View Full Version : The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
The Lakes freighter Edmund Fitzgerald went to the bottom of Lake Superior on Nov. 10, 1975. Gordon Lightfoot's ballad came out the following year.
http://youtu.be/hgI8bta-7aw
This video has lots of archival footage of the Fitz being launched and underwater film from when she was found.
This is the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral" mentioned in the song:
http://marinerschurchofdetroit.org/
I grew up in a town on the Detroit River. On summer afternoons, we'd sit in a park and watch the Lakes freighters go by.
A book I've loved for years on Great Lakes shipwrecks is:
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Shipwrecks-Survivals-William-Ratigan/dp/0802870104/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320947129&sr=8-1
Tradd. Thanks for this. I was overdue for a good old Gordon Lightfoot song, and this did it, as did the footage and remembrance of the men lost. Additional thanks for the link of the Maritime Sailors cathedral and Great Lakes Shipwrecks read.
frugalone
11-10-11, 1:30pm
I am laughing, because I think this is one of the most depressing songs in the world, and I have hated it for 30+ years.
Just my humble opinion.
happy with less
11-10-11, 2:00pm
I could never hate any of Gordon Lightfoot's songs....... Just my humble opinion.
goldensmom
11-10-11, 2:07pm
Like the Kennedy asasination, Challenger and 9-11, I vividly remember watching the news the night the Edmund Fitzgerald went down and waiting, and waiting for good news that never came. Whitefish Point Shipwreck Museum has items from the ship on display and a yearly televised memorial service that we will watch tonight. On the upside, today is the birthday of the U.S. Marines. My husband was a leatherneck. Semper Fi.
crunchycon
11-10-11, 3:00pm
On the upside, today is the birthday of the U.S. Marines. My husband was a leatherneck. Semper Fi.
Please thank your husband for his service for me.
goldensmom
11-10-11, 3:10pm
Please thank your husband for his service for me.
Will do. Every Nov. 10th, the first thing he says in the morning is 'do you know what today is?' Once a Marine, always a Marine.
Mighty Frugal
11-10-11, 3:16pm
I have a sister 6 years older than me. She and I and my other sis shared a bedroom growing up. So I know and love all the 70s songs. She dressed me as Captain Fantastic (Elton John) for Halloween when I was 10 (1976). Love Gordon Lightfoot
funny story, my eldest sis now works at a health centre and Gordon came in for an appointment. She didn't recognize him and asked for his last name. He replied 'Lightfoot' and then she asked for his first name and he said 'err..Gordon' probably wondering why she didn't clue in-hahaha. It wasn't until he left and she looked down did she realize she had been talking to GORDON LIGHTFOOT She said he was very kind and unassuming
happystuff
11-10-11, 5:19pm
U-rah!
I remember many, many (many, many years ago) the company I worked for at the time, would celebrate the Marine Corps birthday. They would find the "oldest" and "youngest" Marine Corps veteran amongst the employees to cut a birthday cake. I think it has been the only time in my life I was the "youngest" anything - ROFLOL!
There's no such things as an "ex-" Marine!!
ETA: Forgot to add that I love Gordon Lightfoot and this is one of my favorite songs - makes me cry every time.
Hey Tradd - Thanks for posting that. I was in the Coast Guard when we heard about the Edmond Fitzgerald. Very tragic and a sailors worst nightmare. Glad to see the cathedral - and I absolutely love Gordon Lightfoot and ALL his songs!
Tradd - You might remember the coast guard cutter Blackthorn if you grew up in Detroit where it did ice breaking and buoy tending on the Detroit River as well as the Great Lakes. It went down (23 crew dead) around the end of the year in 1980 (can't remember where though - Florida I think). No song but it has it's own "Maritime Memorial" in a catherdral somewhere up there.
And Happy Veterans Day (and THANKS) to all Veterans!!
Sad Eyed Lady
11-10-11, 7:39pm
I could never hate any of Gordon Lightfoot's songs....... Just my humble opinion.
Me too - love Gord.
Love Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", tho I do admit I don't recall any other of his songs. Maybe I should look him up on YouTube or something ...
Kathy WI
11-10-11, 10:29pm
My son and I went to the Whitefish Point Shipwrecks Museum a few years ago and it was really interesting and cool. My dad was a merchant seaman and worked on merchant ships in the Great Lakes so that stuff is interesting to see.
early morning
11-11-11, 8:56am
Golden's Mom- I remember watching and waiting for news too- I remember my cousin coming in and turning on our big old TV and we were all so hoping it was just a radar glitch and radio troubles because of the storm... we felt so helpless. We live in Ohio, we aren't sea-folk, I have no idea why it affected us so much. But the same thing happened when we started getting reports about the Kursk, in 2000. I think perhaps I've drowned in several previous lives, lol. I am fascinated by large bodies of water, big ships, shipwrecks. I love being on the water, but I can't swim, and I just have this overwhelming sense that I will die in the water. Very very strange...
And I love Gordon Lightfoot, and Edmund Fitzgerald Porter! (Burning River Pale Ale's good too! ;))
I remember learning to play this song on guitar in about 1978 because my girl friend loved it (so did I). It was some years later when I learned the story in the song was true. Both the story and the song have a sad and haunting quality to them.
goldensmom
11-11-11, 10:56am
Early Morning, I think that the reason the Edmund Fitzgerald incident impacted me so much was, even though I knew no one on the ship, Lake Superior is a dangerous, treacherous body of water and shortly before the incident I had been camping on the Lake Superior shoreline. I saw up close how quickly and violently a storm can come in off the lake. It was terrifying so I just imagined how it would be to be in the storm with no harbor. I also think that a tragedy can bring people of state together just like a victory brings people together such as when the University of Michigan used to win the Rose Bowl*. It’s like you collectively own the tragedy/victory.
*Nothing personal, some of my best friends are Buckeyes.
AustinKat
11-11-11, 4:57pm
"Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings/In the rooms of her icewater mansion..."
frugalone
11-11-11, 5:28pm
Gosh, I didn't mean to insult anyone or anything here. I don't know why I've never liked the song. I guess it's so mournful. It came out when I was an adolescent and for some reason always depressed me. I guess it's not exactly a happy song, though, right?
Another song about boats that depresses me, but has a more upbeat tempo, is the "Sloop John B."
Maybe I'm just not a boat person?
Tradd, thank you for posting. I had never seen footage before of the ship. The video is quite moving.
I grew up in a small port town on Lake Erie that took the loss pretty hard. Those big lake freighters were always in-and-out of our town.
Here's the river as it enters the lake in our village, about a block from my old house, painted about the time I was 10:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-TNdl8DMuf8c/TIQmCJ65kaI/AAAAAAAABRw/fnlu4ezQEjo/s640/119-1986_IMG.JPG
Edmund Fitzgerald will always have special poignancy for those of us from the Great Lakes.
Whitefish Point is a haunting shore, the perfect place to feel the indescribable power and mystery of Lake Superior.
Anyone else grow up reading Paddle to the Sea ?
Simpler at Fifty
11-13-11, 10:08am
I grew up 25 miles south of the oredocks in Ashland WI. My Uncle worked on the boats and died on one. As a kid I took it for granted when the boats (they called them boats back them) were there because they were always there. In later years when the boats did not come there anymore I realized how huge they must have been and what they meant to the economy there. I have loved Gordon Lightfoot's music for a long time. I was in high school when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down.
rosarugosa
11-13-11, 11:24am
Tradd: Thanks for sharing - I only knew it as a popular song, and I never knew there was a true story behind it. Very poignant video.
I grew up in Port Huron, Mi and this event will be in memory forever.
I grew up in Ann Arbor, MI, and that song still makes me choke up. Lightfoot's song was a gift to the world and to the memory of the crew.
Originally posted by Bartleby.
Anyone else grow up reading Paddle to the Sea ?I never read it, but way back in the 70's when I was in elementary school we were often treated to National Film Board of Canada specials, and I remember Paddle to the Sea was one of them. (A quick search rewarded me with the entire book on film through a three part series on Youtube). What a lovely way to relive my past. I'm going to watch it again in the days to come.
Bartleby. Thanks to you, I remembered this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgfwCrKe_Fk) short, eight minute special, also from my elementary days. (Very fun to watch).
Tradd: Thanks for sharing - I only knew it as a popular song, and I never knew there was a true story behind it. Very poignant video.
Wow - the thought of anyone not knowing about the Fitz just blows my mind. Guess it all depended on where you lived!
When I was a newspaper reporter 20 years ago, it was oin a small town in northern Michigan (not the UP) on Lake Huron. I did stories on 19th century wrecks still being found. Got to visit the old Thunder Bay Island lighthouse with a Coastie and some CG reservists. That was really neat.
early morning
11-14-11, 8:00pm
Goldensmom, you are so right about Superior, she is one powerful body of water. I remember when that poor girl in that tiny car (I think it was a Yugo?) was blown off the bridge at the straits. The bridge was closed the day the Fitz was lost, too... windy up there, for sure.
Tradd, I am so jealous - I would so love to see Thunder Bay Light. I've seen many of the mainland lights on the US/Great Lakes shores, but very few of the island or rock lights. So cool that you went with CGs. I read about the old wrecks and the men who tried to save the crews. I am in awe of the light-keepers, and the men who manned the life-saving stations. I can't imagine heading into a storm in those little surfboats!
I talked to a fellow at the Coast Guard festival in Grand Haven a few years ago who'd been aboard the USCG buoy tender Mesquite when it went aground and was lost. He had some bone-chilling tales about maintaining lights and buoys in the Great Lakes.
Those Coast Guard folks are amazing.
Oh. I loved Paddle to the Sea.
Spartana
11-15-11, 12:40pm
Those Coast Guard folks are amazing.
I know - we rock!!! :cool: (said in her humblest voice :devil:).
Tradd - I think that the main reason so many people actually DO know about the E. Fitz is because of the song. If it wasn't for that it probably would have never been anything more than a short lived story like so many other ships that go down. Because I was a newbie in the CG at that time just out of boot camp and aboard my first unit (a small boat search and rescue/law enforcement station - the modern equivalent of the old "surfboat" units) we heard about it and studied it ad nasuem (why did it sink? How did it sink? How could we do a resue in that situation? etc...). Otherwise I don't know of too many people who would remember it if not for the song. It's the same with the Andrea Gail of "The Perfect Storm" fame (a vessel we towed in a couple of times when I was stationed on a patrol boat in New England in the 1980's - no George Clooney or Mark Walburg on the crew alas). If it wsn't for the movie or the book no one would remember that - just like they don't remember any of the other (very numerous) fishing boats (and pleasure boats, freighters, etc...) that go down every year. If it makes a good movie or a good song the memory will live on - otherwise it's just often a blip on the radar for most.
I read about the old wrecks and the men who tried to save the crews. I am in awe of the light-keepers, and the men who manned the life-saving stations. I can't imagine heading into a storm in those little surfboats!
Not just men either. Women have worked on lighthouses since the 1700's as well as took over the surfboat lifesaving duties as CG Reserves during WWii to free up CG men for combat. I was stationed at 2 small boat stations that had lighthouses at them we tended along with our regular CG duties - Oak Island, NC and New Canal Station on Lake Ponchatrain, New Orleans, LA. Most lighthouses are automated now or ran by civilians.
"Perhaps the most famous keeper was Ida Lewis, keeper of Lime Rock Lighthouse in Rhode Island. She performed many daring rescues during her 32 year tenure. An 1869 edition of "Harper's Weekly" featured Lewis' picture on the cover. Ida Lewis Day was proclaimed. Her bravery was rewarded with numerous honors, including the Gold Life Saving Medal, the nation's highest award for valor in rescuing those in peril on the open sea. Editor's Note -- The Coast Guard has named a Coast Guard Cutter after Ida Lewis." http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=565&d=1321481766
Here's the New Canal Station lighthouse after Katrina: My "bedroom" was the left hand bottom section that is gone: Sad.
http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=568&d=1321483204
before Katrina: http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=566&d=1321482821
And here CG station Oak Island with the lighthouse, station house and one of the small boats in the pic: We even had a station dog there named, yes, Mayday! I love lighthouses!
http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=569&d=1321483522
Wildflower
11-18-11, 4:03am
Love that song. Such a sad story.
early morning
11-18-11, 11:33pm
Thanks, Spartana for the pix! I have a book on women lighthouse keepers, and I've seen the Lime Rock Light (from the harbor; I'm not yacht club material). I didn't realize there were so many CG women during the war, but that makes sense, as they were doing almost everything else! I'm afraid I'm guilty of using "men" when I really mean "people"... and sorry about your old bedroom. Has the station been rebuilt in New Orleans, do you know?
Spartana
11-20-11, 10:39am
Thanks, Spartana for the pix! I have a book on women lighthouse keepers, and I've seen the Lime Rock Light (from the harbor; I'm not yacht club material). I didn't realize there were so many CG women during the war, but that makes sense, as they were doing almost everything else! I'm afraid I'm guilty of using "men" when I really mean "people"... and sorry about your old bedroom. Has the station been rebuilt in New Orleans, do you know?
No I don't think they rebuilt it. Too bad as it had been there a long time. If you're interested in lighthouses, you might be interested in lightships too. These are unmanned (for the most part) ships which are anchored out in the middle of the ocean usually near a shoal area as a warning beacon. Very cool. When I was stationed at Oak Island, NC we tended a lightship about 30 miles out in the Atlantic to mark a shoal near Cape Fear. Itr's gone now - and I think most other ones are gone too - but it was very cool.
early morning
11-20-11, 12:08pm
Definitely interested in lightships! Serving on a manned light-ship would have been more dangerous than serving in a lighthouse! The last one on the Great Lakes, the Huron, is now a museum-ship in Port Huron, Michigan. She is NOT a big ship! I don't know how she compares to the ocean lightships- she's the only one I've visited. 30 miles out in the Atlantic - wow. There's a monument to lightship sailors in New Bedford. Sadly when I was there, I didn't know IT was there, so missed it. In my next life, I'm gonna lobby to be a New Englander, lol. SO much nautical history! Found this old post/ link the other day; you might find it interesting too:
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?14,864534
My next visit East - if I get there again - I'll be sure to check out the CG museum in Barnstable. I've been to many of the lights on the Cape, but didn't have time for many museums.
Definitely interested in lightships! Serving on a manned light-ship would have been more dangerous than serving in a lighthouse! The last one on the Great Lakes, the Huron, is now a museum-ship in Port Huron, Michigan. She is NOT a big ship! I don't know how she compares to the ocean lightships- she's the only one I've visited. 30 miles out in the Atlantic - wow. There's a monument to lightship sailors in New Bedford. Sadly when I was there, I didn't know IT was there, so missed it. In my next life, I'm gonna lobby to be a New Englander, lol. SO much nautical history! Found this old post/ link the other day; you might find it interesting too:
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?14,864534
My next visit East - if I get there again - I'll be sure to check out the CG museum in Barnstable. I've been to many of the lights on the Cape, but didn't have time for many museums.
Yeah I love the old lightships. Most were decommssioned in the late 1800's but there were alot around New England even into the 1980's. The lighthouse we tend ed in NC wasn't a lightship (getting senile I guess :-)!) it was actually a loght tower (also very cool and dangerous but not as much as the ships) on Frying Pan Shoals. It ws a really interesting p(and scary in rough weather) place to spend a few days at even though technically it was unmanned. I believe it had been manned full time in the past. It's long gone too like most of the off shore lighttowers and ships.
This is the old lightship and light tower:
http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=579&d=1321918988 "Frying Pan Shoals Light Tower is a decommissioned lighthouse located approximately 29 miles (47 km) southeast of Southport, North Carolina. The light tower is modeled after a steel oil drilling platform, known as a “Texas Tower” on top of four steel legs that was engineered to be used as a lighthouse housing several Coast Guard members. The 80-foot (24 m) light tower marks the shoals at the confluence of the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean.[1] The platform consists of two floors. The subfloor is a living area of approximately 5,000 square feet (460 m2) that includes seven bedrooms, kitchen, office, storage area, recreation area and toilet facilities. The Frying Pan Shoals are a long, shifting area of shoals off the coast of Cape Fear in North Carolina, United States. The shoals have been a hazard to ships in the area since the beginning of European exploration of the area; the area is littered with shipwrecks. The southern edge of the shoals have been marked by a lightship, a light tower and a buoy. From May 1994 to August 2008, over 130 new shipwreck locations have been discovered in the area encompassing Frying Pan Shoals."
ETA: Thanks for the link too. The CG also maintains a website about all the old loightships. Don't have it off hand but you could probably google it.
I just read on line that it was sold to a private person at a govmint auction in 2009 and he planned to make it a rental residence or bed and breakfast.
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