NONKINSENSE
Adventures of an Analog Man in the Digital Universe, with a little help from my friends and relations.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
"We're holding our own"
Thank you drumming57 for this contribution:
At the time it was launched in 1958, the 729-foot long, 75-foot wide freighter S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest ship to ply the Great Lakes. On November 10, 1975 the Fitzgerald left Superior, Wisconsin carrying 26,000 tons of iron ore pellets, bound for Detroit. Though the day was bright, in her path lay a terrible storm with 60 MPH winds and waves in excess of 15 feet. As the storm built, her experienced Captain Ernest McSorley bore north across Lake Superior, seeking the relative shelter of the Canadian shore and Whitefish Bay.Luck was not with the ship or the crew. The radar system and its backup failed. The storm took out the power to Whitefish Point's light and radio beacon. Though the light was brought back on line, the radio beacon was not. The Arthur M. Anderson, another ship within 10 miles of the Fitzgerald, received reports that the ship was listing to the starboard and of other structural damages to the vessel. At 7:10 PM, Captain McSorley delivered what was to be his final message:"We're holding our own."The Arthur M. Anderson lost the Fitzgerald's image on its radar screensat 7:25 PM. The ship and crew of 29 men, sank to the bottom of Lake Superior.The tragic story of the Edmund Fitzgerald is remembered through Gordon Lightfoot's ballad "The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald", which appears on the album "Summertime Dream" and numerous other compilation
The Wreck Of the Edmund Fitzgerald (Summertime Dream) 6:28
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down Of the big lake they called '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 twenty-six thousand 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 good 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 ship's bell rang Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?
The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound And a wave broke over the railing And every man knew, as the captain did too,T'was the witch of November come stealin'. The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait When the Gales of November came slashin'.When afternoon came it was freezin' rainIn the face of a hurricane west wind.
When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin'.Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya. At Seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in, he saidFellas, it's been good t'know ya The captain wired in he had water comin' in And the good ship and crew was in peril.And later that night when his lights went outta sight Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Does any one know where the love of God goes When the waves turn the minutes to hours? The searches 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;May have broke deep and took water. And all that remains is the faces and the namesOf the wives and the sons and the daughters.
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings In the rooms 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 till it rang twenty-nine timesFor 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 said, never gives up her dead When the gales of November come early!
Ira,
Gordon Lightfoot was my Father's favorite singer. In honor of Gordon Lightfoot's Birthday, 11/17, My Top Five:
1. Don Quixote
2. Canadian Railroad Trilogy
3. Old Dan's Records
4. Early Morning Rain (Lori)
5. If You Could Read My Mind
Donny
