The Big Lake They Call Gitche Gumee
 

Do you remember what happened on this day in 1975 ....

http://youtu.be/9vST6hVRj2A

that still brings a tear to my eyes.may the 29 rip.

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Look up the Carl D Bradley sinking in November 17, 1958. More tragic with 33 deaths, just no song written about it. Also look up the storm of 1913, it took down just about everything afloat on the Great Lakes.

The point was about the 29 that lost their lives today although I do understand what your saying . I thought maybe some of our members here would comment on their memories of this event . Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours................

One interesting thing few people realize is that even though the Edmond Fitzgerald sank in "deep" water ... if one were to stand the intact ship on her stern, the bow would raise above and tower 200 feet over the surface of Lake Superior. May God rest their soles and comfort the family and friends of those lost that day.

A sad day, we will probably never know what happened. The interview with Bernie Cooper who was Captain of the "Anderson" is pretty interesting

I disagree, many lives have been lost and all anyone hears about is the Fitzgerald sinking due to Lightfoot's song. In the case of the Bradley the whole crew was from Rogers City, Mi, a small town of a few thousand. Everyone in that town knew or was related to a crewman. My neighbor is a mate on the Treigurtha, a guy I play hockey with is a bulk oil carrier captain, another friend is the captain of the Badger a car ferry across Lake Michigan. They all have stories that would make you think twice about being out on those lakes in weather.

Are you trying to say we should remember none because there have been many spread out over time . Orrr do you just dislike Lightfoots song . Sorry , trying hard to understand your thought process . I posted what I did because TODAY in 1974 we lost the Fitz and all hands . Never intended to disrespect anyone else lost to the witch of November .

IMHO the reason that everyone remembers the EF is that she was the largest ship to ever sink on the Great Lakes. Same reason people remember the Titanic, google shipwrecks of 1912 HMS Titanic was only one of 214 ships lost that yr.

I agree with you that few people ever remember the little guys, they only remember the Biggest and Baddest. The Edmond Fitzgerald was an AWESOME boat.

I think humans have to have some type of reasoning why the things we create can fail against mother nature. We are top of the food chain how can mother nature beat us…

Having worked overseas most of my adult life, I know this.

You play with guns: You get shot
You play with knives: You get cut
You play on the water: You get wet.

Prayers out to all the people who work, play, and have lost their lives on the H20

The Carl Bradley was 639' long, not a little guy.

I think it's sad that only the Fitz sinking gets recognized due to Lightfoot's song and boats like the Bradley and others that sunk are forgotten. There's a history of tragedy on the big lakes that goes back long before the Fitz.

Because of your comments , I have found something of particular interest to me . Thank you .
http://valerievanheest.com/images/Ma...ievanHeest.pdf

I am not saying The Carl Bradley sinking was insignificant. Each sinking is a tragedy. All I am saying is that you can insert The Carl Bradley in for the EF and you get the same song.

All very sad that people have and will continue to lose their lives for progress.

I'm a mariner. The general public doesn't have a clue what this industry loses every year. Not just Americans but worldwide. Ships go "missing" on a regular basis. There is an "acceptable" number of ships lost every year. Sad to think about

I think the overlooked point may be that without the Lightfoot song no one would have heard about any wreck on any of the great lakes, far fewer then do now that arent directly related. At the very least the song may occasionally inspire people to look into it further and maybe realize the many other tragedies.

god rest there souls . . . all of them

This thread has already inspired me to seek out what lies below . The witch of November has taken many .

And the general public rarely hears about it , why .

the great lakes can be nasty, nasty bodies of water at times RIP to all that have lost their lives.

Website said Big Fitz had no Fathometer it was not required by law they used string/rope off bottom
very surprising even for 1975 tech of the day RIP,,,,,,,,,,,,, Much respect for Greatlake freighters and Mariners...

I have been intrigued since I can remember having grown up on the lake (Erie). I can remember being at out cottage on Long Beach on the southwest corner of Erie reading one of many tales of the great lakes books. This book in particular was ship wrecks, the story I was reading was about a merchant four masted sailing ship from the early 1800s named the Success. The ship had an incredible and checkered past from transporting goods to transporting prisoners to being a museum ship moored in locations all over the world. It also left in the shadow of the Titanic on the same night to cross the Atlantic nearly a month later she arrived in ny alone. As I read the story of all the ports it had been at and all that it had gone through with multiple sinkings/raisings and all its incarnations I had no idea till the last page that its wreck was within eyesight of exactly where I was sitting looking out our picture window. Was very cool and I still have that book along with many others.

There is a wreck of two old wooden ships just off the point where we all hang out, you can walk out to one of them easily when the wind blows the water out in the fall. One is a schooner barge that sank in 1908 and the other a wooden side wheel steamer that foundered and went down in 1839. We went out to the schooner earlier this week and a buddy of mine found this bottle near by. it is still corked and has its wax seal and still has its contents. After some research they found it to be a bottle of medicated aerated water from ireland and from 1880. How cool is that find! I found a partial bottle that says lake erie bottle company toledo ohio and is an old cork style and like a quarter inch thick. cool find huh

That is a cool story glass d and even a cooler historical find . A shot of that stuff would probably put you down for a month . I'm craving more stories like this .

That article on the Bradley dive in 59 was very interesting. As a kid I read a lot about Great Lake shipwrecks including the Bradley. There are some very interesting sites and books if you do a search. There are more than 4000 known or documented commercial shipwrecks to date on the lakes, not counting yachts or private vessels. Godspeed all those who lost their lives on these beautiful but unforgiving waters.

that was in the late seventies when I read that story, as a kid I spent a lot of time out there with my grandparents. They had a nice collection of great lakes books, many I still have. To this day I pick them up often its also great to get online and research this stuff as well

Hey Dave...I need to get on board with some of these adventures :)

If your looking for a good read, grab a copy of "Great Lakes Shipwrecks" lots of interesting stories, good read.

yea I told my buddy to pop the cork an take a swig . . . . havnt heard from him in a few days :D lol

Yes it's the song again but includes some incredible underwater footage of the Fitz on the bottom . At the end of the vid are listed the names and pics of the crew . A fitting tribute .

http://youtu.be/hgI8bta-7aw

http://youtu.be/oyaEDWf_dG8

Yes the bow hit bottom at 30mph while the stern was still on the surface. I can't even imagine what that must have been like.

Three possible explanations .
1. Three sisters rouge wave piling too much water on the deck and snapping her in half on the surface . Three sisters were reported by another captain to be headed for the Fitz .
2. Took on water through unlatched cargo hatches rolled and sank . Pretty much disproved by video evidence .
3. Hit a shoal bottomed out and broke in half . They were not able to find evidence for this . Divers were sent down soon after her disappearance and found no evidence of grounding (no scarring of the bottom) . Video evidence of the Fitz reveals no evidence of grounding on props or bottom .
IMO three sisters rouge wave broke her in half and sent her to the bottom . Also would explain silence (no mayday) it happened fast .

The storm of 1913 .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVzUuyGAq9Y&feature=share&list=PL0A9413BBEB52589E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhZ65X0TAsw&feature=share&list=PL0A9413BBEB52589E

I feel most remember the "Fitz" because of it's size and it was the last Great Lake Freighter to be lost at sea. Most memorable. I lived in Alpena,MI. for 20 yrs and frequented Rogers City,MI. as well. The Bradley is talked about locally, but not known like EF.

Just like this wreck isn't talked about on Lake Huron in 1966 Daniel J Morrell 28 of it's 29 crew went down with it in a November gale.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Daniel_J._Morrell

I remember the Fitz every year on November 10th.

http://www.michiganpreserves.org/manitou.htm
We've had the remains of a few wooden hulled ships wash up on the shore near Glen Arbor and Empire, Mi the past winters during storms. That area and the Manitou Passage is a ship graveyard. Back in the 1800's and into the early 1900's most transportation was done by sailing ships running up and down the big lakes coastlines bringing supplies and picking up lumber and later ore.
ed

can you imagine what it was like to see that, sailing ships up and down the great lakes. We went out several weeks ago for the battle of 1813 reenactment, there were about nine tall ships out there. When we left we stopped by West Sister Island to swim and looked back and could see all the masts sticking up from the horizon about eight miles away. It was very cool

Trully haunting stuff. That dive article is really interesting.

I live across the road from Georgian bay... I have seen 14 footers(according to enviro Canada) .. The speed that they were moving was astonishing and terrifying. I can only imagine what was lurking out in the middle of Huron.

Excellent information for wreck divers , thanks Ed