The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

[Flint1979]

I remember making this post 5 years ago. Gordon Lightfoot passed away earlier this year and the anniversary of the Fitz's sinking is two days away. So since I remember making this post 5 years ago I won't make another one. Just every year I remember this incident.

[kkt]

The type of cargo hatch covers in use on the Edmund Fitzgerald had an excellent safety record. In the wrecked hull pieces, most of the hatch covers were found in the open position although those few that were closed were severely damaged. I've often wondered whether this resulted from the exceptional force of the high winds and waves (as per the NTSB report), and/or if there was a failure to fully secure the hatch covers that were felt to be so effective that there was not a need to fully secure them (USCG report).

Having grown up in Texas, I'm not sure I would have heard of the Edmund Fitzgerald but for the song, which I think eventually led me to an interest in this and other maritime disasters.

I read the investigation reports.  There was one by the Coast Guard, and another by the National Transportation Safety Board.  The hatch covers were interesting.  The hatches are big and the covers very heavy.  In good weather they would stay in place fine just with their own weight.  But there were fastenings that should be applied if the weather was questionable.  They found the deck around the hatches in one piece, and the hatch fastenings unbroken, and hatch covers (also unbroken) some distance away from the ship.  Most likely conclusion, they didn't fasten the hatch covers down.  Maybe they thought the weather wouldn't be all that bad, until it was, and by then it was too dangerous to send crew out onto the deck.

[DandyDan]

Kids in the Twin Ports (Duluth/Superior) learn about the Fitz.  Ship left from there.

I learned about it in MA just because my father liked the song.

There's an exhibit about it at Split Rock Lighthouse, FWIW.

[Rothman]

Kids in the Twin Ports (Duluth/Superior) learn about the Fitz.  Ship left from there.

I learned about it in MA just because my father liked the song.

There's an exhibit about it at Split Rock Lighthouse, FWIW.

There's exhibits about it all over the Northland.

See also the Army Corps' visitor center in Duluth.

[Stephane Dumas]

There's a band named the Headstones who did this cover of Gordon Lightfoot's Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8LBkYjniTU