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Title: Gales of November: The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Robert J. Hemming ISBN: 1-882376-33-1 Publisher: Thunder Bay Press Pub. Date: April, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.78 (9 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Please read the Author's Note
Comment: The author started his book as a non-fictional work based on the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. However, that isn't how it ended up. Although it seemed that he did an admirable job in describing where and what each crewman might have been doing at the time of the ship's loss, I don't believe it did any of their families a service. In my opinion, the families should be left in peace. It also wasn't a service to the reader of a non-fictional book.
A reader new to Great Lakes shipping may have found some general information useful, however, beyond the fiction, there were factual inaccuracies. One of the most serious was the inclusion of the "larger than normal waves" theory, otherwise commonly referred to as "the Three Sisters". This theory assumed that several larger than average (if anything was average about the night of 10 November) struck the after section of the Fitz and pushed the bow beneath the waves, ultimately causing the ship to submarine. None of the other four ships in the Eastern section of Lake Superior that night noted this same wave action. Nor was the timing of the storm right for a type of wave action of this form - usually known in hurricane parlance as a "dome of water". Typically, such a "dome" comes ashore as the low pressure system associated with a hurricane makes landfall in the tropics. It was noted by several of the witnesses aboard the other vessels that the sky had cleared of the snow fall shortly after the RADAR return of the Fitz was lost, therefore, the low pressure system was already passing on it's way into Ontario at that time.
I was on Whitefish Bay in July 1994, and it was hard to believe that the beautiful body of water I was on could do the damage as evidenced in the Coast Guard Marine Causalty Report.
Rating: 4
Summary: An Exciting Tale of the Great Lakes
Comment: The Edmund Fitzgerald, immortalized in song by Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot, was, at the time, the largest vessel to sail on the Great Lakes. At over 750 feet long, it was nearly as large as a World War II era battleship. The thing that made the "Fitz" so special was her large cargo capacity; she could carry well over twenty thousand tons of cargo in her massive holds. However, these holds might have ultimately led to her demise on a stormy night in November, 1975.
The Great lakes are famous for their storms and gales, but in early November, 1975, a storm of immense strength bore down on Lake Superior and unleased its vengance on the ships that dared sail on the lake. The storm was born in the southwestern United States, and as it moved slowly northward, it gathered tremendous amounts of moisture. Its warm winds, when coupled with the north's cooler air, made a cauldron of swirling winds, sleet, and snow. The winds whipped as much as one hundred miles per hour and made waves as high as thirty feet.
While this storm was intensifying, the "Fitz" set out on its trip across Superior. Another ship, the Arthur Anderson, was travelling in the same direction as the Fitzgerald and they kept in contact by radio. Soon, the rolling seas were slamming into the Fitz, and she began to take on water. Some water managed to leak in around the hatch covers, but, without radar to assist them, the Fitz was forced to rely upon charts from the U.S. and Canada to map a course across Superior. Unfortunately, the charts weren't completely accurate, and the Fitz's course sent her directly over a submurged shoal, which punched holes in the hull, allowing more water to enter the ship.
The ship began to list and the pumps were unable to keep up with the amount of water pouring in. Finally, a huge wave hit the side of the ship, driving the bow deep into the lake, and instead of popping back up, the bow kept on going down, taking the rest of the ship along. Twenty nine men died in the span of a few minutes as the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald came to rest in 530 feet of water at the bottom of Lake Superior.
This book gives an excellent narrative about the loss of the Fitzgerald and life on the Great Lakes in general. The reader also gets a glimpse into the lives of each crewman aboard, as well as some other memorable shipwrecks that occurred earlier on the Great Lakes. I recommend this book very highly. Maritime readers and adventure fans alike will surely enjoy it.
Rating: 4
Summary: A good first book for this subject
Comment: This is a great book about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. If you have never read a book on the Fitz this is a great start. The author does a great job of introducing you to the crew and what life is like sailing on the Great Lakes. He takes several of the crew and introduces you to their personality and their history. This helps you to develope feelings for the crew member as they sail on the Lakes. Hemming also does a good job of presenting the facts of the sinking and helps you to understand what the last several hours were like on the Fitzgerald. The book is very inclusive when it comes to describing the factors that lead to the Fitz's eventual demise. The only complaint that I have about the book is that Hemming described vividly the crews last actions immediately prior to the sinking when no further contact was made with any other ships. Since nobody knows exactly what happen during this period of time the author may have created a scinario to keep the book real. He accomplishes this but it may compromise the facts. All in all I learned a lot about the story and I think most readers will too.
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Title: The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Frederick Stonehouse ISBN: 0932212883 Publisher: Avery Color Studios Pub. Date: 1996 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The Night the Fitz Went Down by Hugh E. Bishop, Dudley Paquette ISBN: 0942235371 Publisher: Lake Superior Port Cities Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: 29 Missing: The True and Tragic Story of the Disappearance of the Ss Edmund Fitzgerald by Andrew Kantar ISBN: 0870134469 Publisher: Michigan State Univ Pr Pub. Date: June, 1998 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Ghost Ships, Gales and Forgotten Tales: True Adventures on the Great Lakes by Wes Oleszewski ISBN: 0932212832 Publisher: Avery Color Studios Pub. Date: September, 1996 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Great Lakes Shipwrecks & Survivals: Longer Ships, The Winter Runs by William Ratigan ISBN: 0802870104 Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Pub. Date: June, 1960 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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