Cool Video

I don't normally post content that I didn't create myself but I couldn't pass this one and had to share it.

As you all know, I'm a pretty major ship fan. When I can, I try to get pictures of the lake ships and take pictures. One of my favorite songs is one that is about a lake freighter in particular, the Edmund Fitzgerald. This video is pretty cool, the person who made it took footage of the ship and combined it with the song. There is also some recordings of the radio transmissions. I believe it was the Arthur Anderson.

A Pretty Cool Video

The Edmund Fitzgerald was built at the Great Lakes Engineering Works of River Rouge, Michigan in 1958. She was owned by the Northwestern Mutual Life Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Edmund Fitzgerald was commissioned to be within a foot of the length of the new (at the time) large canal being built for the St. Lawrence Seaway. This meant she would have a length of 729 feet. She had a cargo capacity of 26,000 tons and was mostly used to carry iron ore.

She would carry the title of Queen of the Lakes until 1959 when she was supplanted by the Murray Bay which was a foot longer. The Edmund Fitzgerald did set a number of seasonal shipping records though.

The Mighty Fitz was originally coal fired but was converted to oil in 1971. In 1969, bow thrusters were added given her improved maneuverability. She was operated by the Oglebay Norton Company.

She went down with all hands on November 10, 1975. During the storm that took her out, she sustained winds over 50 knots and waves as high as 35 feet. There was an extensive search to find her but to no avail. There are a number of theories of what caused her demise.