The Edmund Fitzgerald Essay Research Paper One free essay sample

The Edmund Fitzgerald Essay, Research Paper One of the greatest ships to sail the Great Lakes was the Edmund Fitzgerald. The Edmund Fitzgerald had sailed for many old ages until it sank in 1975. The Edmund Fitzgerald was built in 1958 ; it was 729 pess long and weighed 13,632 dozenss ( Stonehouse 13 ) . This was the largest ship to sail the Great Lakes until 1971 ( Stonehouse 13 ) . The Edmund Fitzgerald had a sister ship called the Arthur B. Homer, which was the 2nd biggest ship on the great lakes ( Stonehouse 13 ) . The Edmund Fitzgerald had a 7,000 HP steam turbine engine that could force the ship at around 16 stat mis an hr ( Stonehouse 13 ) . Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee owned the ship. Aboard the ship there were 29 crew members, the captain, 3 licensed deck officers, a main applied scientist, 4 licensed technology officers, and 20 unaccredited forces ( U.S. Marine Reports ) . The ships captain was Ernest Mcsorley who was a maestro of the Great Lakes and had 44 old ages sailing them ( Stonehouse 25 ) . We will write a custom essay sample on The Edmund Fitzgerald Essay Research Paper One or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The ship had sailed the great lakes for many old ages until that twenty-four hours in 1975 when it was neer seen once more. The Edmund Fitzgerald had left a port in Superior, Wis. At around 2:15 autopsy on November 09, 1975 ( Stonehouse 24 ) . The ship was to the full fueled and loaded for its trip to Detroit Michigan. The boat had traveled approximately two hours across lake higher-up when it became in sight of another boat, the Arthur M. Anderson. Around 7:00 Pm the Edmund Fitzgerald started to come across bad conditions conditions and had to alter its class. The Fitzgerald and the Anderson both changed class and started heading to the lakes more northern Waterss, which was called the autumn north path ( Stonehouse 25 ) . The two ships had traveled along the same class for many hours and the storm was still really strong. The two ships were combating moving ridges of 10-12 pess, air currents of up to fifty knots, and even snow ( Stonehouse 26 ) . The Anderson was about 16 stat mis off from the Fitzgerald when the watcher lost sight of it due to heavy snow ( Stonehouse 27 ) . That was the last clip anyone had of all time seen the Edmund Fitzgerald afloat. The two ships had traveled along, now merely with radio detection and ranging and wireless contact. The storm started to decline. Now with air currents at 43 knots and moving ridges of 12 to 16 pess, the ship was taking on H2O ( Stonehouse 27 ) . The Fitzgerald had radioed to the Anderson that they had a rail down and some blowholes were damaged ( Stonehouse 27 ) . Minutess after the wireless contact between the Anderson and the Fitzgerald, the Anderson had received an exigency broadcast from the seashore guard saying T hat all ships were to happen safe anchorage ( Stonehouse 28 ) . At this clip the Soo locks and the Mackinaw Bridge were closed down due to air currents of up to 96 stat mis per hr ( Stonehouse 28 ) . The Fitzgerald had lost both of its radio detection and rangings and had to keep wireless contact with the Anderson ( Stonehouse 28 ) . During this contact the first mate of the Anderson asked the Fitzgerald: Buckeye state by the manner, how are you doing out with your job? the answer from the Fitzgerald was We are keeping our ain ( Stonehouse 29 ) . Those words were the last words of all time heard from the Fitzgerald, which shortly disappeared off radio detection and ranging ( Stonehouse 30 ) . At 9:25 autopsy the call was made from the seashore guard to get down a hunt for the losing Fitzgerald ( Stonehouse 32 ) . The hunt for the Fitzgerald went on for 5 yearss. They had many ships and aircraft from all around the part including Canada. On the 2nd twenty-four hours of the hunt they had found two of the lifeboats from the Fitzgerald really nigh to the Anderson, which was off from Coppermine Point ( Stonehouse 43 ) . On the 5th twenty-four hours they eventually discovered a hint of the whereabouts of the losing ship. The find was made by a Navy aircraft, which was equipped with a magnetic sensing device ( Stonehouse 42 ) . The first frogman hunt was conducted from November 14 through the 16, but there was no fortune on positively placing the wreckage ( Stonehouse 43 ) . A 2nd effort to place the wreckage was conducted from November 22 through the 25, and successfully identified it as the Edmund Fitzgerald ( Stonehouse 43 ) . The Edmund Fitzgerald is located 17 stat mis north-west of Whitefish point and is in approximately 530 pess of H2O ( Stonehouse 44 ) . The ship lies in two pieces, a bow subdivision and a austere subdivision ( Stonehouse 44 ) . Out of the 29 riders aboard there are no known subsisters to this twenty-four hours. The cause of the sinking of the ship is still ill-defined, but they believe it is from monolithic implosion therapy of the tunnel, ballast armored combat vehicle, and chiefly the lading clasp due to the prostration of hatch screens ( U.S. Marine Reports ) . At the clip of the ships droping moving ridges were recorded of up to 25 pess which exceeded the ships zero freeboard which means the hatch covers can non manage the force per unit area of the H2O ( U.S. Marine Reports ) . It was besides believed that there might hold even been a foundation ( U.S. Marine Reports ) . The sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald has been an of import portion of Michigan s history. There is a vocal written by Gordon Lightfoot about the sinking of the ship, Which is called the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. There is besides a drama written by Shelley Russell named Holdin our ain: the Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald.