The Great Lakes have been home to more than 6,000 shipwrecks on its five major Lakes (Childs, 2011). One of the most popular wrecks was that of the bulk freighter the Edmund Fitzgerald on the Canadian side of Lake Superior. It had transported goods across the Great Lakes for about 17 years before it was overcome by the power of the Lakes. In terms of lifetimes of shipping vessels, The Fitzgerald was still relatively young. “The Fitzgerald, often called the Titanic of the Great Lakes was not only the most famous freshwater shipwreck; it was also the biggest mystery in the Great Lakes history” (Schumacher, 2006). Weather played a key role in the defeat of this ship and the death of all 29 hands on November 10, 1975. “Winter is a time of intense …show more content…
The construction of the Fitzgerald was finished in 1957 in River Rouge, Michigan by Great Lakes Engineering Works. This venture set the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company; a major investor in the iron and minerals industries back about $8.4 million (Schumacher, 2006). The Edmund Fitzgerald took its first voyage on September 24, 1958; named appropriately after the president of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Edmund Fitzgerald (McCall). It was his initiative to build the largest ship in the Great Lakes, so he …show more content…
On its voyage the Fitzgerald skippered by Captain McSorley, was closely followed by Captain Cooper of the S.S. Arthur M. Anderson which was another cargo carrying ship. Captain McSorley radioed Captain Cooper saying “Anderson, this is the Fitzgerald. I have sustained some topside damage. I have a fence rail laid down, two vents lost or damaged, and a list. I'm checking down. Will you stay by me till I get to Whitefish?" (McCall). The storm had begun to do damage to the Fitzgerald and things were starting to go south hastily. For being the most technologically advanced ship of its day the Fitzgerald managed to lose both of its two radar systems, making it difficult to traverse the waters. Radar allowed the ship to find shallow spots in the water and any other obstacles they may have needed to try to
The USS Indianapolis was a heavy cruiser. She did not have heavy armor which made her vulnerable to torpedo attacks. She had been ordered to sail on July 16, 1945, to deliver a bomb that would end the war. Unfortunately, it sank before it arrived.
The Erie Canal was a man made water way that stretched to be three hundred sixty three miles long. The canal started construction in1817, and took nine years to completely finish the building process. People during this time had many positive, and negative opinions about the fact that this expensive canal was being built. The idea of the Erie Canal originates with Jesse Hawley, the idea was to connect the great lakes to the Atlantic ocean making an easy path to the west from the east without having to pass Niagara Falls. The canal was mostly built by Irish immigrants who were hated, or disliked, by most people. People had ideas and predictions about what would come of this canal. Let's just see which of the predictions were more accurate to
The Northerners were warned about this ironclad “monster” and were waiting for this moment a long time. When the Merrimac came into view she fought the Cumberland and ended up destroying it. The shell burst into the rail and knocked down nine men of the Cumberland. In the end the Merrimac destroyed the Cumberland. But no ship in the navy ever fought as hard or as brave as the Cumberland did.
On May the 7th 1915 the Lusitania sank, taking with it the lives of one thousand, two hundred and one people including ninety-one children and thirty-one infants. Despite the fact that it was the largest and fastest ship at that time, the German torpedo still found its mark off the South Coast of Ireland while the ship was travelling between the United States and England. The failure to prevent the tragedy despite the warnings given, the actions (or lack thereof) of the Admiralty and the neglect in ensuring that the lifeboat system and the ship itself would offer maximum protection; puts the primary blame unto the British Admiralty and the Cunard Company.
used by the boat was essential for communication and the safety of its passengers. The Titanic,
During the 1840’s and 1850’s America experienced its golden age in shipping and sailing.1 At the front of this era was Donald McKay whose innovative ship designs lead to the numerous sea speed records, some of which stand today. For most of the early 19th century American ship building consisted of merchant and cargo ships. It took a long time for these ships to sail across seas. With the increased speed came decreased time to wait for pay. Another need for increased speed was the California gold rush of 1849. People wanted to make the trip as quickly as possible in order to stake their claims. Donald McKay’s clipper ships enabled people to do that.
Water travel assisted heavily with transportation of goods and people from the American north-east to the west, which would eventually create a separation from the south.
I would not blame captain smith because he was told to sail faster not slower by j. Bruce
Fitzgerald is capable of picking an event and referring back to it while still staying on topic. One of these events is accidents. Almost every character is related to an accident that occurs to another character:
Two days before the disaster a fire had occurred at the dock where the boat was stationed. The fire that happened two days before the disaster was started by a cigarette. And their is a law stating that their is no smoking on or around the dock. The grandcamp boat was a recently re-activated boat that measured 437 feet in length. The Grandcamp served in World War II and the Pacific Theater. The Grandcamp was loaded down with two thousand two hundred tons of cargo. Their was another ship docked in the harbor called the High Flyer and it contained nine sixty one tons of ammonium
The Titanic set voyage on April 1912 to New York. The Titanic and its sister ships, Olympia and Britannic were said to be virtually unsinkable by a magazine article, not the White Star Line. The Titanic was the second ship to set sail on its maiden voyage out of the three sister ships. The Titanic had been built a lot differently than most of the ships back then. For example, a normal ship was built with three funnels but the Titanic had four. The fourth funnel did not serve the same purpose like the other three; its use was for steam to be released from the kitchen. Another example was that the Titanic was the biggest ship at the time. The ship had received ice warnings at least six different times from ships but Captain Smith had ignored
Concerning the first phase of the accident the report (2013) concludes that altering the course of the ship from a perpendicular to a parallel course close to shore proved to be a catastrophic decision. Moreover the questionable behavior of the Master is of primary concern since Master decided to navigate the ship in restricted and confined waters when alternative and ...
Titanic was sighted. This ship, the Rappahannock, had emerged from an ice field and had sustained damage to its rudder. The vessel signaled the Titanic about the ice and the Titanic replied that the message was received (Marcus 127). At 11 p.m. another ice report was received. This one was from the Californian. This liner had passed through the same ice field that the Rappahannock had reported to the Titanic. Like all the other warnings, this warning never reached the bridge though it was known to both of the Titanic's wireless operators (Marcus 128). By the time the bridge realized the ship was about to hit an iceberg, it was too late. Quartermaster Hitchens tried to turn the wheel hard to the starboard. Twenty seconds later, he had an order for full speed astern but the iceberg was too close. The starboard side hit the iceberg, bringing a block of ice onto the deck (Pellegrino 21). After the collision occurred, there was only one thing open for Captain Smith to do. It was almost midnight a...
Nineteen twelve, in Belfast, Ireland. The company Harland and Wolff started the construction of The Titanic. Although the ship was owned by The White Star Line, the construction was funded by J.P Morgan. During construction there were a total of eight people killed and two hundred and forty six number of injuries recorded. Working forty nine hours and six days a week the construction only took two years and two months to be fully completed. The Titanic was to be the biggest, fastest, and most luxurious
...ve damage occurred in New England where federal disaster areas were declared for seven counties in Massachusetts, five in Maine, and one in New Hampshire. Off Staten Island, two men were drowned when their boat capsized. Other fatalities occurred when a man fishing from a bridge was either blown or swept off in New York and a fisherman was swept off the rocks at Narrangansett, RI by heavy surf. Offshore, six lives were lost when the Andrea Gail, a swordfishing boat, sank. Total damage in the Halloween Storm, as it came to be known because of its date, was in the hundreds of millions of dollars.”