#EDMUND FITZGERALD LIFEBOAT FULL#

On the afternoon of November 10th the Fitzgerald reported a minor list developing and top-side damage including the loss of radar, but did not indicate a serious problem. Later, they would cross to Whitefish Bay and approach the Sault Ste. The freighters altered their courses northward, seeking shelter along the Canadian coast. Because of the storm, the Soo Locks were closed. Fitzgerald, being the faster ship, took the lead while Anderson trailed not far behind.Ĭrossing Lake Superior at about 13 knots (15 mph/24 km/h), the boats encountered a massive winter storm, reporting winds in excess of 50 knots (58 mph/93 km/h) and waves as high as 35 feet (10 m). Anderson, destined for Gary, Indiana out of Two Harbors, Minnesota, joined up with Fitzgerald.

#EDMUND FITZGERALD LIFEBOAT FULL#

She was en route to the steel mill on Zug Island, near Detroit, Michigan, with a full cargo of taconite. And since it would take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes to deploy a lifeboat, there was no chance that anybody could survive the ship’s catastrophic failure.SS EDMUND FITZGERALD left Superior, Wisconsin on the afternoon of November 9th 1975 under Captain Ernest M.

Whatever caused the Edmund Fitzgerald to sink, it happened fast.

The hydrostatic and hydrodynamic forces imposed on the hatch covers by heavy boarding seas at this reduced freeboard and with the list caused the hatch covers to collapse.Ĭontributing to the accident was the lack of transverse watertight bulkheads in the cargo hold and the reduction of freeboard authorized by the 1969, 1971, and 1973 amendments to the Great Lakes Load Line Regulations. Before the hatch covers collapsed, flooding into the ballast tanks and tunnel through topside damage and flooding into the cargo hold through non-weather-tight hatch covers caused a reduction of freeboard and a list. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the sudden massive flooding of the cargo hold due to the collapse of one or more hatch covers. It is, therefore, concluded that the Fitzgerald did not capsize on the surface. The bow section would have had to right itself and the stern portion would have had to capsize before coming to rest on the bottom. The final position of the wreckage indicated that if the Fitzgerald had capsized, it must have suffered a structural failure before hitting the lake bottom. The underwater survey of the wreckage showed that hatch covers Nos. If the vessel had capsized, however, all the hatch covers would probably have been torn away by the force of the shifting taconite pellets. However, under the combined effects of flooding two ballast tanks, the tunnel, and the cargo hold, the Fitzgerald would have capsized within minutes. In each case, the roll angle would not have been sufficient to produce a cargo shift. The vessel also would not have capsized if water had entered only the cargo hold through openings between the hatch covers and the hatch coamings. If three or less adjacent ballast tanks on the same side of the vessel were completely flooded, the Fitzgerald would not have capsized. Second, the reduced freeboard and loss of transverse stability from flooding could have caused the Fitzgerald to capsize. Notorious because it happened more recently, in 1975 - some of you reading this may remember the day the Edmund Fitzgerald sank - and also because of Gordon Lightfoot’s famous song memorializing the ship and its crew. Notorious storm of November 1975īut today, we’re talking about another, more notorious storm. You can read the article I wrote about that storm here.

One such storm, more than 100 years ago, sank eight freighters on the Great Lakes and killed at least 235 men on those ships. When this cold air flows over the warmer Great Lakes, an unstable atmosphere develops - we meteorologists call it the “Great Lakes Aggregate.” Some storm systems developing in the plains and moving this way get an extra boost from this situation, and become powerful storms. The reason that early November is prime time for these storms is that the Great Lakes are still relatively mild, but we’re also starting to get intrusions of cold air from Canada.

Edmund fitzgerald lifeboat