Great Lake Shipwrecks

[Denver 59 Fin Convert]

Fins 59, I forgot about the Dodges on the Ore Boat. They were probably going up to Duluth, MN. Being from Michigan I was big in Great Lakes Shipwrecks. And there was a story about some Chryslers on a similar type of Ore Boat lashed to the deck for delivery to Duluth.

The Ore boat got in some heavy seas and spilled a bunch of those brand new Chryslers overboad into Lake Superior where they probably still rest today. The Ore boat made it in to harbor but had lost some of their car deck cargo. I believe they were late 20's Chryslers, but I will have to dig out the book I still have on Lake Superior Shipwrecks (now car wrecks..) somewhere and I will try to get more info on when and what year it took place.

John Q.

[Fins59]

Interesting story. Shipwrecks always attract my attention. (I spent 5 years on a few ships while in service. Luckily we never wrecked Came close a few times). Most noted I guess was Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald (Gordon Lightfoot). He's going to be appearing at a concert here in Wausau, WI in a few weeks. Wife and I want to take a day trip yet this fall up to Door County along Lake Michigan to check out a few Lighthouses.

That Hemmings Classic Car magazine is one great pub, imo.

[Denver 59 Fin Convert]

Edmund Fitzgerald....29 men gone in seconds. I was in College at Western Michigan in 1975 went the alert went out that night of an large Ore Boat missing but the search came up with nothing. She was 729 feet long and broke up and sank in water that was less then 600' (used to be inchs but now corrected) deep.

Which meant her bow could have hit bottom while the aft end was still a float. Probably why she split in two/three when the Keel broke.I saw the Fitzgeralds life boat at the Soo Locks 25 years ago. Almost made Whitefish Bay they say and safe harbor from the gale.

Should be a good concert. He is from my era also.

But we digress from all things 59 yet once again!

John Q.

[Fins59]

Interesting, I didn't know about the 729' length vs the 600 feet of water.
A little digress from '59's is good once in awhile. Keeps you from getting burned out.

[Faulkner]

She was 729 feet long and broke up and sank in water that was less then 600" deep. Which meant her bow could have hit bottom while the aft end was still a float.

A geologist friend of mine explained that in shallow water, the distance between wave crests is longer than in the open sea. His opinion was that the Fitz encountered stresses on the Lake's surface that it wouldn't have seen in, say, the Atlantic - and probably broke up before it sank.

Dan

[big m]

My uncle Elwin was caretaker of a lighthouse on Lonely island in Lake Superior. He was the last person to speak to the captain of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I stayed on the island the summer before the accident to help out with chores there.

---John

[Denver 59 Fin Convert]

Wow, I need to start a thread on the Edmund Fitz" But hear is fine. True the seas on Superior can be very bad and the bow and stearn could be supported but the center section of the Keal unsported and split in two Laker's (Ore boats on the Great Lakes) are also only single hull boats not like Salty's which are double hulled.

I have the Coast Guard Book on the sinking and there is no definitive reason but several offered up, One being Dan's caught between two giant waves and split in too. The Captain did report a Bow railing down and had a slight list on the bow. But was stable making Headway. The Ore boat the Henry Ford was 12 miles behind her and also was in communications with the skipper of the EF. On large gales the path to the Soo locks are to go way north to the Canadian side of Superior to be in the lWindward of the winds, closer to the north shore which softens the wind force and the am.plitude of the waves

Their tracking course took them near Canada. They skitted some charted Shoal areas, (later determined that they,the shoals, went out a mile further then the charts showed)And the EF might have scraped bottom and buckled some of the Hull plates, so that could have accounted for them taking on some water and developing a slight list. Then as they turned south eastery towards WhiteFish bay and the Soo locks, they kept on going and then nothing.

There is in the Wheelhouse of the Fitz a single button that sends out an immediate Emergency distress call, but she went down so quickly this single button was not pushed, So a catastrophic event occured in her sinking.

If any of you guys would like to read this Coast Guard summary, I will send it out and we can pass it around to all who are interested in this sinking.

John Q.,

[Fins59]

Speaking of breaking in half, I remember very vividly, back in the day, we were on a 30 day weather patrol in the North Atlantic, northeast of New Foundland (Ocean Station Delta) and once we encountered 100 mile per hour winds and 65 foot waves. This was on a 311' Coast Guard weather cutter built in 1942. Later, engineers discovered large steel beams in the fantail section (rear) had bent. The fantail would be thrown up out of the water and the screws would be turning and the ship would be shaking and shuddering. Luckily we didn't break up. I remember everybody up on the bridge had life jackets on and the water was coming in the port holes.

[Denver 59 Fin Convert]

Wow! Harrowing adventure on the high seas, You are lucky that you did not founder or go down your self. A 311' cutter is a big ship and even with water tight compartments it could have been trouble if you lost forward headway and turned broadside into the waves, You would have rolled over for sure. Shades of the Posideion Adventure!

Glad you are here today and thanks for your service to our great country!

John Q.

[rogerh]

"she may have split up, she may have capsized, she may have broke deep and took water"...
Coast Guard decision...combination of broken hatches and hitting the reef, took on water and broke up

[Denver 59 Fin Convert]

I hear the song in my head right now.... In retrospect I think she was 629 feet long, I think I mis-typed, but I will check the book when I get back to Denver tomorrow. but she was longer from stem to stern then the water she lays in.

John Q.

[Faulkner]

I hear the song in my head right now.... In retrospect I think she was 629 feet long, I think I mis-typed, but I will check the book when I get back to Denver tomorrow. but she was longer from stem to stern then the water she lays in.

John Q.

Actually, the water the Fitz lays in is 1848000 feet, John (350 miles). That's quite a bit longer than the Fitz.




Oh wait, you meant, longer than the *depth* of the water he lays in. (Edmund was a he.)

Don't mean to split hairs. Don't have enough to split.

Dan

[Denver 59 Fin Convert]

Sillly IT Geek, Ships,even though they have male,female or non-gender names (Kitty Hawk,Midway or the Fitz) are still referred to in the feminine sense regardless of its name. Don't know why that is just is.Maybe Fins59 can add or subract from my statement (hopefully add to it. If I am wrong, then silence is OK as to not fan the flames with Master Dan.Work with me Fins......)

Yes, she does in fact lay in a depth of distance from the surface to the bottom and should not be construed as the horizontal distance. I will concede that one.

John Q.

[Fins59]

Yup, I have never heard a ship referred to as a "he", always a "she", but what the heck.
On the other hand......cars......some guys refer to their car as "he" and some "she". Wonder how that's determined?
My car was named "Penny" by the previous owner because of it's color, but I kind of look at the car as if it was a "he".
I'm going to crawl under her/him? one of these days and look at the chassis

[Dick Koch]

You better wear a CHASSITY BELT.
Dick.