The Edmund Fitzgerald
Yesterday, we experienced a record high temperature in Madison of 73 degrees. Today’s high occurred sometime this morning as a low-pressure system, characterized by falling temperatures, rain, and wind, began moving through the state. I don’t remember what the weather was like on November 9, 1975, the year I moved to Wisconsin, but history serves as a reminder of the weather on November 10 of that year. Another low-pressure system moved from Oklahoma through the Midwest. After taking on water since about 3 pm, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior around 7 that evening, in 530 feet of water off the coast of Ontario, Canada, and about 15 miles from the safety of Whitefish Bay. In addition to my moving to Wisconsin, this event has a number of other connections to Wisconsin.
Although operated by a third party, the Edmund Fitzgerald was owned by the Northwestern Mutual Life (NML) Insurance Company, based in Milwaukee, and named after the company’s president at that time. NML also owned the SS Arthur M. Anderson, known as the Fitzgerald’s sister ship. The Edmund Fitzgerald was launched in 1958 and carried taconite iron ore from Minnesota across Lake Superior, through the Soo Locks and Lakes Huron and Erie to midwestern steel mills. At the time of its construction, it was the largest freighter on the Great Lakes, built slightly smaller than the specs for the Saint Lawrence Seaway. Over its 17 years, she averaged 47 trips per year.
On November 9, 1975, the Edmund Fitzgerald departed from Superior, Wisconsin, bound for Detroit, Michigan, carrying 26,000 tons of taconite. Aware of the approaching low-pressure system, Captain Ernest McSorley charted a course along the Lake’s northern boundary to shield the freighter from strong WNW winds. Shadowing the Edmund Fitzgerald, the Arthur Anderson charted a similar course and maintained radio contact. As the low-pressure system passed, winds shifted to the South, resulting in sustained winds of 60 mph and gusts of more than 80 mph. Within several hours, waves of 5 to 10 feet increased to 25 feet. The ship had been listing for several hours, indicating that she had been taking on water, and the Fitzgerald disappeared from the Anderson’s radar shortly after 7 pm. Captain McSorley never issued a “mayday” and his last message to the Arthur Anderson was “we are holding our own.”
All 29 crew aboard the Edmund Fitzgerald perished that evening, including 8 crew members from Wisconsin. They were Joseph Mazes and John Simmons from Ashland County, Michael Armagost, Allen Kalmon, and Blaine Wilhelm from Bayfield County, Oliver Champeau from Door County, and Frederick Beetcher and Ransom Cundy from Douglas County. Each November 10th, the bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald is rung 30 times at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point, Michigan, memorializing the Fitzgerald’s 29 crew. The additional toll is for all other crew who have perished on the Great Lakes. The bell was retrieved in 1995 and a replica was substituted at the Lake’s bottom, engraved with the names of the 29.
The Arthur M. Anderson was refitted at the Fraser Shipyard in Superior, Wisconsin, between 2016 and 2019. It has returned to service and made a stop in Green Bay on November 7. Currently, she is in Duluth.
The exact cause of the Edmund Fitzgerald’s sinking is not known. Members of the National Weather Service in Marquette, Michigan, have commented that the ship was in the worst place at the worst time with regard to wind and waves and that similar storms occur every couple of years. As the low-pressure system passes through Madison today, forecasters are warning of wind gusts up to 40 mph.
As tribute to the 29 crew lost that day, I take a moment each year on November 10th to listen to Gordon Lightfoot’s classic, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”