#Edmund fitzgerald lifeboat series#

As it struggled, the crew realized the ship began to sink. Wheeler went down in 1885 when, while it was being towed was met with increasingly worse weather conditions. Only the cook of the Michigan died that day. But within minutes, a massive wave smashed the two vessels together, destroying the Drake's smokestack Both went down a short time later. Water began filling the Michigan, causing crew members to abandon ship for the Drake. Like the Dot, the Michigan was also being towed by the same steamer when it came across rough weather. Video courtesy of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society Its captain hailed the steamship nearby and took his crew off before it fell to the bottom. While the schooner Dot was being towed from Marquette with a load of iron ore, it began taking on water. All crew survived before the captain exited the sinking vessel. Drake from Marquette in 1883 with a load of iron ore when it started taking on water. The Dot was being towed by a steamship called the M.M. The first three shipwrecks that crews identified in 2021 were a schooner named the Dot and two schooner-barges, the Frank W. MORE: What's happening to Michigan's sand dunes? Photos show beaches increasingly covered by plants and trees Then you put an ROV (remote operated vehicle) on it and see what it looks like - it's the first time eyes have been laid on it a hundred years.' 'When we find something that's been underwater for so many decades, that's a good feeling. One of the most exhilarating moments of our life. 'Just think of something that surprised you. The work can get grow dull after weeks of unsuccessful searching.īut when something appears on radar, 'it's incredible,' Adkins said. Moving in a diagonal fashion from the northwest to the southeast, Ertel navigated the society's 47-foot research vessel the David Boyd from sunrise to sunset. Along that coastline during the 2021 hunting season, Ertel traced over 2,500 square miles of Lake Superior.

So will those who visited the museum, which is located in Whitefish Point on the very northern tip of the Upper Peninsula's east end. If a storm popped up, there's nowhere to hide.'įans of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore will recognize those cities. 'Once you get going toward Munising or Marquette, there's nothing there. 'Between Whitefish Point and Grand Marais, it's called shipwreck coast,' he said. Photo courtesy of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society.Īdkins said that while shipwreck hunters only have their sonar to tell them if there is something underneath, sailors do have a general idea about good places to search for sites. There are still conflicting theories about what and how exactly the Fitzgerald sank, but one thing's for sure: it was the largest ship lost in the history of the Great Lakes.The name plate from the Atlanta shipwreck, the fourth to be identified from the 2021 shipwreck hunting season. No trace of the crew was ever found, not a body nor remains. The following year the wreck was located, split in two sections and with roughly 200 ft (61 mt) of the middle virtually obliterated in smashed and torn plates on the bottom, amidst the ship's cargo. Nothing of it was heard again until some days after the fact, when a badly damaged lifeboat was recovered.

#Edmund fitzgerald lifeboat series#

After a series of sudden, particularly large waves that were reported by the Henderson, the Fitzgerald disappeared from the latter's radar. Henderson, fighting near hurricane-force winds and 35 feet (11 mt) waves. At 729 feet in length it was the longest until the completion of the 730 ft SS Murray Bay in 1960.įor 17 years she set various records to and fro Lakes Superior and Michigan, until it encountered one of the worst storms of the century on 10 November 1975, while steaming ahead of another lake freighter, the SS Arthur M. Laid down in 1957 and completed the following year, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest iron ore carrier on the Great Lakes, with a carrying capacity of 23,000 tons, later increased to 26,000.