With All Hands: The Loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald

[@halliestephen-castro4828]

This is, by far, the best description of the Fitz to give the viewer an intimate understanding of this ship as well as the events leading up to her sinking. Wow. Thank you!

[@gregorylyon1004]

I got a better presentation for the Edmund Fitzgerald. Captain Mc Sorely was a bonehead. I got a list of 14 things that were wrong on that final voyage. That had no chance of survival

[@StephanieMorgan-e9g]

Thank you for showing the pictures and names of the crew at the end of your presentation. I've not seen another presentation that does this for the whole crew. It's important to remember those who list their lives.

[@bayfieldheritageassociatio2503]

You are very welcome!

[@bertram_oredrock]

Capt Bernie Cooper nailed it. He said they bottomed out at 6 Fathom Shoals or a stress fracture or both. Also, the Fitzgerald was overloaded for that time of year. Capt Cooper made a brave decision to go back out in those conditions to look for the Fitz knowing how dangerous it was for his ship and crew.

[@howtosober]

It has always sounded like a rogue wave to me, or something big enough to drag the bow down suddenly. I've wondered though, ever since the 1996 Jeff Bridges film "White Squall" about the school schooner The Albatross, if a white squall is the same thing as the confluence of storms and rogue wave the Fitz likely faced. I haven't been able to find a thing on white squalls OR The Albatross. A nosedive sounds like the only way this could have happened to the Fitz. I've never been part of the region, so this is just my own hypothesis, but it makes the most sense to me. Another documentary I watched spoke about how taconite ore is dangerously absorbent to water, absorbing 8 to 9 times its weight in water volume. It makes no sense that any Great Lakes mariners or captain that routinely transported taconite ore during that time of year, which was notorious for ship-sinking storms, would risk leaving hatches open upon departure- especially because Capts. McSorley and Cooper already knew they were headed into heavy storms at the time they left. There's a reason "batten down the hatches" is an expression. I don't discount the 'running aground' theory entirely, but I'm skeptical, especially since in Cooper's sworn testimony he said that the Fitz had cleared the shoals. Unless the ship's hull was in really bad condition and there was water leakage more rapid than what was initially described, I don't see how that could have been the only cause. I don't know how the Three Sisters ended up being discounted so quickly in some theories. It wouldn't take flooding the hatches for a rogue wave, especially a series of them, to sink a ship. It's also the only thing that explains why all 29 sailors were trapped on the ship and they never issued a distress call. Nothing else can take a ship down that quickly. The only alternative is that water got into the cargo hold another way, the taconite increased in volume rapidly as it all shifted forward or to one side, and the Fitz didn't stand a chance. If she caught one or more rogue waves from the front, that would have been enough to shift all the iron to the bow by itself. It's notable, however, that divers to the wreck report that two of the hatches were buckled inward, implying a huge downward force onto them at some point, and resultant leakage. Mike TenEyk said in an interview that it wouldn't take rogue-sized waves to cause that buckling or leakage, just the 30-ft waves constantly battering the ship may have been enough. It may be my cynicism about corporate oligarchy and the lengths they will go to for profit, but I've privately wondered if the Fitz wasn't deployed in rough conditions, with dangerous cargo, after years of possibly poor maintenance (according to some accounts), with the hope for a big insurance payout on a ship whose bankers and corporate backers knew was likely to sink. It wouldn't be the first time something like this was done. If the ship was indeed getting older and in need of more moneyed repairs, I think it's highly plausible. Sadly, I also think it's plausible that McSorley's "We're holding our own" might have been due to knowing they were utterly screwed and didn't want Cooper to take the risk of the Anderson and its crew coming back for them when he knew there was nothing anyone could do to save the Fitz. As an aside, it drives me crazy that everyone in that region insists on pronouncing Sault Sainte Marie wrong. It's not hard to say "Saul," and it is a French name, after all.

[@josephfuller7008]

I agree 100% he’s got it right.

[@karenoliver6061]

I don't think it was only one cause, but several, each bringing the ship closer to tragedy.

[@sd80mac]

@@howtosober Wow, this is definitely an outsider's perspective.

[@spencerme3486]

Except there’s no evidence to support that conclusion

[@renegadebt1374]

Very well done, I have watched many videos on the Edmund Fitzgerald and the detail in this video immense.. Thank you,

[@lonnyjaw]

Very well done B.H.A and Mr. Thom Holden for this very informative and detailed video of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Thank you also for the updated photographs and pictures all that bravely perished.

[@harrietharlow9929]

Thank you! This makes an excellent addition to my "More Edmund Fitzgerald" playlist. Thank you for posting.

[@thosemeddlingkids2715]

This is an excellent documentary on the Edmund Fitzgerald. Excellent work BHA and Thom Holden.

[@christinehaylock8428]

The best documentary out there on the topic.

[@richardwarren1718]

That photo at 12:32 shows the Fitz a few hundred yards north of where she was built, the Great Lakes Engineering Works facility in River Rouge, Mi. The stacks on the right belong to the DTE Belanger Park Plant, also in the Rouge. If she would have made a right turn there she could have meandered her way up the Rouge River to the Ford Rouge Plant in Dearborn. This was the William Clay Ford's homeport. The towering expanse on the left and ahead of the Fitz is the Great Lake Steel complex in Ecorse. Some of the Fitz's steel was produced there. So much has changed since those days. A large portion of GLS is shut down. The DTE plant is scheduled to reduce operations in 2022-23 and GLEW is totally gone. We've lost a lot of jobs and hope in these parts. That's our job today - create work and restore the hope. Bless that crew of 29 and their survivors 🐳🇺🇲.

[@dla116z3]

Thank you for that info Cliff!

[@Stereostupid]

Wow I didn't know the Arthur M Anderson was lengthened 120 foot she was actually now 30 feet longer than the Fitzgerald I always thought the Anderson was the smaller,older more vulnerable boat but she's still going today unbelievable she better be spared and turned into a national museum when the time comes she's a legend that lives on from the chippewa on down from the great lake!

[@gregorylyon1004]

The Anderson survived because it had been fully redone in 1974 when it was lengthened 120 feet. It was repainted and fully inspected at that time. When a shipping builder makes a boat longer, everything is looked over top to bottom. And she's still on the Great Lakes today. These fresh water boats can last over 75 years if maintained properly.

[@MiBones]

Thank you for the complete history.

[@robertweaver5285]

Thank you for the summation power point slide at the end. When setting that list, it's hard to pick just any one reason the Fitz sank. More likely it was all, or most, that caused this disaster.

[@gitcheegoomee]

Thank you very much Thom. Very professional and informative.

[@codered7453]

Excellent video on a facinating and mysterious shipwreck. Impressive knowledge and valid theories put forward to my great satisfaction. Thank you sir.

[@swagmanexplores7472]

Very well presented Thom. Thankyou...

[@husqv5147]

Very interesting! You did a exc. job on this! Thanks for the video and your time and effort! Much appreciated.

[@tannerjones9687]

Thank you for this masterpiece 👍

[@billybop17]

Thom.....you did an awesome job presenting this

[@JohnnyLaps]

Great piece of work... well done!

[@marinecwby01]

I agree with this man’s theory about how the ship went down. It makes sense because of how close the two halves are to each other. Plus a nose dive unrecoverable would explain the trench and damage to the bow of the ship. Great analogy my friend. Bless the families of these lost sailors.

[@kurtak9452]

Best explanation ever. Awesome.

[@bobojala1946]

I think Thom did a very good job and did not try to say exactly what caused the ship to sink. I did find one mistake, which is common among many ship followers. The cargo capacity is determined during the vessel design, and the 25,000 ton capacity is actually LONG TONS, which are 2240 pounds. Cargo actually carried is reported as SHORT TONS, which are 2000 pounds. Therefore the 25000 Long Tons is actually over 29000 short tons, and the 26000 pounds of cargo carried did NOT exceed the designed capacity. There were changes made to the Load Lines in those days, requiring deck straps be added and hatch covers be strengthened, as Thon said. That is a different issue.

[@maxnikolenko2302]

Thank you. I Did not know that

[@gregorylyon1004]

Bull. That boat was way overloaded. Grossly overloaded would be an understatement. Designed to haul 20 thousand tons in 1958. They increased the capacity 3 times. Overloaded

[@american_cosmic]

Thanks Thom! Fascinating presentation!

[@cattandneil1504]

Very well done! Subscriber now due to it!

[@maxnikolenko2302]

Thank you. Very good, new for me personally details that I have not heard before. Very good visual aids. 👌

[@jeffreygraf3358]

Well done. Thank you.

[@travelingman4983]

The only people who will ever know what really happened are on the bottom of the lake.

[@scottburns2600]

They wouldn't know either. They never knew what hit them

[@aldenunion]

@@scottburns2600Exactly,in rough seas crew are not on open deck,so down within bowels they felt safe and wanted to forget them rolls up top.. They probably had life jackets on

[@saucejohnson9862]

It’s sad they closed the investigation.

[@canadianbacon8220]

I don't even think they knew

[@mikeneal3834]

@@scottburns2600 and i

[@turdferguson4124]

Excellent presentation. Very well explained and logical.

[@kelliebrooks9094]

Thanks for the archectural description very cool

[@markhwirth7718]

Great job on reporting! I’m a 25 yr retired airline Captain with over 25000 hrs . I’m also a hundred ton Near coastal Master ! Both of these careers require accepting responsibility for your vessel , maintenance , loading , weather , limitations of your vessel , crew , ECT. I noticed there was nothing Said about human error in your reasons for the sinking of The Edmund Fitz . In my opinion this vessel was not sea worthy from the moment it left port with 26000 tons of Cargo ! All the administration ,on lookers over looked this fact including The man where the buck stops ,The Captain ! I’ve seen it over and over again ! In the airlines , railroads, Ships, ECT . The attitude is let’s not rock the boat , we can make one more Trip ! When in fact Mother Nature is the boss and she says no you won’t . The vessel was trying to tell every one ,no more . The weather was trying To tell every one it’s a no go . No one was listening . Let’s just make this last trip and we will be done for the season ! All I can say is ( True Safety Is No Accident ) and ( You Don’t Rely On Luck You Make Your Own Luck ) I personally have taken a lot of flak for grounding aircraft and refusing vessels that are not Airworthy or Sea Worthy . I’ve watched thru both my Careers Captains overlooking the obvious so they wouldn’t rock the boat or interfere with the corporate Machinery. It’s better to rock the boat Then sink it ! The sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald and the loss of 29 crew members is not a mystery , As is being advertised ! It’s gross Miss Judgement of all that were involved ! It’s a sad situation but This type of situation is going on as You read this ! In many cases there Will be no disaster until much later ! (That’s my 2 cents ) Captain Mark H Wirth. ( True Safety Is No Accident)

[@TheSailsCall]

This is awesome!

[@ianross806]

Well done Thom. In any major disaster, it's not one thing that causes a wreck but a bunch of things.

[@b-doghere532]

Good doc! Such a sad and interesting story.

[@jamieryall8341]

Thank you for the informative video.

[@ourlifeinwyoming4654]

What was the position of the rudder? I've heard 15 degrees to compensate for the list. Great video - very detailed presentation.

[@sonnyspawn4435]

What I want to know is how BAD WAS THE LIST OF THE SHIP????just a little to the starboard side or was the starboard side rails dragging underwater????cause when those 3 big waves came she could of nose dived to the right and possibly even rolled the ship???also I get the boat is 729 ft give or take and where she lays at the bottom is only 500 something feet so 200 some odd feet of ship could of possibly stuck out of the water but that is only if the ship broke straight down at a 90 degree angle…If the ship is moving at a 45 degree to 25 degree angle or less then the stern probably wouldn’t of stuck out of the water…also the Arthur Andersen could of sailed right by the FITZ if she was sticking up out of water and not even known it because her lights were out because of everything getting wet and full loss of power…just my thoughts and have never heard anything about my theory…always in the back of my mind is the thought of the sheer terror that was experienced by the crew when they seen the enormous amounts of water coming in and to see there mighty ship being pitched and thrown around violently…🥺put yourself in the crews shoes and look at photos of similar ships and see how massive there stern section engine room was and the ship to be pitched or rolling upside down and there bodies being thrown around like nothing….I have always loved these ships and I appreciate there massiveness..I am a certified boat nerd who lives in michigan and I’m originally from ALGONAC where I got to see these MIGHTY SHIPS daily pass before my eyes and I love/loved every second of my time chasing these beauties 7 hours to the SOO LOCKS or driving a hour to PORT HURON to fulfill my heart!!!!!Long Live The Great Lakes And The Amazing Ships/Men That Sail Her Pristine Waters:GODBLESS

[@FMJIRISH]

This is the best theorising I've seen on the matter

[@gregorylyon1004]

This was definitely an interesting presentation on the Fitzgerald. I have studied this boat extensively. And I have compiled a list of 14 things that led to this disaster. The Edmund Fitzgerald had no chance of survival in my opinion. The deck of cards was stacked against it's survival

[@charlesfaure1189]

A large number of those hatch cover clamps were obviously NOT tightened down and in place at the time of the sinking. Having been tightened they could not have come off without being damaged. "No one would go out in a storm without having those clamps in place" is not an acceptable argument when the physical evidence says otherwise. It is entirely plausible that a captain would be tempted to save on overtime wages by only having what he thought would be sufficient clamping-down to take place, and the Coast Guard did indeed know about this practice.

[@marlonl30308]

I was thinking along these lines as well after Mr. Holden's comments. Great in depth analysis otherwise.

[@stephenyoung2742]

Other Captains say they tighten a few on each hatch and do the rest while on the Lakes! So did the Fitch get them all tightened in time maybe that is why she did not make her normal 1 pm weather report the day she sank! Other captains said it took a day or 2 to tighten all the clamps!

[@ThomasFerner]

First of all they didn't go out in a storm they weather was on the way but it wasn't a storm when they embarked....Also the missing vent covers wouldn't have blown off because of water in the holds due to insufficient clamping the vents are to allow air displacement due to flooding ballast tanks when needed.....Massive and immediate flooding of the ballast tanks are about the only reason for the missing vent caps due to as Capt Bernie Cooper surmised bottoming out at 6 fathom shoal which the Fitz was dangerously close to as the Anderson which was keeping track of the Fitzgerald's position noted .....The hatch cover positioning being noted at the wreck scene is pretty hard to determine when covers came out of position.

[@williamburroughs2273]

Because the cargo holds have no connection to the bilge and the ballast tanks, and the bilge pumps were running full tilt, means the water was coming in from the bottom of the ship, not the top.

[@sreed8570]

The thing that is relling is that the sister ship to the Fitz is long gone to the scrapyard, while other older boats are still on the lakes today in 2023. Like the Anderson that was there that night she sank.

[@gregorylyon1004]

Look around the Great Lakes. The Edmund Fitzgerald was the last major freighter to sink. We haven't lost a boat since of anywhere near this size. Procedures changed following this accident

[@Cindy-ou4gd]

What does the letter “C” stand for, that is located above the Pilothouse?

[@zachhoward9099]

Possibly Columbia Transportation the Company Fitzgerald sailed under

[@comedywriter8408]

The hatch covers each weighed 7 tons. And there were 21 hatch covers. Take the weight of 6 to 7 cars, the combined weight is equal to the weight of 1 hatch cover.

[@alanwright7819]

This is a very fascinating, but tragic story. Everything I hear about it changes my mind a little bit regarding the cause. Since further studies of the wreck are prohibited, at least for now, we probably will never know exactly what happened. I know that the wreck is essentially a gravesite, so we have to be respectful of it, but if I was one of those crew members, I would want studies to be conducted to, hopefully, prevent similar disasters in the future.

[@dread4836]

excellent overview,

[@Bxtskul1l]

So cool to see those photos of the ship being built with men for scale.

[@Roscoe.P.Coldchain]

The documentary I saw said that there were 2 ships and the captain of the other vessel said he was drifting towards the rocks and in his opinion they hit rocks and didn’t notice and sailed on and sank..

[@1PlainOne]

Yeah, I see why the Captain would continue on, mistaking that the ship was battling unusually rough seas when what was actually happening was the ship was being intricately broken apart.

[@yarberyarber7690]

I don't think she bottomed out. I think she was hit from the back by heavy seas.

[@Bryanja81]

If it had 2 broken vents, has anyone thought that maybe it had cracks along the deck that were opening up from flexing and allowing water to flow freely into the ballasts or cargo?

[@johnfrederick6213]

A great piece of work. Thank you... An honorable ending to the video as well.

[@johnnersinger9771]

Every single thing on your list, played a roll in its demise including captain error.

[@tessajoweberg803]

the edmund was driven hard always overloaded may all men rest in peace

[@michaelstamper3444]

I've heard that she was always patched up with her scrapes and dings rather than docked and fully repaired

[@gregorylyon1004]

You are absolutely right. The Edmund Fitzgerald was never overhauled or fully repaired by any stretch. I have studied this boat extensively. I have compiled a list of 14 things that were all wrong on that final voyage. That boat had no chance of survival. The deck of cards was stacked against it's survival

[@TYoungPhDRRT]

WOW!! Thom certainly sounds as if he knows all the little details with these ships!! The saying goes "the devil's in the details" and I think Thom understands those details.

[@michaelmckinley2221]

i recently read an article, where failure is modeled by Swiss cheese. the holes are risks, and the solid cheese is risk mitigation. We can decrease the number and the size of the holes, to an economical point, at which time, we have to add another layer of cheese... with few small holes, and enough layers, we gain confidence in the overall design. With all of the possible causes that you researched, and the condition of the ship on the lake floor... My guess is no better than anyone else's but I would surmise a combination of just a few of these factors, combined with the rough seas, caused a catastrophic failure of the hull, which ultimately broke in two, when the bow hit the bottom....

[@gregorylyon1004]

The Edmund Fitzgerald sank because of poor maintenance and negligence, plain and simple. Captain Mc Sorely rode that boat like a dog from 1972 till it sank. 4 seasons of nothing but abuse. In the 1975 shipping season, the Fitzgerald went through the Soo Locks more times than any other boat that year. And it went down before the season was even over. That's how hard he was running that boat and his crew. The Captain was going to retire at the end of the season. He was 63 years old. He was banking up his cash pot for retirement. He would make a run in all weather, no matter the conditions. He just didn't consider that his boat had never been overhauled or lengthened ever in it's 17 years on the water. And look at his course plot to whitefish. He's right out in the middle of the lake for absolutely no reason during a gail. Then he has to make a turn at Michapitcoten and go around caribou island right through six fathom shoal. He steered his boat right into oblivion doing that with all his radars knocked out. This guy is a fool, this Mc Sorely. He should have hugged the southern shoreline and went around Kewenaw point. But he's out in the middle of the lake when his boat is starting to list to starboard. He's got nowhere to beach the boat because he's way too far from shore. Pure negligence on his part. I think that he hit bottom making the turn or on the shoal or Caribou. A big wave hit and that's all she wrote. Game over

[@mikeyjones4817]

Ok but what is ""Iron ore"" and why did they move it. Why didn't they produce it where they were going

[@bayfieldheritageassociatio2503]

Good question. Iron ore is a raw material mined from the earth. It gets shipped from places where it's abundant to places without a local source of iron ore. An alternative would be to process the ore into iron and steel onsite prior to shipping, or even produce finished goods from iron and steel and then ship those, but that just changes when distribution happens. It doesn't eliminate it. Whether it's good to do all this is another question! :)

[@mikeyjones4817]

Thanks for answering. Always wondered what iron ore is and what it's for

[@leonardcollings7389]

@@mikeyjones4817 Looks something like marbles or round spheres of rust collared material.

[@tomcatyyz]

Iron ore is melted down for a huge variety of uses, namely, the automotive industry...

[@sd80mac]

@@leonardcollings7389 you are describing taconite, which is iron ore that has been refined with bentonite clay into a pellet, which is what the Fitz was carrying.

[@stynger007]

The technical details about hatch covers , 425% over 4 feet of water , amazing engineering.. side note; the SS William Clay Ford also embarked to journey into dangerous seas to look for survivors- Captain Cooper (Anderson) is rightfully accredited with last radio contact. No one acknowledges the SS WCF and Captain , was John Jameson Pearce. William Clay Ford Ss William Clay Ford was one of five ships (thank you) involved in the initial search for the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, along with the SS Arthur M. Anderson. The overloading of the Fitz to continually break records and secure investment? Would have been great toi see Edmund sail. You are right ; the loading could have slightly damaged the hatch covers.Even a slight malformation of what should have been a water tight seal may not have been recognized when the same crew sealed all of them. The Fitz had 3 cargo holds; Thew Anderson had 5 . When Mr McSorley radioed we are holding our own ; He truly believed his statement. It was possibly the 3 sisters curse where She had endured a 1-2-3 punch ..what is curious; is the trim above the wheelhouse is bent down in the photos of Her resting placed.IImportant research data. Thank You for your sharing of due diligence . Thank You!

[@kelliebrooks9094]

Hey i always enjoy listening to as much infirmation as possible it always important to hear all that is related....at one point the captin said the fitz was listing to the left..and he wasnt sure why...u have to feel in waves that big the ship was getting tossed about in a hard way with all that weight in her it just deaden the sound like sound proofing an the water does the same so u have to think the captin was able to see but not feel much as the violence of wind an waves became all he was sensing...so he slowed it down...to keep it a float...as the storm peaked an it changed direction one time of course it was a change to the worst way pushing the fitz torward the land with out radar or a lighthouse 100mph winds took out the light house the captin was counting on...

[@kelliebrooks9094]

I was gonna say how often did those old style bucket loader damage the hatches or even the bottom but i seefrom construction internally the buckets could get near it...with all that internal structure flexing could not have been ti kind to the welds an supporting beams with all those sections of tanks welded an causing a welded square structure that would not allow flexing...do to its square shape construction...

[@gregorylyon1004]

I've studied this boat extensively. I could write a book on it and all the mishaps associated with the Fitzgerald. This boat had no chance of survival in my opinion. There are too many things that went wrong. The Edmund Fitzgerald was a mishap waiting to happen. I have a list of 14 different things that were wrong when she went to the bottom.

[@kelliebrooks9094]

I agree with that comment below that the storm was si violently shaking the fitz about those on board mite not even know what was happening at the time it did..their boat got beat up hard an just went down before they knew it...believing as they should the whole time they were gonna make it...but the storm was building the whole time never letting up...im in florida an have felt the peak of a hurricane an u politely wait for it to go on its way im sure they were waiting for that....thanks....very nice job...enjoyed...it..i love technology evolution...and im amazed we build ships that big out of steel an they float....thank fully

[@kelliebrooks9094]

I dont think any can say she was a modern marvel or not well built...it was well built for sure

[@phillipgarrow2297]

Just because you can make it fit that doesn't you should I'm a welder we are military contractors we are held to tight tolerances

[@gregorylyon1004]

This was 1958. Tolerances were within a INCH back then, if a inch short on hull plate, weld the inch and fill in the gap with arc. Lol

[@finncarlbomholtsrensen1188]

Of course I found Gordon Lightfoot, as background, and I remember a show from Discovery on this ship.

[@aful3091]

Hello Finn Carl, the Discovery Channel program is here on KZbin if you are interested in watching it kzbin.info/www/bejne/r5fXgKCCj7KbfK8

[@mbspoobah]

good stuff. I really believe Weak ship + Strong storm + Worst location is the essense of the story. All the stories of the previous years about this ship, maintenance, design, the way she rides, all indicate this was, amongst all the other lakers at the time, one of the weakest ones. Then comes the one hundred year storm. THEN, due to some just plain bad luck and iffy decisions, she ends up in the worst possible place to be on the lake at 7pm. The sea state estimates from the NWS show that area to be PURPLE then, almost the single worst square mile to be in the lake. I agree with the video, she was taking water into the ballast tanks and was sinking, possibly a stress fracture, as the conditions continued to worsen. The final moment was likely a nose dive, but as the video believes, could have been hastened with a hatch cover fail. So sad.

[@howtosober]

This documentary is a really cool angle, highlighting the men who died. Really great work. It has always sounded like a rogue wave to me, or something big enough to drag the bow down suddenly. I've wondered though, ever since the 1996 Jeff Bridges film "White Squall" about the school schooner The Albatross, if a white squall is the same thing as the confluence of storms and rogue wave the Fitz likely faced. I haven't been able to find a thing on white squalls OR The Albatross. A nosedive sounds like the only way this could have happened to the Fitz. I've never been part of the region, so this is just my own hypothesis, but it makes the most sense to me. Another documentary I watched spoke about how taconite ore is dangerously absorbent to water, absorbing 8 to 9 times its weight in water volume. It makes no sense that any Great Lakes mariners or captain that routinely transported taconite ore during that time of year, which was notorious for ship-sinking storms, would risk leaving hatches open upon departure- especially because Capts. McSorley and Cooper already knew they were headed into heavy storms at the time they left. There's a reason "batten down the hatches" is an expression. I don't discount the 'running aground' theory entirely, but I'm skeptical, especially since in Cooper's sworn testimony he said that the Fitz had cleared the shoals. Unless the ship's hull was in really bad condition and there was water leakage more rapid than what was initially described, I don't see how that could have been the only cause. I don't know how the Three Sisters ended up being discounted so quickly in some theories. It wouldn't take flooding the hatches for a rogue wave, especially a series of them, to sink a ship. It's also the only thing that explains why all 29 sailors were trapped on the ship and they never issued a distress call. Nothing else can take a ship down that quickly. The only alternative is that water got into the cargo hold another way, the taconite increased in volume rapidly as it all shifted forward or to one side, and the Fitz didn't stand a chance. If she caught one or more rogue waves from the front, that would have been enough to shift all the iron to the bow by itself. It's notable, however, that divers to the wreck report that two of the hatches were buckled inward, implying a huge downward force onto them at some point, and resultant leakage. Mike TenEyk said in an interview that it wouldn't take rogue-sized waves to cause that buckling or leakage, just the 30-ft waves constantly battering the ship may have been enough. It may be my cynicism about corporate oligarchy and the lengths they will go to for profit, but I've privately wondered if the Fitz wasn't deployed in rough conditions, with dangerous cargo, after years of possibly poor maintenance (according to some accounts), with the hope for a big insurance payout on a ship whose bankers and corporate backers knew was likely to sink. It wouldn't be the first time something like this was done. If the ship was indeed getting older and in need of more moneyed repairs, I think it's highly plausible. Sadly, I also think it's plausible that McSorley's "We're holding our own" might have been due to knowing they were utterly screwed and didn't want Cooper to take the risk of the Anderson and its crew coming back for them when he knew there was nothing anyone could do to save the Fitz. As an aside, it drives me crazy that everyone in that region insists on pronouncing Sault Sainte Marie wrong. It's not hard to say "Saul," and it is a French name, after all.

[@stephenyoung2742]

Fitz supposedly went west side of Isle Royale while the Anderson stayed on the east side!

[@stephenyoung2742]

Theres another ship Captain of the lakes who lost a uncle on the Fitz who goes in more detail and mentions what locals know is true!

[@BobbyChafins-w9d]

It had to do a roll over for all hands to be lost

[@gregorylyon1004]

The Fitzgerald did not roll over. If it had, the bow would not be on the bottom upright. Lol. I got a list of 14 things that were wrong on the Fitzgerald during that voyage

[@brianparent8901]

Why does the Fitzgerald have THREE ANCHORS?

[@tomcatyyz]

It was 729 feet long. Think of how enormous that really is. If they were loaded and had to stay still in a strong current, three anchors would barely be enough to hold her...

[@kelliebrooks9094]

I get how the giant 700 foot boat gets kicked off the build area into the water..its just normal but its still pretty funny heres ur boat oh look it floats...no ropes on it what was holding it...anything

[@kelliebrooks9094]

I just watched a weather man this accident was from the weather...the same days november 9 th 10th 11th in 1940 an again in1998 the same stom hit on the 3 days three different times in our history...nothing weird or msterious about it the weather study showed the fitz had a storm front building the whole time she was trying to get clear of it...the storm peaked at the moment it sunk the fitz the crew was just along for the ride...regardless of the talent...wind of 60 nots which converts to 100mph sustained winds were driving the ship heavy as it was like normal...i just watch the storm anylasis of it...it any one whos knows didnt already how bad the weather was for 2 an half days...straight on top of the fitz

[@scooter2kool173]

She was overloaded end of story. Edit: there was another Edmund fiztzgerald that sunk.

[@johnhurd6243]

Named for, Lieutenant William Charles Fitzgerald, the USS FITZGERALD... Edit... a Navy Destroyer, and it didn't sink.... it is actually back in service

[@scooter2kool173]

John Hurd 1st Fitzgerald was a 2 mast schooner that sunk nov 14 1883 with all hand lost. Edit: she was hauling wheat when sunk during a winter storm on the shoals.

[@leonardcollings7389]

@@scooter2kool173 In Lake Huron.

[@leonardcollings7389]

@@johnhurd6243 Edmund Fitzgerald was the president of Northwest Mutual Life insurance co. domiciled in Wisconsin that ordered the ship built and leased it to others to operate.

[@bobcarlsson4]

The cause was greed. Human greed.

[@thomascotton9713]

It. Was. Over. Loaded. And under sturced. And broke. And half

[@thomascotton9713]

He. Had. A. List. Take ing. On. Water

[@gregorylyon1004]

He must have been taking on a lot of water, an ocean really. The pumps would do 32 thousand gallons per minute on that boat. He had a hole in the hull somewhere

[@billsheets1]

I have heard rumors that there may have been women on the ship whose names were not on record. Any truth to that?

[@gregorylyon1004]

Absolutely not. There were 29 men on board. I've seen the manifest and their are no passengers on board. 29 captain and crew

[@billsheets1]

@@gregorylyon1004 The women would not have been on the manifest. some say that they sneaked women on board

[@nkcasey]

But where are the bodys? I'm of the FITZGERALD....The great lakes have a past.......Christmas tree is one of them....them great lakes tho

[@randrew10001]

go inside of back of ship, you will find them in there beds,?

[@gregorylyon1004]

Lake Superior is so cold that dead bodies rarely ever surface when a boat goes down

[@bobcarlsson4]

The cause was greed. Human greed.

[@LTB528]

Well done, thank you!