# SS Edmund Fitzgerald **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 10, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ss-edmund-fitzgerald/517060 "2009-11-10T16:53:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ss-edmund-fitzgerald/517060/21 "2009-11-12T04:17:15Z")
Last year I visited Duluth, MN and saw artifacts from the Edmund Fitzgerald at their museum and spoke to many people who remembered the whole event. Very moving. What a disaster that was. ---
**Author:** ![Reepicheep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@Reepicheep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reepicheep)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ss-edmund-fitzgerald/517060/22 "2009-11-12T04:39:00Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > No wonder they played this the morning. Is it possible there are two versions? One a little bit longer with more detail? I didn’t think a load of steel going to Cleveland was mentioned in the regular radio version. I just checked my copy form Gord’s Gold Vol II, it is in the [second verse](http://gordonlightfoot.com/wreckoftheedmundfitzgerald.shtml): The ship was the pride of the American side coming back from some mill in Wisconsin. As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most with a crew and good captain well seasoned, concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms when they left fully loaded for Cleveland. And later that night when the ship’s bell rang, could it be the north wind they’d been feelin’? ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ss-edmund-fitzgerald/517060/23 "2009-11-12T12:56:02Z")
> [@BoBettie](#): > > Last year I visited Duluth, MN and saw artifacts from the Edmund Fitzgerald at their museum and spoke to many people who remembered the whole event. Very moving. What a disaster that was. I found that display fascinating! There are a couple of amazing museums there in Duluth, the Army Corps of Engineers (?) museum about the great lakes and also the aquarium which is dedicated to Great Lakes and fresh water aquatic life. Its very fascinating and I have been there several times now, and each time learned something new. Definitely reccomended for anyone with an interest in the subject. Duluth has done a lot in the last 10 or so years with the waterfront/ Canal Park area. I just wish Thunder Bay would grab a clue and do something similar. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ss-edmund-fitzgerald/517060/24 "2009-11-12T13:03:06Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > The museum up @ Whitefish Point in God’s Country UP is quite nice. Make a stop at Taquahmenon Falls and Paradise, MI after. > > Hi Athena! Hiya Shirley! Whitefish Point is great - both for the museum and birdwatching if you’re into such things. The falls are nice, too, but stay away from the brewpub, it may be the absolutely worst brewpub beer I’ve ever had in my life. Paradise is… well, not really Paradise IMO. But I suspect that it might be nicer to those people who don’t already live in a small town in da UP. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ss-edmund-fitzgerald/517060/25 "2009-11-12T13:24:43Z")
> [@Reepicheep](#): > > I just checked my copy form Gord’s Gold Vol II, it is in the [second verse](http://gordonlightfoot.com/wreckoftheedmundfitzgerald.shtml): > > The ship was the pride of the American side > coming back from some mill in Wisconsin. > As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most > with a crew and good captain well seasoned, > concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms > when they left fully loaded for Cleveland. > And later that night when the ship’s bell rang, > could it be the north wind they’d been feelin’? Except of course, it wasn’t going to Cleveland. If you get a copy of “I Hate Myself and Want to Die- the 52 Worst Songs of All Time” it gets a working over. In saying that I have Gords Gold as well. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ss-edmund-fitzgerald/517060/26 "2009-11-12T21:17:20Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Except of course, it wasn’t going to Cleveland. Nor was it a “north wind”. The Fitzgerald storm was coming from the southwest. It had passed through the NW corner of Texas, Oklahoma & Kansas the previous morning on its way to the Great Lakes. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ss-edmund-fitzgerald/517060/27 "2009-11-13T13:20:32Z")
Northerly winds were most definitely worth nothing and likely the killer, as the fetch was over a long run of water, allowing for bigger waves sans land protection. This shift to N/NW is a major factor. Contains National Weather Service wind info for the storm. [http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/wxwise/fitz.html](http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/wxwise/fitz.html) Anyone up North, or in the Northeast, dealing with low-pressure systems that develop in the south, are all too familiar with the danger of the northerly winds. It is these winds that bring disaster. (Philster: Coastal NJ resident who fears Northerly winds, esp Nor’ Easters, which develop in the South.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ss-edmund-fitzgerald/517060.md?page=1)