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=** My Academic Fair project: **The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald = = =

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Project Description : THE WRECK OF THE EDMUND FITZGARELD. By: Ronan McDonald

The Edmund Fitzgerald left Superior, Wisconsin November 9th 1975. The Ship was a Freight carrying 26 thousand tons or taconite pellets, which are tiny balls made from refined iron ore. It was used to build cars. The Edmund Fitzgerald was to deliver this taconite to ports across the Great Lakes. The ships destination was Zug Island in Detroit. The Edmund Fitzgerald was 729 feet long and 75 feet wide it was the largest freighter to sail the Great Lakes. The ship was called “Pride of the American flag” because it was the finest cargo ship on the Great Lakes. Only the best sailors were offered the chance to work on board. November 9th was a warm Sunday but the ship’s captain Ernest McSorley, kept an eye on the weather. The weather bureau had issued a warning earlier in the day. Captain McSorley made sure to pay close attention to the weather because on Lake Superior bad weather was especially harsh because of the size and depth of the lake. The crew of the ship was not bothered by bad weather; they had experience with bad weather on Lake Superior. As the night went on the waves grew bigger. Another ship, the Arthur M. Anderson was traveling with the Fitzgerald. By the next afternoon captain McSorley realized his long-range radar wasn’t working. This was extremely dangerous because the ship was coming close to Michipicoten and caribou islands. These islands were surrounded by rocky shallow areas called Six Fathom Shoal which could tear the ship. The Arthur M. Anderson’s captain looked into his radar and saw the Edmund Fitzgerald was coming close to the Six Fathom Shoal. Captain McSorley radioed the Anderson minutes later “Anderson, this is the Fitzgerald. I have sustained some topside damage. I have a fence rail laid down, two vents lost or damaged, and a starboard list. I’m checking down. Will you stay by me until I get to whitefish?” The Anderson agreed but the captain was worried. The Fitzgerald was taking on water and was leaning to one side. With damaged vents water could pour into the ballast tanks, which are tanks on either sides of the ship’s cargo hold. The tanks can be filled with water when a ship is traveling with small loads but the Edmund Fitzgerald was filled with cargo. If the ship took on water it could be weighed down making it sit dangerously low in the water. Then the Fitzgerald radioed the Anderson explaining that they had lost both of their radars and needed them to send them signals to help them reach Whitefish. While all of this was going on the storm was still blowing. The ship was facing 15 foot waves and 60 mph winds on top of the damage to the ship. Both ships struggled to reach the safety of Whitefish point. The Anderson was sending the Fitzgerald a signal when the signal disappeared. The Edmund Fitzgerald was on Lake Superior with no radar and facing a rough storm. The last radio the Anderson received from the Fitzgerald was “we are holding our own”. The Edmund Fitzgerald vanished from the Andersons radar. All 29 men went down with the ship. The ship was later found broken on the bottom of Lake Superior; it was 17 miles from the safety of Whitefish point. July 4th 1995, twenty years after the Edmund Fitzgerald went down a team of special divers went to the wreck and recovered the bell from the ship. A replica bell was made and the names of the twenty-nine men who died on the Edmund Fitzgerald were inscribed on it. This bell replaced the original on the ship and will stay here forever. Once a year on the anniversary of the wreck the original bell rings thirty times once for every man who died and once for all mariners lost in the Great Lakes. The original bell is kept in the Great Lakes shipwreck museum at Whitefish point as a memorial to the ship and crew. This ship wreck was such an important event a song was written in its memory. The song was written by Gordon Lightfoot. The song goes like this: The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead When the skies of November turn gloomy.

With a load of iron ore - 26,000 tons more Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed When the gales of November came early

The ship was the pride of the American side Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin As the big freighters go it was bigger than most With a crew and the Captain well seasoned.

Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms When they left fully loaded for Cleveland And later that night when the ships bell rang Could it be the North Wind they'd been feeling.

The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound And a wave broke over the railing And every man knew, as the Captain did, too, T'was the witch of November come stealing.

The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait When the gales of November came slashing When afternoon came it was freezing rain In the face of a hurricane West Wind

When supper time came the old cook came on deck Saying fellows it's too rough to feed ya At 7PM a main hatchway caved in  He said fellas it's been good to know ya.

The Captain wired in he had water coming in And the good ship and crew was in peril And later that night when his lights went out of sight Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does anyone know where the love of God goes When the waves turn the minutes to hours The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her.

They might have split up or they might have capsized They may have broke deep and took water And all that remains is the faces and the names Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings In the ruins of her ice water mansion Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams, The islands and bays are for sportsmen.

And farther below Lake Ontario Takes in what Lake Erie can send her And the iron boats go as the mariners all know With the gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral The church bell chimed, 'til it rang 29 times For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee Superior, they say, never gives up her dead When the gales of November come early. **__ References: __** [|www.corfid.com/gl/wreck.ht]m The Edmund Fitzgerald by Kathy-Jo Wargin media type="youtube" key="hgI8bta-7aw" height="349" width="425"