Thirty five years ago today the Edmund Fitzgerald set sail from Superior, WI on Lake Superior. Less than 30 hours later she was under water. For all you young 'uns, this was pretty big news back in the day. It was the largest ship on the Great Lakes when built, and one of the largest when she went down. To this day, nobody knows the exact cause of the sinking, though there's lot's of interesting theories. She was sailing in brutal weather, but a ship of her size should have prevailed.
"The yap films documentary, simply called Edmund Fitzgerald and airing on the premiere episode of Dive Detectives on the History Channel on March 31, concludes there is little evidence that failure to secure the ship's hatches caused the sinking and that it was a rogue wave instead.
Lightfoot's hit 1976 song about the sinking, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, includes the verse: "At 7 p.m. a main hatchway caved in, He said, "Fellas, it's been good to know ya.'"
But for the last couple of weeks in concert in the U.S., and again on Thursday night during his Canadian tour launch at Casino Rama, Lightfoot has been singing: "At 7 p.m., it grew dark, it was then he said, 'Fellas it's been good to know ya.""
"The yap films documentary, simply called Edmund Fitzgerald and airing on the premiere episode of Dive Detectives on the History Channel on March 31, concludes there is little evidence that failure to secure the ship's hatches caused the sinking and that it was a rogue wave instead.
Lightfoot's hit 1976 song about the sinking, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, includes the verse: "At 7 p.m. a main hatchway caved in, He said, "Fellas, it's been good to know ya.'"
But for the last couple of weeks in concert in the U.S., and again on Thursday night during his Canadian tour launch at Casino Rama, Lightfoot has been singing: "At 7 p.m., it grew dark, it was then he said, 'Fellas it's been good to know ya.""
If anyone had any doubts about the nastiness of the conditions that evening they would be alleviated by hearing how much the skipper of the Anderson did not want to turn his boat around to look for survivors. He was scared. If the conditions weren't life threatening he wouldn't have hesitated.
__________________ I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love." - John Steinbeck
If anyone had any doubts about the nastiness of the conditions that evening they would be alleviated by hearing how much the skipper of the Anderson did not want to turn his boat around to look for survivors. He was scared. If the conditions weren't life threatening he wouldn't have hesitated.
I'm hoping the crew of the Anderson got some type of commendation for turning around.
The Following User Says Thank You to Ramsayfarian For This Useful Post:
Not sure how i missed this.
That song still gives me the chills. Lightfoot is a master story teller.
I like the 70's style reporting in the clip below. Seems more ominous than some bubble headed bleach blonde telling you about the disaster with a twinkle in her eye
T'was the witch of November come stealing...
