The Destruction Of Edmund Fitzgerald And The Wreck Of Edmund Fitzgerald

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It happened on November 10, 1975. Edmund Fitzgerald was about to make its trip to Detroit MI with only one mission at hand: to deliver ore. That was all there was to it. But the members of the ship had gotten much more than what they had bargained for. They thought that they would be okay. Or so they thought? The ship, weighing at 13,632 lbs sank in Lake Superior, taking the lives of 29 men. This was the worst shipping tragedy in eleven years. The song, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot is a tribute to those who died on the terrible day in November. Edmund Fitzgerald was a large ship-”the pride of America’s side”, people would call it. It weighed over 13,000 lbs and it was 729 feet long. It was first launched in 1958, …show more content…

This was allowing large waves to build. Unfortunately, the ship was no longer protected by land. Later on the afternoon of November 10, the captain of the Fitzgerald made radio contact with another ship, the Avafor, and reported that they "had a bad list (a list means that the ship was going from side to side), had lost both radars, and was taking heavy seas over the deck in one of the worst seas he had ever been in." Captain McSorley was a sailor of the Great Lakes with over 40 years of experience. At this time the crew was doomed. The sinking of the Fitzgerald was very rapid and it is said that it is likely they did not know the seriousness of their condition. Indeed, after the wreck a mangled lifeboat was found. The conditions of these lifeboats left people to suggest or assume that no one attempted to leave the ship. No distress signals were ever even issued. So what caused the Edmund Fitzgerald to go under? Some theories suggest that that the ship was taking on water due to earlier damage from the storm and that around 7:10 p.m. it went headfirst into a large wave and sank abruptly. Every person on the ship died. That said, the sinking of Edmund Fitzgerald was a huge tragedy-one that no one would

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