Great Lakes Ghost Ship: Edmund Fitzgerald

It has been almost 40 years since the iron ore freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald, the largest ship on the Great lakes in the 1970s, gave up its battle against ferocious seas and slipped beneath Lake Superior’s cold tumultuous surface. 

Edmund Fitzgerald

On November 9, 1975, a storm was brewing as the Fitzgerald left Duluth, Minnesota, bound for the Zug Island docks in Detroit, Michigan. 

But without today's more precise GPS tracking systems she was unable to pinpoint her position, *which put her in harm’s way.

The freighter, Arthur M. Anderson was 15 miles behind her when the two crews radioed each other about the brutal gale-force winds. 

Within minutes the captain of the Fitzgerald, Ernest McSorley radioed that his ship was damaged and had a list--it was taking on water. 

McSorley requested the Anderson be its radio eyes for the rest of the trip to Whitefish Bay. The last radio communication from the Fitzgerald came at 7:10 p.m., just nine miles short of safety. McSorley stated:

“One of the worst seas I have ever seen. We are holding our own.”

Five minutes later the Anderson’s radar lost the Fitzgerald. 

All 29 crew members perished when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down. No remains were ever recovered. 

Rogue waves or what are known as the "Three Sisters" ** -- massive 90 ft. waves-- are believed to have sunk the Fitzgerald. 

Ten years after the Fitzgerald sank, it was spotted once more on Lake Superior by a commercial vessel. This crew stated that they saw this large ship on a foggy night. 

They reported a "strange eerie atmosphere" at the time they spotted this ghost ship. The Edmund Fitzgerald remains at the bottom of this lake--500 feet down in two pieces.

* Ships that ply their trade on the Great Lakes today have better communication systems. Now there is radio reception on all sections of these lakes. 

With cellphones and digital satellites-- weather forecasts are given in real-time. The Fitzgerald might have survived if this kind of technology had been available in 1975. 

But many seasoned sailors point out that despite this technology the lakes' mighty wind and water can still, sink ships.

** The phenomenon known as Three Sisters is a series of waves that have been known to hit Lake Superior. Three large waves form, the second wave hits the ship's deck before the first wave clears. The third incoming wave adds to the two accumulated backwashes and suddenly overloads the ship's deck with tons of water.

In 1976, one of my all-time favorite singers, Gordon Lightfoot, immortalized the Fitzgerald in his ballad, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Dead in the Water

The Great Lakes for years have served as a graveyard for the many unfortunate sailing vessels that have been lost as they traveled on these waters. 

Each year many violent storms hit the lakes making these waters as unpredictable and deadly as the earth’s oceans. 

One ship that was a victim of a particularly bad storm was the steamship "Hudson". In its time it was the pride of its captain and its’ crew. It sank, taking all hands on board while sailing Lake Superior in September of 1901.

After the Hudson was lost it started to appear as a ghost ship. It is seen only on the anniversary of when it sank. 

One encounter with this ghost ship in the 1940s has been told so often it is known throughout the region. 

The steamship Hudson is seen at Keeweenaw Peninsula, which is the last point of land in upper Michigan before Lake Superior’s waves take command of the view.

A captain of a tugboat, which had been refitted as a fishing boat was sailing passed Keeweenaw point just as a thick bank of fog rolled in. Despite this the tug was making good progress--that was until the mist became so thick the skipper and his crew could not see further than five feet in front of them. 

Within minutes the captain was startled to see a large ship heading toward the side of his boat. His sharp turn of the wheel was the only thing that saved his vessel from a deadly collision.

Angry that the larger ship had not signaled in some way they were in the area the captain drew his tug alongside the larger steamer. 

He was surprised to see that this ship was very old, as he boarded he wondered at the rust and slimy mud that covered every surface. He heard no motors running-- it appeared the ship was dead in the water. 

He was surprised to see one of the ships smokestacks was cracked in half.

He looked around trying to find the person responsible for the near collision when he spotted a lone dark figure wearing a long oilskin coat. The captain yelled out, “What is the matter with you? You almost cut my ship in two.” 

The figure remained silent but pointed toward a decrepit boathouse further up the deck. The skipper covered the distance quickly anxious to confront the captain.

As he took the boathouse steps two at a time a sense of irrational fear engulfed him. He tried to shake off the feeling that something was terribly wrong. 

He entered the boathouse to see two bone thin figures--one standing at the wheel. Each man stared blankly ahead with dark eyes. The skin on their faces appeared clammy and pale. They both seemed frozen in position.

The tug captain backed away and stammered, "Your ship is a wreck. I don’t know what is keeping you afloat. You almost slammed into my tug."

"What the hell is the matter with you?" 

When he received no reply the captain backed further away and reversed tactics, “Do you need help?”

The man at the wheel slowly looked toward him. A cold chill ran down the captain’s spine as he heard the man reply in a hollow voice, “No”. 

“There is no help for us. We are the wreck of the Hudson and we’ve been at the bottom since our ship sank in 1901. Twenty-four of us died in the ship and we stay at the bottom with her but we have no rest. The devil makes us rise each year on the anniversary of our sinking.”

The man turned back toward the wheel. The captain listened frozen in terror. 

“We are doomed to the end of time. You must quickly leave, now. If you don’t you will be condemned to our fate.” As the captain left the boathouse in a blind run he heard the man call out, “Please, pray for us.”

The captain managed to get back aboard his tug and he ordered his crew to make haste as they left the large steamer behind. 

After this it was said he was never the same. He soon left the water and work he loved. He never returned to sail the Great Lakes again.

Some state this story is just a legend others swear it actually happened. It is never mentioned why the Hudson crew is condemned for eternity.