The tragedy of the wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald was 46 years ago as of Wednesday, November 10th. The ship began its’ doomed voyage 46 years ago Tuesday, November 9th. The Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in a Lake Superior storm.
The entire crew of 29 was lost with the ship when it went down. When the ship first launched on June 7th, 1958, it was the largest ship on North America’s Great Lakes, and it remains the largest to have sunk there.
For 17 years, Edmund Fitzgerald carried taconite iron ore from mines near Duluth, Minnesota, to iron works in Detroit, Toledo, and other Great Lakes ports. As a workhorse, it set seasonal haul records six times, often breaking its own previous record.
Carrying a full cargo of ore pellets with Captain Ernest M. McSorley in command, the freighter embarked on the ill-fated voyage from Superior, Wisconsin, which is near Duluth, on the afternoon of November 9th, 1975. It was en route to a steel mill near Detroit. The Edmund Fitzgerald was joined by a second freighter, the SS Arthur M. Anderson.
By the same time the next day, the two ships were caught in terrifying severe storm on Lake Superior, with near hurricane-force winds and waves up to 35 feet high.
This is the timeline of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald:
8:30am on November 9th, 1975: The ship begins to be loaded with 26,000 tons of taconite pellets to prepare for departure from Superior, Wisconsin. The ship was chartered for Zug Island on the Detroit River.
2:15pm on November 9th: The Edmund Fitzgerald departs for Zug Island, which is near Detroit. The freighter quickly reached 16.3 mph, which was its top speed.
5:30pm on November 9th: Another ship, the Arthur M. Anderson, joins the Fitz. It was about 15 miles behind the Fitzgerald, and was the ship most in touch with the freighter throughout the next 24 harrowing hours. The Anderson was under the command of Captain Jesse B. Cooper.
7:00pm on November 9th: The National Weather Service issues gale warnings for the area that the Fitzgerald was set to travel through- essentially all of Lake Superior. It is the first indication of possible trouble.
By the early morning hours of November 10, the Edmund Fitzgerald reported winds up to 60 miles-per-hour and 10-foot high waves.
7:00am on November 10th: Fitzgerald calls company office to report a delayed arrival due to worsening weather conditions. The ship is approximately 35 miles north of Copper Harbor.
2:45pm on November 10th: Anderson changes course to avoid Six Fathom Shoal area north of Caribou Island. Fitzgerald is about 16 miles ahead. Heavy snow begins to fall and the Fitzgerald is lost from sight.
It’s the last time the ship would be seen by human eyes.
3:20pm on November 10th: Anderson records 43-knot winds and 12 to 16 foot waves.
3:30pm on November 10th: A radio transmission between Edmund Fitzgerald Captain Ernest McSorley and Arthur M. Anderson Captain Jesse Cooper takes place as the ships attempt to make it to Whitefish Bay to ride out the storm.
Captain Ernest McSorley via Radio: “Anderson, this is the Fitzgerald. I have sustained some topside damage. I have a fence rail laid down, two vents lost or damaged, and a list. I’m checking down. Will you stay by me til I get to Whitefish?”
Captain Jesse Cooper via Radio: “Charlie on that Fitzgerald. Do you have your pumps going?”
Captain Ernest McSorley via Radio: “Yes, both of them”
4:10pm on November 10th: The Fitzgerald radios Anderson to request navigational help. Many theorize that 15-20 minutes after this, the ship may have run aground in shallow waters as it passed closely to Caribou Island.
4:40pm on November 10th: NWS revises forecast again, predicting northwest winds between 38 to 52 knots with gusts up to 60 knots, as well as waves between 8 and 16 feet.
5:30pm on November 10th: Radio transmission between the salt water vessel Avafors and the Fitzgerald:
Avafors: “Fitzgerald, this is the Avafors. I have the Whitefish light now but still am receiving no beacon. Over.”
Captain Ernest McSorley via Radio: “I’m very glad to hear it.”
Avafors: “The wind is really howling down here. What are the conditions where you are?”
Captain Ernest McSorley via Radio: (Indiscernable shouts heard by the Avafors.) “DON’T LET NOBODY ON DECK!”
Avafors: “What’s that, Fitzgerald? Unclear. Over.”
Captain Ernest McSorley via Radio: “I have a bad list, lost both radars. And am taking heavy seas over the deck. One of the worst seas I’ve ever been in.”
Avafors: “If I’m correct, you have two radars.”
Captain Ernest McSorley via Radio: “They’re both gone.”
7:10pm on November 10th: Radio transmission between the Anderson and the Fitzgerald. The Fitzgerald is still being followed by the Arthur M. Anderson. They are about 10 miles behind the Fitzgerald.
Captain Jesse Cooper via Radio: “Fitzgerald, how are you making out with your problem?”
Captain Ernest McSorley via Radio: “We are holding our own.”
Captain Jesse Cooper via Radio: “Okay, fine. I’ll be talking to you later.”
They did not speak again.
7:15pm on November 10th: The Fitzgerald disappears from Anderson’s radar. Captain Cooper contacted the upbound saltwater vessel Nanfri and was told that she could not pick up Edmund Fitzgerald on her radar either.
7:40pm on November 10th: Captain Cooper of Arthur M. Anderson calls the United States Coast Guard (USCG) in Sault Ste. Marie. The USCG responders instructed him to call back on channel 12 because they wanted to keep their emergency channel open. Despite repeated attempts to raise the USCG, Cooper was not again successful until 7:54pm when the officer on duty asked him to keep watch for a 16-foot boat lost in the area.
8:25pm on November 10th: Cooper again calls the USCG to express his concern about Edmund Fitzgerald. The ship is still not declared missing at the time.
9:00pm on November 10th: At 9:03pm Cooper again reports that the ship is still missing. Petty Officer Philip Branch later testified, “I considered it serious, but at the time it was not urgent.” Unbelievably, the USCG asked Arthur M. Anderson to turn around and look for survivors.
10:30pm on November 10th: The USCG asked all commercial vessels anchored in or near Whitefish Bay to assist in the search. The initial search for survivors was carried out by Arthur M. Anderson, and a second freighter, the SS William Clay Ford.
What happened afterwards?
A single wing aircraft was dispatched to search just prior to 11pm. At 1am the next morning an HH-52 USCG helicopter with a 3.8-million-candlepower searchlight arrived on scene and assisted. None of the crew were found. The 29 crew members aboard all perished.
On her final voyage, Edmund Fitzgerald’s crew of 29 consisted of the captain, the first, second and third mates, five engineers, three oilers, a cook, a wiper, two maintenance men, three watchmen, three deckhands, three wheelsmen, two porters, a cadet and a steward. Most of the crew were from Ohio and Wisconsin; their ages ranged from 20-year-old watchman Karl A. Peckol to Captain McSorley, 63 years old and planning his retirement.
The following year, the wreck was found about 530 feet down in Lake Superior just 17 miles short of Whitefish Point. In 1995, the bell of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was raised and restored and is now at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Whitefish Point.
A new bell was placed on the sunken ship with the names of the 29 men who died engraved on it. The disaster is one of the best-known in the history of Great Lakes shipping. Gordon Lightfoot made it the subject of his 1976 hit song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”
The sinking led to changes in Great Lakes shipping regulations and practices that included mandatory survival suits, depth finders, positioning systems, increased freeboard, and more frequent inspection of vessels.
This article is comprised of information and media from the Associated Press, Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and Detroit News. For more sports, news and entertainment follow the Midwest Sports Network on Twitter @MWSNsports or like our page on Facebook.
This article is updated annually and small details are added. In 2021 a major edit was made to the opening timeline to clarify that the ship began to load with pellets in the morning, but did not depart until the afternoon.
