42 years ago today: The gales of November came crashing

[Dennis Donovan]

[demmiblue]

1. That song always gives me the chills.

[hlthe2b]

2. Me too... absolutely haunting

[Pacifist Patriot]

50. Same here

[lastlib]

3. The Witch of November remembered.

RIP, Edmund Fitzgerald captain and crew. We will never forget.

[Omaha Steve]

4. Marta & I saw Gordon sing it in person a couple years ago

Back in 97 we saw some salvaged items in the Duluth museum. K&R!

OS

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Loved Gordon Lightfoot

(still have his song "Sundown" on a 45) and loved this song when it came out. But only realized as an adult that he released it a year after that happened! Back then it seemed the song was about some fictional shipwreck long ago. So many other things going on at the time (was in high school then) that it didn't really bubble up in my world as a news item.

[ProfessorGAC]

8. I Felt Like That Too

I think i found out relatively soon after the song came out that it was recent history, but when it first started getting airplay i had it pictured as some 19th century event on Superior.

I'm guessing it was probably a few months before i discovered the thing had just happened.

[alphafemale]

82. Sadly. I don't think the actual event got much national coverage then.

Remember.

42 yeas ago all National news broadcasts had to fit into 30 minutes.

It probably only made front page news on the regional newspapers.

I am so thankful Gordan Lightfoot immortalized their lives.

[BumRushDaShow]

85. Here in Philly around that time in 1975, we had our own drama.

We had the re-election of the douche Frank Rizzo - his quote-

"Just wait after November, you'll have a front row seat because I'm going to make Attila the Hun look like a faggot," he said of his enemies during his 1975 re-election bid.

and we were still dealing with discussions about several 9 & 10-alarm refinery fires down in South Philly (Gulf Oil in August '75 & Arco in October '75). During one of those infernos, Rizzo broke his hip while on the scene (his brother Joe was Fire Commissioner at the time).

http://www.pophistorydig.com/topics/gulf-oil-refinery-fire-1975/

A few years later, he wanted to run for a 3rd term (which required a city charter change), but the charter change question lost 2 to 1, so he eventually gave up. He was a Republican in a Democrat's clothing -

Philadelphia Mayor Won't Run Again
By Ray Holton March 17, 1978

At the end of the same kind of "law and order" style speech that propelled him from the police beat to the mayor's office in 1971, Frank L. Rizzo surprised this city yesterday with an announcement that he would not seek a third term.

He said he would give up his drive to change the city charter that prohibits more than two terms for a mayor but then he hinted mysteriously that he would lead a national movement centered on the issues close to his heart. He is against public housing, special treatment for minorities, public school busing, and racial quotas. He is for the death penalty.

In the rousing speech before a nearly all-white crowd of 700, the nominal Democrat, who supported President Nixon, said, "We have to get off this kick of Democrat and Republican. That's the way they keep us divided. We have to vote the man."

<...>

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/03/17/philadelphia-mayor-wont-run-again/797707db-f2f3-4f1a-a086-e38cc44b5c56/

Rizzo was a Nixon and Lee Atwater "Southern Strategy"-embracing racist in the north. His son officially became a Republican and was on City Council for years.

[titaniumsalute]

6. Damn thanks for sharing.

I live near Cleveland and celebrate this song every year. Lightfoot did an amazing job with this song and his lyrics powerful. I'll celebrate later today with an Edmund Fitzgerald Porter from Great Lakes Brewing!

[roamer65]

7. Hard to believe its been 42 years.

I remember the night it went down.

[Achilleaze]

9. k & r

[TNNurse]

10. An incredibly moving song.

When I first heard it, I thought it was distant history. I was stunned to learn it was essentially news.

[LeftInTX]

27. Same here

[Codeine]

11. What an amazing song. Never fails to get me. nt

[yallerdawg]

12. Just haunting and will never be forgotten thanks to GL.

[Old Vet]

67. Youre right, Haunting is a good description............

[Ilsa]

13. I have that song on my devices. I remember it too.

Lake Gitchegume. Don't know how to spell the Chippewa word.

I remember a documentary where they were able to find and externally examine the wreckage.

Lightfoot's lyrics are amazing, entrancing.

29 candles indeed.

[ailsagirl]

35. Entrancing is right

Mesmerizing

[DinahMoeHum]

14. This YouTube version spells out the names of the crew. . .

. . .and some faces. . .

[Liberal In Texas]

61. Yep...this is the best YouTube of this.

Been to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum up in the Upper Pen have the sweatshirt and the place has done a very nice job of the history of the wreck. Boy is it boring up there besides this.

And this is Gordon Lightfoot's masterpiece. A fine remembrance of a tragedy that claimed all of those men.

Also, if you like this kind of culture about the Great Lakes ships, there is an old (2000) great movie with Charles Durning, Peter Falk, Denis Leary, Andy García called "Lake Boat."

[Mendocino]

15. I still live near Toledo.

I remember well of the wreck. There were crew members in the area, including Ernest McSorley the captain. My wife's grandfather was a lake skipper. I've been to Whitefish Bay and Crisp Point, from the Soo Lock to Duluth. The severity of the lakes cannot be underestimated.

The legend lives on.

[MountCleaners]

16. YouTube has a number of documentaries, too

There was a ship behind it, trying to follow it, and the Edmund Fitzgerald disappeared right in front of it.

Chilling.

[ewagner]

17. 42 years ago tonight

...I was being interviewed for a job in the City of Ashland, Wisconsin...it was raining and blowing hard in Ashland but 70 or so miles north, on Lake Superior, the waves were like mountains and the Edmund Fitzgerald was being pelted with freezing rain.

I returned with my wife to our lodging a little after 7 PM and turned on the TV...the Duluth weather forecaster was giving a special report on the storm when he was handed a note...it was a release of a radio message from the Captain of the ore carrier Anderson...stating that the lights of the Fitzgerald (a few miles ahead of the Anderson) had disappeared....they feared the worst.

I learned that there were Ashland men aboard "The Fitz". There is a mural in downtown Ashland that has paintings of three of the Ashland men who were aboard the Fitz that night

I lived in Ashland for 10 years after that night...became Mayor of the City for four of those years. Every November 10 that rolls around reminds me of that night...Gordon Lightfoot's song still brings tears to my eyes.

[Liberal In Texas]

71. Cool. Interesting story. n/t

[roamer65]

18. Only one correction to his song.

The Fitz wasn’t heading for Cleveland. It was heading for Zug Island in the Detroit River.

For people who follow the history of this great ship and crew...

[DownriverDem]

37. Zug Island

What was it carrying? Zug Island is industrial. I drove by it yesterday on my way home from the office. I-75 South is closed from Downtown Detroit to somewhere Downriver.

[roamer65]

51. 26,000 tons of taconite pellets from Superior, WI.

Destination was the steel mills at Zug Island, MI

[susanna]

94. I-75 South is closed from I-96 downtown for non-local.

It re-opens at Northline, downriver.

[susanna]

77. Yes, it was. n/t

[CentralMass]

19. I remember listening to the song as we were crossing the Mackinac bridge in Michigan during

a very bad storm. The bridge connects the upper pennisula of Michigan to the "mainland" over an 8 mile stretch across the Mackinac Straits where lakes Huron and Michigan meet (if i remember correctly).

My father and I had driven up to pickup my brother from Michigan Tech in the U.P. it must of been around (edited) 1978. I think i was srill in high school when we made the trip

We were driving in a terrible storm as we approached the bridge. Near the water edge the wind was so strong the trees were bent over. We were hesitant to get on the bridge. It was a dark as night and it was only late afternoon. As we crossed the bridge the winds coming from our right were so strong they were blowing our large 4 door sedan out of lane. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald was playing on the radio and i can recall seeing a huge freighter crossing under the bridge as we as we crossed over it. If the ship hadn't been lit up it wouldn't have been able to see. They mentioned on the radio that the bridge had just closed for additional traffic due to the storm. Not comforting as we were one of the last vehicles that had been let on. Shortly after exiting the bridge we were far too close to a tornado that touched down.

[roamer65]

56. Superior, Huron and Michigan can all get wild this time of year.

Another wreck in November 1966...the Daniel J Morrell.

Only 1 of 29 survived. The ship cracked in half on Lake Huron waves and the bow and stern are five miles apart, as the stern continued to steam ahead without the bow.

[CentralMass]

65. Wow. That storm we encointered was formidable.

I just looked it up and apparently they close the Mackinac bridge when the wind hits 65 miles an hour or more.

[susanna]

78. Many people dismiss the Great Lakes as...well, "they're just lakes."

It is foolish to do so...they are formidable - and huge - bodies of water, and when weather causes the waves to rise, they can be as punishing as any ocean on the ships who sail there.

I've lived here all my life, and I treat the Great Lakes with all the respect due them, which is plenty.

[BumRushDaShow]

86. You know it's interesting

that during my life here in PA (SE PA), I had been taught in school about Lake Erie and it being PA's "Great Lake". But because it was literally on the opposite end of the state from where I was, I never saw it until decades later when I finally got to see it from the Cleveland, OH side when visiting the Rock and Roll Hall of fame. And Erie is one of the "smaller" ones but was still huge, as you couldn't see anything but water past the horizon. Similarly I saw Lake Michigan while in Chicago several times - a true huge one where the water is endless past the horizon.

Those lakes very much impact the climate here in the northeast and upper mid-atlantic states and agree they demand respect. I am just over an hour by car from the Atlantic ocean and wouldn't hesitate to compare the two (not counting freshwater vs salt water).

[susanna]

88. Yes - they do impact our climate, which should clue folks into their size ;)

I live closest to Lake Erie, but spend time in the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) of Michigan whenever possible - Lake Superior is magnificent. If you ever get the chance, I'd say go see it! Also, the locks in Sault Ste. Marie are interesting. It's how the freighters get from the lower elevation Lake Huron into the higher elevation Lake Superior.

[BumRushDaShow]

91. Have to put it on my bucket list!

Have been researching train travel around the U.S. (coast to coast, border to border).

I went to Egypt about 25 years ago and part of the trip included a 5 day cruise on the Nile. The route required going through the locks between Esna and Edfu (heading south to Aswan, which goes from the lower side of the river to the higher side - all around the site of the old Nile river dam). Took awhile because of a line of boats waiting to go through and then doing the whole fill/drain/fill/drain process. Pretty wild!

[susanna]

92. I would love to see Egypt.

I've been stateside bound for some time for family reasons, but have road-tripped my way around a lot of the lower 48 so I can't say I haven't had some good times. Still, would love to see so many other things in the world! That trip sounds amazing.

[Liberal In Texas]

64. That bridge has alway scared me.

I don't know why. I used to fly helicopters and don't get scared much about heights. But every time I've crossed I feel the "heeby-jeebies." The last time I crossed it was coming back from the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum where I was up there just to see that. And I was just scared. Don't know why.

[roamer65]

66. Its long and narrow...5 miles.

It also has perforated gratings in the road way.

I have been over the gratings when it’s windy and can feel the car lift up. That is a very disconcerting feeling.

[demmiblue]

87. Fun Fact: The Mackinac Bridge Authority has a driver assistance program for people who...

are uncomfortable driving across the bridge. And it is free (you have to pay the toll, of course)!

[susanna]

79. WOW - as a Michigan native who has crossed that bridge countless times...

...you deserve a badge of courage.

I wouldn't have attempted the crossing under those conditions...would have hung out in Mackinac City for a while until the winds died down.

Seriously - what a great story. Thank you for sharing it!

[bobbieinok]

20. 1st heard of wreck in 1976 when in Newfoundland

Song is powerful!

[ailsagirl]

34. Powerful strong

It was and is and always will be

[Ilsa]

21. I wouldn't like this song if the subject were different.

The repetition of the musical phrases wears me down. I need more musical variety. But the memory and the lyrics are strong, so I listen to it and love it. Even heard it on Sirius ch 7 the other day.

[rzemanfl]

53. Years ago we were in a museum in the U.P. that played to song over and over.

I was ready to puncture my eardrums by the time we left.

[El Mimbreno]

22. Several theories of what happened.

One being that due to the severity of the waves, the Fitz bottomed out on an uncharted shoal, damaging the bottom of the hull. The ship began taking on water until it finally became so heavy it submarined into a wave, struck the bottom bow first, possibly still under power. The hull broke in half at the weakened area, momentum flipping the stern half endwise to end up next to the bow.
An interesting theory at least.

[Mendocino]

30. I believe in the rouge wave theory.

A series of three massive waves strike the Fitz. The first overwhelms the ship. The second pins her down. The third quarters the bow, it dives, the pressure pop hatch covers, the massive weight of 27,000 tons of taconite cargo sinks her like a rock. The whole process takes moments.

[El Mimbreno]

31. Also plausible

Considering the waves were running, I think, 60 ft trough-to-crest.

[anneboleyn]

39. Didn't the Arthur Anderson's captain support this? He said they were hit by bigger waves than he

had ever seen, and the biggest he saw would have demolished the Fitzgerald which would explain why she sank so quickly and with zero warning.

[yardwork]

49. The rogue wave theory is very persuasive. Waves like that are seen periodically.

I think that's what happened and why the ship went down with no warning.

[Liberal In Texas]

72. I also have read she may actually have grounded

on some rocks at the same time as the rogue wave hit. The "Perfect Storm" kind of scenario.

[roamer65]

32. I am a Six Fathom shoal believer as well.

I think she tried to hug the coastline a bit too much and raked those shoals near Caribou Island.

[anneboleyn]

40. Yes, but they were "holding their own" according to their last transmission. It also happened SO

fast and the Arthur Anderson captain said that a wave hit them that could have easily taken the Fitzgerald down.

[roamer65]

60. Or especially taken down a ship with a compromised hull.

[El Mimbreno]

48. Theory in a book I read...

Was that the as the ship rose and fell on the waves, the hull hit bottom on the shoal, causing the damage and weakening the hull amidships. But the monster wave makes sense as well. The Great Lakes, and especially Superior, have claimed an incredible number of ships and their crews. One of those things we'll never know for sure.

Years ago I witnessed what I assume was a minor seiche at a Lake Michigan beach. The shoreline retreated about 20 feet, then after several minutes returned to where it had been.

[Mendocino]

47. One problem is that

when they dived to the Fitz, the upturned half of the hull showed no damage of the stern, rudder or propeller to indicate that shoaling caused the demise of the ship. The damage from shoaling presents a different physical perceptive from a ship that splits open while foundering.

I also wonder about the timeline. If they had struck the shoal and in the reported position, they would have had several hours before before the loss of the ship. I would think that would have presented some warning to the Captain and crew if shoaling had occurred.

[TalenaGor]

23. my dad took me to see Gordon when I was 7..

And a couple years ago I returned the favor and sent him tickets to see him in Colorado Springs 😊 absolutely love Gordon Lightfoot!

[susanna]

90. I went to see him five years ago or so...

Hearing the song live was incredible. He is an amazing songwriter and performer.

[shenmue]

24. ...

[WhiskeyGrinder]

25. Recording of the Coast Guard asking the Anderson to go back and look for the Fitzgerald:

[orangecrush]

26. For ham radio enthusiasts...

To commemorate the 41st anniversary of the sinking of the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald, the Livonia Amateur Radio Club is running a special event amateur radio station, W8F, at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum. Both Voice and CW (Morse Code) stations will be there. Stop by, watch us operate, or get on the air, with the help of our club members.

QSL to K8TAS for a special certificate.

https://m.facebook.com/events/839149932888888/

[Stinky The Clown]

28. That song is one of my very favorites and has been for decades. Haunting.

Haunting, as is the whole story of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Captain McSorley, the Arthur M. Anderson, the inland seas we call the Great Lakes and their propensity for steep seas and and heavy weather.

[greatauntoftriplets]

29. As a young man, my father worked for a time on a Great Lakes iron ore freighter.

It wasn't the Edmund Fitzgerald. I think that is a large part of the reason that song resonated with me so much. Sad anniversary.

[ellie]

33. My sister's friend's husband

worked on the Great Lakes and he knew everyone on that ship.

[Dulcinea]

36. I was 10 years old when that happened.

I grew up boating, & remember thinking that must have been so scary.

[Lifelong Protester]

38. My uncle sailed on the ore boats

he was the head (chief) bosun on the John Dykstra for Ford's division called FOMOCO. I recall we were all in a panic the morning after the Fitz went down as we didn't recall the name of his boat.


The winter captainof the" William Irvin" in DuLuth said it was human error that sank the Fitz. He said the captain could have hid out at Whitefish Bay, but wouldn't, because he said he had the biggest boat on the lake and would not hide!

[yuiyoshida]

41. I don't know who wrote the lyrics for this song, but it was done

Brilliantly by Gordon Lightfoot.

[Liberal In Texas]

73. Lightfoot wrote the lyrics. n/t

[cp]

42. One of the best songs ever written

Rest in peace, sailors

[panader0]

43. I saw Lightfoot perform in early '69 before the Edmund Fitzgerald went down.

Went backstage after the show (at Willamette University) with a guitar
player buddy. He was rude to us. But still, a great song and a talented guy.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

44. I saw Gordon Lightfoot in 79 in Milwaukee

With LKe Michigan as a backdrop. When he went into the Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald, it sent chills down my back.

[ghostsinthemachine]

80. I saw him this summer.

Good show, but his age shows. He left off verses of songs (not this one, or his hits), and every song had the same tempo. Still good show. Man, to still be touring at his age must be pretty serious.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

45. At the Maritime Museum in Duluth, Minnesota.......

Near the Ariel Lift Bridge, is the Maritime Museum where there are actual artifacts from the Iron Ore ship tne Edmund Fitzgerald. The EF was loaded with Taconite Iron ore from Minnesota's Iron Range that left Duluth Harbor for Cleveland, Ohio. Seeing the relics from that ship made me remember that 29 souls remain in the cold waters of Lake Superior for eternity. Very chilling 42 hears later.

[Liberal In Texas]

63. Try the Great Lakes Shipwreck Musuem

If you can get to the Upper Pen. (see my post 61) And not be too nuts after you encounter the boredom up there. (Yes, it's pretty. Yes, it's quiet. Yes, it's cold, even in June)
They have the shp's bell.





https://www.shipwreckmuseum.com/

[FarCenter]

68. Been there. It is definitely worth a visit.

[emmadoggy]

69. Been there.

It's a great museum. My family and I are absolutely in LOVE with Duluth, the North Shore, and Lake Superior. One of my favorite places (areas).

[DonCoquixote]

46. a good link

http://www.ssedmundfitzgerald.org/

[Delphinus]

52. Earlier tonight,

while cleaning the bathroom, just letting my mind wander, this song came unbidden. Now I come here and read this. Whoa.

[Wolf Frankula]

54. I had to interview family members of the lost crew

It was a harrowing experience, but not nearly as harrowing as theirs

Wolf

[shanny]

55. My father's company owned that ship....

To clarify: the company my father worked for. An insurance company--Northwestern Mutual Life--it was a good place to work back in the day. They made their money the old-fashioned way (they earned it), they treated their employees well (he worked there from the day he got out of grad school until he retired) before and after retirement (his pension came to almost 4000 a month--20 years after retirement; I happen to know he invested about 5000 during his employment toward it).

It still appalls me that he voted Republican (this after crowing about how he went to school for 8 years on the GI Bill; also after he voted for Kennedy over "that rat bastard Nixon" in 1960) but he never would have stood for this current crop of...deplorables / unmentionables / unpardonables. He died before GWB came on the scene.

The song, and the story, still haunts me...in part because it reminds me of a different time.

[roamer65]

58. The November 1966 sinking of the Daniel J Morrell.

1 of 29 survived that night, a crew man named Dennis Hale. Very interesting story.

The bow and stern are 5 miles apart in Lake Huron.

[raven mad]

59. ... Meant to add condolences. Forgot. Every time I hear this song, I cry.

Lightfoot was undoubtedly the only artist to handle this song. Thank you.

[Loyd]

62. Haunting

Not only in its lyrics, but especially in its melody!

[Upthevibe]

70. I'm embarrassed to admit that I know very little about this story...

I thought the song was about something that happened a long time ago and I didn't even know where. I learn sooooo much on DU..........R.I.P. to those who perished...

[sweetloukillbot]

75. The melody is amazing

Irish singer Christy Moore used it to put one of Bobby Sands' poems to music - "Back Home in Derry".

[nadine_mn]

74. I grew up on the shores of Lake Superior near Duluth and watched

Those ore boats come into our harbor all the time. They are so massive, unless you have been near one (or in one...which Duluth has a docked one to tour and even does a haunted house on it) it is hard to imagine anything tossing it around.

I would stand on the lake shore during some of the wicked storms just in awe of the waves and the power of the Lake.

The song does justice to such a sad tragedy...

[susanna]

76. I live a couple of blocks from where she was built and was launched.

We hold a candlelight vigil every anniversary down at the river.

We still remember.

[alphafemale]

81. There is/was an actual video to this song/

I could not find it.

[alphafemale]

83. I think this is the one I remembr.

[Rhiannon12866]

84. Wow! That is excellent!

Thanks so much for posting!

[edbermac]

89. Saw this documentary years ago.

Around 33 mins they show several theories about how the ship sank.

[Rhiannon12866]

93. Thanks for posting this! Very well done!