The Gales of November - Remember the Edmund Fitzgerald (Part 1)
On November 10, 1975 the bulk freighter Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior with all hands lost. This post is dedicated to the memory of those 29 men and the families they left behind. This very touching video directed by Joseph Fulton shows some excellent footage of the Fitz over Gordon Lightfoot’s “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” from 1976.
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
The Crew:
Ernest M. McSorley, 63, Captain, Toledo Ohio
John H. McCarthy, 62, Mate, Bay Village, Ohio
James A. Pratt, 44, second mate, Lakewood, Ohio
Michael E. Armagost, 37, third mate, Iron River, Wisconsin
Thomas Bentsen, 23, oiler, St. Joseph, Michigan
Thomas D. Borgeson, 4l, maintenance man, Duluth, Minnesota
John D. Simmons, 60, wheelsman, Ashland, Wisconsin
Eugene W. O’Brien, 50, wheelsman, Toledo, Ohio
John J. Poviatch, 59, wheelsman, Bradenton, Florida
Ranson E. Cundy, 53, watchman, Superior, Wisconsin
William J. Spengler, 59, watchman, Toledo, Ohio
Karl A. Peckol, 20, watchman, Ashtabula, Ohio
Mark A. Thomas, 2l, deck hand, Richmond Heights, Ohio
Paul M. Rippa, 22, deck hand, Ashtabula, Ohio
Bruce L. Hudson, 22, deck hand, North Olmsted, Ohio
David E. Weiss, 22, cadet, Agoura, California
Robert C. Rafferty, 62, steward, Toledo, Ohio
Allen G. Kalmon, 43, second cook, Washburn, Wisconsin
Frederick J. Beetcher, 56, porter, Superior, Wisconsin
Nolan F. Church, 55, porter, Silver Bay, Minnesota
George Holl, 60, chief engineer, Cabot, Pennsylvania
Edward F. Bindon, 47, first assistant engineer, Fairport Harbor, Ohio
Thomas E. Edwards, 50, second assistant engineer, Oregon, Ohio
Russell G. Haskell, 40, second assistant engineer, Millbury, Ohio
Oliver J. Champeau, 4l, third assistant engineer, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Blaine H. Wilhelm, 52, oiler, Moguah, Wisconsin
Ralph G. Walton, 58, oiler, Fremont, Ohio
Joseph W. Mazes, 59, special maintenance man, Ashland, Wisconsin
Gordon F. MacLellan, 30, wiper, Clearwater, Florida
Lost Mariners’ Remembrance
Dossin Great Lakes Museum
Monday, November 10
6 p.m.The event takes place on the 33rd anniversary of the sinking of the Great Lakes ore freighter Edmund Fitzgerald in a furious storm on November 10, 1975 off Whitefish Point in Lake Superior – claiming the lives of 29 crewmen. The William Clay Ford was the first boat to arrive on the scene. Artifacts from these freighters, the Fitzgerald bow anchor and the Ford pilothouse, are displayed at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum.
In addition, this year’s event will also commemorate the 50th anniversary of the loss of the self-unloading steamer Carl D. Bradley, which sank in Lake Michigan during a fierce storm on November 18, 1958 killing all but two of its crew of 35 – most of whom hailed from the northern Michigan port of Rogers City.