The Edmund Fitzgerald, 1975. Photo by Bob Campbell
Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum
When occasionally considering moving from NW Wisconsin to a warmer climate, there are a few issues that always come to mind, that always effect a negative decision. One of those, (along with family, friends, church, shared history, etc.) is the fact that we live only 2 hours south of Lake Superior. It's not that we are frequent visitors to the great lake, but there's something about Lake Superior that seems to be a sort of geographical anchor. I mean, if we moved somewhere else, maybe we would just float off into space.
Just look how huge it is. The lake's surface area is that of the size of Maine, the size of Austria - roughly 32,000 square miles! So maybe it's gravitational pull. :-) When I'm on the north shore of Lake Superior, I can almost imagine that I'm on the ocean, for I can stand on the rocky shore and see no opposite shoreline.
On November 10, 1975, the American freighter, Edmund Fitzgerald and her entire crew of 29 men were lost, when they went down in a storm on Lake Superior.
"At 3:30 pm that afternoon, Captain McSorley radioed Captain Cooper and said: 'Anderson, this is the Fitzgerald. I have a fence rail down, two vents lost or damaged, and a list. I'm checking down. Will you stay by me till I get to Whitefish?'...At about 5:20 pm the crest of a wave smashed the Anderson's starboard lifeboat, making it unusable. Captain Cooper reported winds from the NW x W (305 ) at a steady 58 knots with gusts to 70 knots, and seas of 18 to 25 feet..." Read the entire story on The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum website.
Just look how huge it is. The lake's surface area is that of the size of Maine, the size of Austria - roughly 32,000 square miles! So maybe it's gravitational pull. :-) When I'm on the north shore of Lake Superior, I can almost imagine that I'm on the ocean, for I can stand on the rocky shore and see no opposite shoreline.
On November 10, 1975, the American freighter, Edmund Fitzgerald and her entire crew of 29 men were lost, when they went down in a storm on Lake Superior.
"At 3:30 pm that afternoon, Captain McSorley radioed Captain Cooper and said: 'Anderson, this is the Fitzgerald. I have a fence rail down, two vents lost or damaged, and a list. I'm checking down. Will you stay by me till I get to Whitefish?'...At about 5:20 pm the crest of a wave smashed the Anderson's starboard lifeboat, making it unusable. Captain Cooper reported winds from the NW x W (305 ) at a steady 58 knots with gusts to 70 knots, and seas of 18 to 25 feet..." Read the entire story on The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum website.
The following year, Gordon Lightfoot came out with the ballad, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Still sends a shiver down my spine when I think of the crew of the Fitzgerald, and the families who were waiting for their husbands, sons, fathers, and brothers who would never return home.
Thanks to Beth for reminding me of this tragic event.
