissioning she was the largest ship on the great lakes she would be a whopping 13 632 tons and could carry well over 25 000 tons in her hold she had a crew of 29 and it was driven by massive steam turbine engines that pushed her along at 14 knots named after the president ceo of the northwestern mutual life insurance company edmund fitzgerald the man had a vested interest in great lakes shipping his grandfather and five of his brothers were all mariners on the great lakes on top of that his company had large stakes in the coal in iron ore industries which would explain why they were willing to fit the bill for the 8.4 million dollar ship just over 81 million dollars when adjusted for inflation laid down on the 7th of august 1957 she was commissioned the 7th of june 1958. now this was where the superstitious type may take note her commissioning did not go off without a hitch there were a few clear issues a crowd of an estimated 10 000 people watched from set up grandstands from the piers even some watching from rooftops to see the mighty fits launched but when it came time for elizabeth fitzgerald edmund fitzgerald's wife to break the ceremonial bottle of champagne across the bow it took three tries but the leery ceremony had only just started the ship slid down the slipway and entered the water at a dangerous looking angle after self-riding it sent a wave into the opposite pier and slammed into it there was a wave of shock and excitement and a middle-aged man from toledo even had a heart attack and died it was foreboding to say the least any older mariner will of course tell you a bad christening is a sign of bad luck but in spite of her precarious christening ceremony she continued to be outfitted the company in the famous words of john hammond spared no expense her massive power plant would make her one of the fastest freighters on the lakes at the time her pilot house had the most advanced navigational and charting equipment as well as top of the line radio and communications equipment the fitz's interior could honestly be described as lavish two guest state rooms a guest lounge a comfortable captain's office and quarters there was a laundry room and recreational deck and the crew staterooms were larger than industry standards there were two-person rooms with deep pile carpeting many featuring tile bathrooms and personal showers all of them were air-conditioned they were furnished well with a desk bookcases chairs and a closet the lounges featured leather seats and recliners drape covered portholes and a large panoramic stern-facing window that showed a beautiful view of the lake they also had a full kitchen with all the amenities to provide meals to the two dining rooms on board the ships would be released by the oglebee norton mineral firm for a 25-year contract they immediately made it the flagship of its columbia transportation division fleet the lavish and large behemoth was considered a reward to be attached to they stacked their crewless with the most skilled and proven mariners in their fleet she would make her maiden voyage on the 22nd of september 1958 leaving her birth in the rouge river near detroit michigan and sailing to silver bay minnesota to retrieve a load of taconite iron ore her very first trip the ship set a great lakes tonnage record the first of many records the mighty fitz was set to those in service in the great lakes fleet and to those living in lakeshore communities around the great lakes fitzgerald became something of a folk icon the red and white monolithic vessel captured fascination and attention wherever she passed carrying cargo loads that were thought to be impossible prior to her creation she remained the largest until 1971 the whole time embodying the industrious spirit of the great lakes manufacturing and the united states onlookers would line the sioux locks to watch the ship pass through she was even nicknamed the singing ship due to her captain peter pulser pulsar assumed command in 1966 and drove a tough ship setting a single hall record of over 30 000 tons four times in 1969 the fits held a yearly hull record of one million three hundred and forty nine thousand four hundred and four tons but captain pulsar was an eccentric and friendly skipper to boost morale he often piped music over the ship's loudhailer whilst passing through the sioux locks he was known to go onto the bridge wings with a megaphone to give facts and information to onlookers as they pass through he remarked fondly that he still received letters about this well into his retirement the fitz would receive numerous nicknames over her career the toledo express the pride of the american side and of course mighty fitz she was the pinnacle of great lakes shipping even into 1971 when she was refitted from coal firing to fuel oil fired only increasing her speed and endurance by 1975 the fitz was still well into her prime not even done with her initial contract and not even a third of the way through her expected service life one that could have easily lasted into our modern day the 9th of november 1975 at 0 8 30 the big fits is moored at the burlington northern railroad docks she begins loading 26 116 tons of tack knight for a trip from superior wisconsin across lake superior through the lox and south to detroit michigan the process of loading was lengthy as it always was the loading foreman and deck boss working in tandem to ensure the proper distribution of ore throughout the massive ship's hull too much to one side or the other and she'd risk capsizing of course but too much along the center line or midships and she'd drag belly out of the port or worse hog and break her back something that had killed several ships before her but by 1415 six hours later she was hauling in her lines underway making way as they passed out the breakwater a janis armagost stood on the breakwater with her two kids she was hoping to catch a glimpse of her husband michael armagost the third mate but failing to see him she yelled to a deckhand asking where mike was he responded that he was below dex janus would be the last person to see any of the edmond fitzgerald's crew alive at command of the fits was captain ernest mcsorley age 63. the toledo native captain took the reins from his predecessor captain pulser in 1972 and ran a completely different ship he maintained a customary distance from the crew maintaining a professional atmosphere he was a good businessman too with his mind on scheduling and timetables the company saw him in good favor as he ensured the vessel stayed profitable but he wasn't disliked or even off-putting he was very respected for his skills and professionalism the season would soon be over this was likely one of fitzgerald's last trips before putting up for winter layover the time of year when ships either dry docked or docked for the winter to receive repairs the locks would close and the lakes would freeze over up until the spring thaw there was rumor that this would be the skipper's last season captain mcsorley had been to sea since he was 18 and a captain of ships since 1951 the weather that day had looked promising the national weather service had been tracking a big november storm but predicted it would pass south of lake superior but by the late hours of the 9th that proved to be false the barometer was quickly dropping and it was evident that the storm would hit superior and hard around 1630 another freighter the freighter arthur m anderson would be departing two harbors minnesota just ahead of the edmund fitzgerald but heading on a parallel course the slightly older anderson was initially shorter than fitzgerald upon construction but after a refit she was lengthened to be a bit longer than fitzgerald though was noticeably slower she would be passed by big fits before too long as they steamed together towards the locks the fitzgerald heading for detroit and the anderson for gary indiana the captain of the anderson was captain jesse bernie cooper a veteran of the business just as assuredly as captain mcsorley he knew the capabilities of his own ship as well as the edmund fitzgerald and while he wasn't afraid of the weather system approaching the superior lake he knew to respect november storms just as well as any mariner of the lakes that were worth their salt he kept his eye on it even as the fits passed her and took the lead as the day of the 9th turned into the tenth the two ships began to communicate both ships were equipped with weather observation and reporting equipment used by the national weather service to assist in tracking and reporting weather systems across the great lakes the two skippers agreed that the storm looked like it would be a doozy together they altered their course to hug the canadian shore to try and shelter from the encroaching weather system but as cooper tracked the storm he knew they would get hit before they could reach the relative safety of whitefish bay michigan november storms aren't just passing squalls on the lakes both mcsorley and cooper knew this as the waves built and the winds blew one could likely stand on the bridge and look aft at the spar deck with her many deck coverings if you watch you'd likely see the ship bowing the deck bouncing up and down as the rear deck house rose and fell but believe it or not that was a good thing the two captains would likely remember a time when big straight deck freighters were in heavy november storms and they didn't flex november 18 1958 the carl d bradley was underway in lake michigan heading north the ship was 639 feet and built in 1927 and this wasn't its first storm steaming from gary indiana to manitowoc the ship was thrust into the path of two converging storms the temperature plunged with the barometer winds skyrocketed and seas swelled as the bradley steamed north she was harangued by winds in the excess of 50 knots and 25 to 30 foot seas at around 1700 the first mate noticed that the stern of the ship was sagging in horror the captain looked back to watch his ship split in half he sounded the alarm and ordered an abandoning of the ship the stern swamped too quickly to launch the two lifeboats there a life raft was tossed off the bow and four sailors piled in as the stricken freighter slipped beneath the four men battled through the night being tossed from the raft over and over and swimming back through the cold water over and over at some point during the night one man failed to clamber back into the raft and then another by daybreak the coast guard found only two out of the 33 crewmen aboard the rest were lost to the lake in a shockingly similar incident the 630 foot ss daniel j morrell was steaming north on lake huron for thunder bay michigan on the 29th of november 1966. just like the carl d bradley she was in a november storm nose into the seas and flexing with the waves similarly the ship shuttered and flexed going into her death thoros at two in the morning panicked crew men leapt into the 34 degree water where they would never be seen again four men loaded into a raft on the bow waiting for the ship to sink bizarrely the men spotted a ship sailing past in the storm only to realize it was the aft section of the morel split free with her engine still pushing her ahead the ship sank beneath the four men left to bob and lake huron in the heavy cold storm the ship was reported overdue and the u.s coast guard began a search locating the life raft 40 hours later they hopped on board and found only watchmen dennis hale had survived half frozen wearing only boxers a pea coat and a life jacket his three shipmates had frozen to death a subsequent survey of the wreck had found the stern section had sailed five nautical miles before sinking two massive freighters two november storms two huge losses of life the lake was infamous for november storms and here fitzgerald and anderson found themselves in one flexing as they forged their way through but unlike the morel and the bradley these ships flexing were actually a good thing the truth is being built in 1927 and 1906 respectively these ships were almost pioneers some of the earliest and largest lake freighters they were built from rigid brittle steel the ships were made to not flex so traveling over these large 20 to 35 foot seas put their keels under immense strain as they hogged and sagged eventually something was going to yield their keels or the seas the anderson and fitzgerald being built in the 50s meant they were built with superior steel and designed to flex in heavy seas and as the ships came about and steamed south into the eye of the storm aiming for whitefish bay flecks they did by this time the faster edmund fitzgerald had passed the arthur m anderson but both ships were within radio and radar range and were conversing regularly about the deteriorating weather the winds had jumped up to 40 knots and waves were easily 10 to 12 foot in height but they were coming from the south putting the bowels of the ships into the seas which despite a bit rougher was actually better for stability and steerage the captain bernie of the anderson contacted mcsorley predicting that once the storm progressed the winds would likely shift by almost 180 degrees and his prediction would turn out nearly spot on as night turned today the ships began approaching the islands outside whitefish bay mitchumpikotan island and caribou island the depth of superior giving way to shallower shoals and of course shallower water leads to higher building seas by 1400 the ships had passed through the eye of the storm the winds shifted by this time they were coming from the north at 42 knots giving them a long fetch and plenty of open water to build creating a substantial stern sea as the ships passed into the shallows around the islands at this time snow began to fall pretty heavily on the lake the arthur m anderson crew lost visual sighting of the edmund fitzgerald this would be the last time anyone saw the ship they could only see her on radar from then on by 1500 captain cooper decided to bring his ship farther to the east putting her slightly a beam of the winds and seas and necessary risk as the man saw it trying to avoid the infamous six fathom shoal that ran close to caribou island a fathom of course being a measurement of six feet meaning under average conditions the six fathom shoal was around 36 feet deep the exact draft of the arthur m anderson the fitzgerald draft was a less substantial 26 feet but one should also consider the nature of the growing seas dropping into a 10 to 15 foot trough of a swell would bring the ship's keel dangerously close to the bottom but inexplicably based upon radar plot from the anderson's bridge fitzgerald didn't do the same but in fact turned slightly towards caribou island but unfortunately because they didn't log the radar plot this is all based purely on the crew's testimony but according to captain cooper he vehemently believed that the fitzgerald passed directly over the sixth bathum shoal by now cooper was on the bridge as well as the first mate and second mate they watched the radar nervously to see if the ship stopped or slowed to their dismay at 15 30 the voice of captain mcsorley came over the radio according to the captain they had a railing down on the spar deck had lost a few vent covers or taking on water enough to make the mighty fits list he stated he would check down or reduce speed so that the slower anderson could catch up with her captain cooper asked if he had energized his dewatering pumps to which mcsorley responded yes both of them cooper agreed to catch up to the fitzgerald which by now was around 17 nautical miles ahead of the anderson both ships were about four to five hours from the relative safety of whitefish bay but the issues would only be compounded fitzgerald once again called the arthur m anderson less than an hour later ernest mcsorley informed bernie cooper that both of his radars were inoperable and that he was driving blind asking if the anderson could assist in navigating the fits with her own radar which of course they agreed to by 1630 it was growing dark that coupled with the driving snow meant visibility may as well have been none the winds were locked at 58 knots from the north driving the stern seas to a terrifying 12 to 18 feet shortly after their conversation captain mcsorley called the coast guard station at grand marie michigan he had been attempting to use his radio direction finding equipment to get a fix off the beacon on whitefish point but couldn't receive the signal without his radar this would be one of his only ways of navigating but the coast guard reported that the beacon was offline and they were trying to get it back up and running mcsorley was navigating blind by 1700 the arthur m anderson recorded that she was around 15 nautical miles to the stern of edmund fitzgerald still assisting in navigating the stricken ship with their own radar as they slowly closed the distance by now the seas were growing waves flowing over the spar decks of bull ships by 1800 captain cooper laid below as the first mate maintained the watch reporting that the seas were as high as 25 feet by 1900 fitzgerald was only around an hour from the safety of whitefish bay the first mate on the anderson called captain mcsorley to inform him that the fitz was around 10 nautical miles ahead of them and around 15 nautical miles from the lee of chris point ten minutes after that in 1910 the anderson picked up a contact on her raider farther to the south calling the fitzgerald he passed on there's a target 19 miles ahead of us so the target is nine miles on a head captain mcsorley asked well am i going to clear to which the mate responded yes he's going to pass to the west of you fitzgerald responded with a simple well fine offhandedly the mate asked before signing off oh by the way how are you making out with your problems to which mcsorley responded we are holding our own this was the last anyone heard from the crew of the edmund fitzgerald the mate signed off with okay fine i'll be talking to you later by the end of this conversation the captain returned to the bridge to which he observed the radar contact of the fitzgerald around nine nautical miles ahead shortly thereafter snow subsided and visibility opened up dramatically the bridge crew on the anderson searched for the lights of the fitzgerald but couldn't see them only spotting a handful of northbound freighters the nan free the ben-free and the avaphors captain cooper immediately believed the fitzgerald had lost power and told everyone to keep an eye out for a silhouette in 1920 only 10 minutes after their last radio call anderson's radar was picking up three radar contacts the northbound freighters but no edmund fitzgerald captain cooper began calling for the fitzgerald over the radio but received nothing with each call he called another ship to ensure that his radio was functioning which it was soon after he called the coast guard station at sault ste marie to report his fears but received no follow-up afterwards he called northbound freighters that confirmed they had no radar contact of the fits nor any sightings of it by 2032 the arthur m anderson called coast guard group sault st murray stating i'm very concerned with the welfare of the steamer edmund fitzgerald he was right in front of us experiencing a little difficulty he's taking on a small amount of water and none of the upbound ships have passed him i can see no lights as before and don't have him on radar i just hope he didn't take a nose dive the coast guard began performing radio calls when at 2100 the anderson officially declared the fitzgerald missing and the coast guard immediately began a multi-unit search even asking the anderson to come about and brave the storm once more to assist in the search to which they of course obliged the coast guard scrambled helicopters from coast guard station traverse city the us coast guard cutter nagatok from sault ste marie the u.s coast guard cutter would rush from duluth minnesota even fixed-wing aircraft from the canadian coast guard aircraft and rescue vessels began a massive search in the area none of the 29 crew were found dead or alive the first bit of wreckage was found by the anderson at 0-800 the next morning he spotted pieces of one lifeboat then another pieces of life jackets a life raft oars air tanks a heaving line etc but no personal effects and no bodies the damage to the lifeboats indicated they were still locked in their cradles when they were wrenched from the ship they weren't launched an oil slick was found a bit of diesel oil from the bow thruster and some bunker c main propulsion fuel but it was a very small amount the water at the bottom was so cold that the viscosity of the oil increased to the point that it would no longer leak from the wreck but the wreck wouldn't be pinpointed until the 14th of november when sidescan sonar would identify two large objects in the bottom they would scan it several times but couldn't conclude it was the edmund fitzgerald for certain it wouldn't be until may of the next year when the navy brought out their curve 3 unmanned underwater vehicle equipped with an underwater camera the vehicle was able to get visual confirmation that the wreck was in fact the edmond fitzgerald sitting at the bottom in 530 feet of water she was split into two sections only around 200 feet separated the bow sitting flat on her keel upright a huge impact area in front of her her stern flipped over and slightly at an angle with an enormous debris field spilled out between the two sections at first there were no remains documented now came the hard part investigating just what had happened the coast guard and ntsb launched a massive investigation pouring over everything eyewitness testimonies from the arthur m anderson's crew testimony from the loaders from the burlington northern railroad docks seeing her previous and past inspections testimony from past crewmen and captains they looked at the wreckage and logs kept from the coast guard other ships in the area weather reports etc finally after months of investigations the coast guard released their final report with a conclusion to their findings it was believed that the clamps on the hatch coverings had failed or were improperly secured leading to a slow and steady flooding of the cargo hold as waves rolled over to the spar deck they caused the hold to filled with water slowly the edmond fitzgerald lost ability until she plunged beneath the waves and sank to the bottom of lake superior but many disagreed in fact the president of the lake carriers association former coast guard vice admiral paul e trimble wrote the ntsb and u.s coast guard denouncing their findings and stating what they concluded was absolutely incorrect theories began to circulate ranging from things such as massive rogue waves to suggesting the fitzgerald had underwater damage from striking the six fathom shoal others pointed to a hull inspection performed about a week beforehand that came up with fractures in the ship's hull suggesting she broke up similarly to the bradley and morrell a few decades prior many were unsatisfied with the official report and sought out to disprove it themselves subsequent dives were performed on the wreck to try and pry into the secrets of mighty fits looking over everything from hatch covers to the integrity of the keel to stress points on the ship until finally in 1994 a body was discovered an unidentified crewman wearing coveralls in a cork vest he lay near the bow on the lake floor facing upwards to the surface on his back who was he how had he gotten to the outside of the hole why was he wearing a cork vest unfortunately we may never know what were those final minutes like what had happened after mcsorley left the radio why was no distress caller made a made despite someone presumably being within arm's distance of the radio had the ship truly made a nose dive or did she slowly split apart at the surface unfortunately we may never know as of 2005 the ontario heritage act put an end to dives on the edmond fitzgerald declaring the site of burial ground what we now know may be all we ever know the truth of what happened to those 29 men aboard fitzgerald will go with them to the bottom so i'm sure you're wondering what i think happened and to be honest i do have my theories but i'm practically a layman in this field i was not an investigator in the coast guard i was a navigator and coxswain instead i want to know what do you think happened comment your theory and discuss with others in the comments do you believe the official u.s coast guard report or do you think it was something else entirely thank you so much for watching to the end if you'd like to support the channel you can do so by simply liking and subscribing and sharing with your friends but if you'd like to show your support as well as help support my underpaid channel artist she designed some awesome merch for the channel you can get some cool shirts masks or if you're a true sailor a coffee mug just use the link in the description i'll be honest this video should have been released weeks ago but right when i was about to release it a bigger channel released a video on the exact same thing so it took me a bit to build up the courage to release it and i'm glad i did if you'd like to learn even more about the edmund fitzgerald i definitely recommend picking up mighty fits by michael schumacher it's an absolute wealth of information and really helped me with researching this video but all the same fair winds and following sea shipmates

Channel: Maritime Horrors

Views: 2,386,913

Keywords: Edmund Fitzgerald, SS Edmund Fitzgerald, Edmund, Fitzgerald, Lake Superior, Great Lakes, Shipwreck, Largest, Freighter, Coal, Iron Ore, Taconite, Arthur M. Anderson, Ernest McSorely, November Storm, Gordon Lightfoot, Michigan, Canada, United States, David Bradley, Daniel Morrell, Maritime Horrors, Maritime Disaster, Maritime, Horrors, Tragedy, Mystery, Wreck, Biggest, Drowning, Disaster, US Coast Guard, Toledo, Detroit, Minnisota, Wisconsin, November, Northwest Mutual, Largest Great Lakes Shipwreck

Id: wIg90sVSwSE

Length: 30min 17sec (1817 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 31 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/airlew]

I drove by the Mariners Church today, where they ring the bell 29 times every year on this date. I was surprised they weren't flying any of their flags half staff for the day.

[u/JerryCampAlot]

Damn, that's deep

[u/ernestmcsorley]

I remember it well.