LOST ON LAKE HURON

[@NealBones]

I've watched all of these Jeff lectures probably 10 times now. I cannot express enough how great of an orator and teacher he is, and how grateful I am to you guys at Alpena for posting these, and for FREE at that! ❤

[@StephanieMorgan-e9g]

This is a wonderful presentation. I truly enjoyed every minute of it. I particularly like the detail of all the aspects of the situation from multiple perspectives. I learned so much about this era of shipping. Thank you so much for doing these and making them available to the public.

[@katharper655]

I am forced to confess that when I'm stressed, when my work exercising and training the saddle horses of the well-to do-no races this time of year-gets to be tiring, like a homing pigeon I come to listen to Jeff tell his tales of the ore freighters on the awesome Great Lakes. Aaahhh! Peace and adventure. Thanks, Jeff!

[@ReluctantCriticDude]

As usual safety improvements are always paid for in lives. Great video.

[@danielmaeder6214]

You are a great storyteller! You bring to life the sheer horror and the courage of these fine sailors ! Who could have imagined that the stern sailed for 5 miles until it sank!! Thank you sir for your wonderful commentary!

[@katharper655]

JEFF THOMAS IS BY FAR the most engaging Great Lakes Shipping storyteller in my humble opinion. I actually like him so much, I TRY not to take offense with his remarks about Gordon Lightfoot's "inaccuracies" regarding the Fitzgerald. I am a many years' fan of Gord....was treated very kindly by him at one of the several concerts I attended. But JEFF IS STILL MY FAVORITE. So that tells how GREAT he is at his craft.

[@denisecampbell6736]

I’m on the Manitoulin Island & it was lovely to see this. There aren’t that many videos but there about the Maritime History/Shipwrecks of Lake Huron. So to find something about “my Lake”…Thank You so much this!! Now if only more presentations about Lake Huron & her Shipwreck History..😊 Thank You so much again & Take Care!!😊

[@thomasbernecky2078]

That was a great tale, told by a fine storyteller.

[@jayharr6250]

Very nicely done. Good presentation. Thank you for taking the time to post. It's extremely important to have a visual history of important events like this and to preserve those tragic stories of what happened on the Great Lakes. Thanks again.

[@tomshiba51]

I've read the book and have listened to numerous podcasts and YT videos on this ship wreck. Nice to hear it again from a source I haven't heard before.

[@Bryanja81]

It would have been very cool if they had designed a wheel house that could detach from the ship in the case of sinking and make it water tight and make it float. The crew could lock themselves in the wheel house and essentially use it as an escape pod. Maybe far fetched, but cool in concept.

[@pauleunterborn7923]

I have watched everything to date from your program. I grew up on Lake Michigan in NW Indiana. Worked for the steel mills, and saw ore boats being unloaded. I have been fascinated with Great Lakes shipping most of my adult life. Thank you for sharing this history.

[@leftseat30]

Thank you for your service to our country

[@m.b8257]

Sir, you tell a great story, I’m certainly glad I happened to hear it, I love the stories about the lakers.

[@dragonclaws9367]

I would love to hitch a ride on one of these. Especially at night. I know it's crazy. I wish you were one of my teachers you bring it to life.

[@harleycolwell2886]

And such a wealth of knowledge too!

[@fatovamingus]

This is my second time listening to this and I really wish you were doing more. You have the ability to tell the story with familiarity. There are a lot of 11-minute videos with creepy music talking about Great Lakes Freighters that went down but no one gets into the details no one gets into the structures and the weather. Just the drama.

[@harleycolwell2886]

I love this presentation! You're a great story teller!

[@jmjaxson]

Glad I came across this video. Jeff is a very good presenter and speaker and I found this very interesting with detailed information of the ships and the events which occurred. Much appreciated.

[@associationoflifelonglearn3593]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@dougs184]

Thank You, Your Presentation Was Very Interesting .

[@Bryanja81]

So when was the EPERB implemented? If this was 1966-67; I don't recall there being one on the Fitz...?

[@Bryanja81]

It's a shame the engineers weren't able to keep the stern half moving all the way to shore.

[@clairewyndham1971]

Great presentation Very interesting, but I have a couple questions. 1) Those cracked hatches, did the Coast Guard recommend all steel that used the Bessemer Process get that replaced?? 2) were the life saving boats on all ships that use the Coast Guard preferred to have be used were they implemented?

[@katharper655]

JEFF THOMAS is my very favourite Great Lakes Shipwreck Storyteller. I like Ric Mixter ok...but IMO Jeff is much more personable...a Natural -Born Storyteller.

[@gayprepperz6862]

Last rights? The nurse just took my blood pressure and vitals, she said I was just fine! WTF?

[@richardtruesdell8289]

Were any dives made on the Morrell?

[@richardtruesdell8289]

So simple to have an auxiliary power source at the bow of the ship for emergency calls. How far from the bow did the stern go before sinking? Why didn't the stern crew not use their lifeboats?

[@johnnyjargon4891]

I think you mean Edward Y Townsend instead of Michipicoten

[@joeanderson9852]

👍

[@pauleunterborn7923]

The sulfur content may have been too high. This factor makes steel more brittle. This fact was discussed in regards to the Titanic. I am not a metallurgist or a metallurgical engineer. Has anyone recovered steel samples from any wrecks that broke up?

[@oso9809]

Thought he stated the coast guard recovered some steel plate for testing.

[@GelBijou]

I haven't been able to locate any sources to say that the Morrell was smaller than her sister the Townsend. In fact, I've been able to find the opposite, that the Townsend was usurped by the Morrell when she put into the water. Do you have a resource to provide?

[@associationoflifelonglearn3593]

Sure! If one looks at the dimensions listed for both vessels on the Bowling Green State University's Great Lakes database they will see that the Townsend is listed as being longer. This is also backed up by noted Great Lakes author Michael Shumacher in his book "Torn in Two" as well as in research by Great Lakes historian Chris Kohl as presented in the video "S.S Daniel J. Morrell Remembered". Thanks, Jeff

[@GelBijou]

@@associationoflifelonglearn3593 Thank you!

[@charliekezza]

I don't know if I'd be more worried if I was in the ship that was 2 feet too short or the ship that's 2 feet too long

[@mikehurtle]

Whitefish bay seems to be a bad place for these ships.

[@mattbrown9484]

Guy was wedged between the pontoons because he jumped down into there?

[@marsolca]

Tolerance stacks is the reason for the 2 feet. Guys cutting giant beams and panels with a tape measure aren’t going to be within thousandths of an inch of each other like something small cut on a mill. Inches per piece over 100 feet of hull pieces is going to add up

[@jorgeluisgonzalez133]

How many of these ships have been lost on the lakes over the years. No teaching resulted from those tragedies? The rush of money, with overloaded ships sailing in bad weather. A true "Russian roulette" for those poor crews.

[@shawnkeith1164]

Actually they learned from each sinking, and safety improved on the boats each time. That's why we don't have the sinkings any more, and collisions are also rare.

[@ronrendina8986]

To much coincidece for truth

[@C77-C77]

Those old freighter pontoon life rafts must really suck to try to stay on in a storm. What a horrid design...just keep getting thrown off and hope you can find the thing and make it aboard over and over. Unless you happen to have rope and can tie yourself to the raft. Even then, you'd have to tie off properly, and may not have any time to do it. And you'd still be at the mercy of the waves with zero protection.

[@paularmstrong4546]

Why are people laughing.

[@terryboyer1342]

People laugh when they find something funny. Try it sometime! 😁