As the winter months set in, nature becomes a cruel reminder of one’s mortality. As maritime traditions go, navigating the waters of the Great Lakes was always a treacherous one, combining extreme cold, enormous size, and gale-force winds that could reach hurricane force. On November 10th, 1975, nearby ships and shore radio stations lost contact with the Edmund Fitzgerald, one of the largest and most storied iron ore freighters that worked the lakes with some regularity, and the last lake freighter to go down since. After losing its radar and beginning to list, the Fitzgerald went under with all 29 crew members in the darkness of the night, leaving rescue crews and researchers alike more questions than answers as to how such a vessel could have capsized and sank with such speed.
— References —
– Death Ship, Traven (1980)
– North Country, Caro (2005)
– Mighty Fitz: The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Schumacher (2008)
If pessimism is despair, optimism is cowardice and stupidity. -Francis Parker Yockey
