Matt White
11-09-2005, 08:32 PM
A sad tale I've always been interested in.....While on vaction with the family back in the late '70's I saw the mangled Lifeboat from the EF.....
A little history........
Edmund Fitzgerald 30th
November 10th will mark the 30th anniversary of the date that the 729-foot ore carrier, SS Edmund Fitzgerald (fully loaded with taconite pellets), sailed off the radar and into legend in 1975. Sometime between 7:20 and 7:30 PM that evening, during 45-knot winds and 35-foot seas, the Fitzgerald - which had been taking on water throughout the storm - sank to the bottom of Lake Superior taking all 29 crew members with her. Those of us who navigate the Great Lakes, these inland seas, are respectfully aware of their incredible power. We frequently see (un-named) hurricane-force winds and extremely low barometric pressures during the month of November, but the storm of 1975 was singular in its extremity. In remembrance and honor of the lost Fitzgerald crew, and countless other Great Lakes shipwreck victims over the centuries, the following events will be taking place around the 30th anniversary.
The Dossin Great Lakes Museum (on Belle Isle, Detroit, Michigan) will be holding a Night Watch for the Fitzgerald and her crew beginning at 4:30 PM, November 10th. Seating is extremely limited, so either reserve your tickets now or plan on catching the service via the Great Lakes Maritime Institute’s live webcast.
The Dossin Museum will also present a special SS Edmund Fitzgerald commemorative Open House Saturday November 12, 2005, from 12:00 to 4:30 pm.
Up on Whitefish Point (whose shelter the freighter very nearly reached), the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum will hold a Memorial Service and Call to the Last Watch Ceremony on Thursday, November 10th, beginning at 7 PM. The Fitzgerald’s 200-lb. bronze ship’s bell, retrieved on the last legal dive to the wreck, will be rung 29 times by shipwreck survivors.
And in St. Paul, Minnesota Public Radio® will present performances of “Gales of November” on November 10-11. These will also be broadcast, so check the website for air dates.
For more info.....
http://www.ssefo.com/
THE WREAK OF THE EDMUND FITZGERALD
by Gordon Lightfoot
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore - 26,000 tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early
The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconson
As the big freighters go it was bigger than most
With a crew and good Captain well seasoned.
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ships bell rang
Could it be the North Wind they'd been feeling.
The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the Captain did, too,
T'was the witch of November come stealing.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashing
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane West Wind
When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying fellas it's too rough to feed ya
At 7PM a main hatchway caved in
He said fellas it's been good to know ya.
The Captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd have put fifteen more miles behind her.
They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams,
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered.
In a musty old hall in De-troit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral
The church bell chimed, 'til it rang 29 times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.
A little history........
Edmund Fitzgerald 30th
November 10th will mark the 30th anniversary of the date that the 729-foot ore carrier, SS Edmund Fitzgerald (fully loaded with taconite pellets), sailed off the radar and into legend in 1975. Sometime between 7:20 and 7:30 PM that evening, during 45-knot winds and 35-foot seas, the Fitzgerald - which had been taking on water throughout the storm - sank to the bottom of Lake Superior taking all 29 crew members with her. Those of us who navigate the Great Lakes, these inland seas, are respectfully aware of their incredible power. We frequently see (un-named) hurricane-force winds and extremely low barometric pressures during the month of November, but the storm of 1975 was singular in its extremity. In remembrance and honor of the lost Fitzgerald crew, and countless other Great Lakes shipwreck victims over the centuries, the following events will be taking place around the 30th anniversary.
The Dossin Great Lakes Museum (on Belle Isle, Detroit, Michigan) will be holding a Night Watch for the Fitzgerald and her crew beginning at 4:30 PM, November 10th. Seating is extremely limited, so either reserve your tickets now or plan on catching the service via the Great Lakes Maritime Institute’s live webcast.
The Dossin Museum will also present a special SS Edmund Fitzgerald commemorative Open House Saturday November 12, 2005, from 12:00 to 4:30 pm.
Up on Whitefish Point (whose shelter the freighter very nearly reached), the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum will hold a Memorial Service and Call to the Last Watch Ceremony on Thursday, November 10th, beginning at 7 PM. The Fitzgerald’s 200-lb. bronze ship’s bell, retrieved on the last legal dive to the wreck, will be rung 29 times by shipwreck survivors.
And in St. Paul, Minnesota Public Radio® will present performances of “Gales of November” on November 10-11. These will also be broadcast, so check the website for air dates.
For more info.....
http://www.ssefo.com/
THE WREAK OF THE EDMUND FITZGERALD
by Gordon Lightfoot
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore - 26,000 tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early
The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconson
As the big freighters go it was bigger than most
With a crew and good Captain well seasoned.
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ships bell rang
Could it be the North Wind they'd been feeling.
The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the Captain did, too,
T'was the witch of November come stealing.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashing
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane West Wind
When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying fellas it's too rough to feed ya
At 7PM a main hatchway caved in
He said fellas it's been good to know ya.
The Captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd have put fifteen more miles behind her.
They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams,
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered.
In a musty old hall in De-troit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral
The church bell chimed, 'til it rang 29 times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.