On this day, November 9, 1975, the Edmund Fitzgerald departed from Superior, Wisconsin
at 2:15 pm with 26,116 tons of taconite headed for Detroit, Michigan. The Fitzgerald was under the leadership of Captain Ernest M. McSorley. Later that afternoon, the Fitz met the Arthur M. Anderson (Captain Jesse B. Cooper) as it left Two Harbors, Minnesota. Due to the storm headed north, both McSorley and Cooper decided to travel north of the usual shipping lanes, a common practice in poor weather.
By the morning of November 10, previously issued gale warnings were upgraded to storm warnings. As the two ships passed Caribou Island, located on the eastern portion of Lake Superior, Captain Cooper noted how close the Fitz came to a nearby shoal at 3:15 pm. Over the next few hours, the Fitzgerald reported a down fence rail, two lost or damaged vent covers, a list, and down radar systems. At 7:10 pm the First Mate of the Anderson, Morgan Clark, radioed the Fitzgerald to provide navigational points and to ask how the ship was doing. Captain McSorley responded, “We are holding our own.” This was the final communication with the Fitz and it disappeared from sight and radar due to a snow squall at 7:15 pm.
Between 7:25 pm and 8:25 pm, Captain Cooper contacted other ships and the Coast Guard to ask if they could see the Fitz on their radar. No one could. The Coast Guard listed the Edmund Fitzgerald and its crew of 29 men missing shortly thereafter. When preliminary searches were done, all that was found was debris.
In the days that followed, the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards continued to search. On November 14, 1975 an anti-sub plane detected an object 530 feet below Lake Superior’s surface 17 miles from Whitefish Point. The object was confirmed to be the Edmund Fitzgerald in May 1976 using an underwater research vehicle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wreck_of_the_Edmund_Fitzgerald#/media/File:Edmund_Fitzgerald,_1971,_3_of_4_(restored;_cropped).jpg
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