On this day in 1975, The SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior, taking all 29 aboard to the bottom, never to see the light of day again. Gordon Lightfoot immortalized the sinking in his song The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. His words are accurate and the story and melody haunt the soul. For this is not the story of one wreck, but of all wrecks, of all men swallowed by the seas since the beginning of time.
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 the Captain well seasoned.
In the morning sun, the men boarded in bright innocence. Burned out from Watergate, talk was simple and carefree. A smile was had with talk of catching a young girl's eye, another groaned of a marriage outlasting his heart, others talked of plans to get away and relax at last.
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
For the first 13 years of her life, the Fitzgerald was the largest on the lakes. Over 15,000 attended its launch yet she refused the sea. For over half an hour, the shipyard crew struggled to free her from the keel blocks. When she did enter the water, she crashed violently into a dock.
When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying fellows 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 words turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd fifteen more miles behind her.
When the winter gale came, waves were as high as 35 feet. The Fitzgerald's radar got knocked out and she was blinded by heavy snow. She reported a minor list. The Captain reported the situation as "one of the worst seas I've ever been in."
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 ruins 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.
"We're holding our own". Scrambling men, most having known this fear before, never sent a distress signal. But the icy grip of the seas was upon them and before their death they stood as men who knew their fate - living yet dead. A time for final prayers or screams.
In a musty old hall in Detroit 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.
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 the Captain well seasoned.
In the morning sun, the men boarded in bright innocence. Burned out from Watergate, talk was simple and carefree. A smile was had with talk of catching a young girl's eye, another groaned of a marriage outlasting his heart, others talked of plans to get away and relax at last.
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
For the first 13 years of her life, the Fitzgerald was the largest on the lakes. Over 15,000 attended its launch yet she refused the sea. For over half an hour, the shipyard crew struggled to free her from the keel blocks. When she did enter the water, she crashed violently into a dock.
When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying fellows 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 words turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd fifteen more miles behind her.
When the winter gale came, waves were as high as 35 feet. The Fitzgerald's radar got knocked out and she was blinded by heavy snow. She reported a minor list. The Captain reported the situation as "one of the worst seas I've ever been in."
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 ruins 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.
"We're holding our own". Scrambling men, most having known this fear before, never sent a distress signal. But the icy grip of the seas was upon them and before their death they stood as men who knew their fate - living yet dead. A time for final prayers or screams.
In a musty old hall in Detroit 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.
List of the dead:
Armagost, Michael E. Third Mate 37
Beetcher, Fred J. Porter 56
Bentsen, Thomas D. Oiler 23 St.
Bindon, Edward F. First Assistant Engineer 47
Borgeson, Thomas D. Maintenance Man 41
Champeau, Oliver J. Third Assistant Engineer 41
Church, Nolan S. Porter 55
Cundy, Ransom E. Watchman 53
Edwards, Thomas E. Second Assistant Engineer 50
Haskell, Russell G. Second Assistant Engineer 40
Holl, George J. Chief Engineer 60
Hudson, Bruce L. Deck Hand 22
Kalmon, Allen G. Second Cook 43
Kohler, Tim F. Deck Hand 45
MacLellan, Gordon F. Wiper 30
Mazes, Joseph W. Special Maintenance Man 59
McCarthy, John H. First Mate 62
McSorley, Ernest M. Captain 63
O'Brien, Eugene W. Wheelsman 50
Peckol, Karl A. Watchman 20
Poviach, John J. Wheelsman 59
Pratt, James A. Second Mate 44
Rafferty, Robert C. Steward 62
Rippa, Paul M. Deck Hand 22
Simmons, John D. Wheelsman 62
Spengler, William J. Watchman 59
Thomas, Mark A. Deck Hand 21
Walton, Ralph G. Oiler 58
Weiss, David E. Cadet 22
Wilhelm, Blaine H. Oiler 52
