Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2015 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ =========================================================================== Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== (note: while some formatting changes were necessary to transcribe this document the content remains entirely as written in the official report.) DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION UNITED STATES COAST GUARD Mailing Address U.S. COAST GUARD (G-MMI/83) *** SEVENTH STREET SW WASHINGTON, D.C. ***** PHONE: 16732/S.S. EDMUND FITZGERALD 15 April 1977 From: Marine Board of Investigation To: Commandant (G-MMI) Subj: S. S. EDMUND FITZGERALD, O. N. 277437; sinking in Lake Superior on 10 November 1975, with loss of life FINDINGS OF FACT ---------------- 1. In the early evening on 10 November 1975, the S. S. EDMUND FITZGERALD, while in a severe storm, with a full cargo of taconite pellets, sank in eastern Lake Superior at 46°59.9'N, 85°06.6'W, approximately 17 miles from the entrance to Whitefish Bay, MI. FITZGERALD had left Superior, WI, on the afternoon of 9 November enroute Detroit, MI, and was in communication with other vessels periodically throughout the voyage. At approxi- mately 1530, 10 November, FITZGERALD reported some topside damage and a list but did not say what caused this damage or express any urgency in the report. The Master of FITZGERALD did request that the Steamer ARTHUR M. ANDERSON, which was following, provide navigational information to FITZGERALD and as the two vessels proceeded towards Whitefish Bay, FITZGERALD disappeared from ANDERSON's radar screen. No distress message was received from FITZGERALD. The notification from ANDERSON of the suspected loss precipitated an extensive air and surface search. A large quantity of debris, including lifeboats, life rafts and other flotsam, was found, but no survivors or bodies were recovered. All of the twenty-nine crewmen on board at the time are missing. After taking testimony, members of the Marine Board observed the underwater survey of the wreckage, which was conducted during late May 1976. Since FITZGERALD had passed between Michipicoten Island and Caribou Island in eastern Lake Superior and since charts of this area indicated that soundings last were taken in 1919, the Marine Board requested that Canadian authori- ties conduct a hydrographic survey of the area between Michipico- ten Island and Caribou Island in eastern Lake Superior. The final field report of this survey was received on 25 March 1977. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Vessel Data ----------- Name: EDMUND FITZGERALD Official Number: 277437 Service: Freight Gross Tons: 13,632 Net Tons: 8,686 Length (bp): 711 ft. Length (oa): 729 ft. Breadth: 75 ft. Depth: 39 ft. Propulsion: Steam Turbine Horsepower: 7,500 Home Port: Milwaukee, WI Owner: Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, 720 East Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53202 Operator: Columbia Transportation Div., Oglebay Norton Co., 1210 Hanna Bldg., Cleveland, OH 44115 2 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Master: Ernest M. McSORLEY Bk 004418 License 398 598, Master and First Class Pilot Steam and Motor Vessels and GT, Master Great Lakes, Connecting and Tributary Waters, First Class Pilot between Duluth, Gary, Buffalo, North Tonawanda and Ogdensburg, Issue 7, 9, 29 Oct 1973, Toledo, OH Last Inspection for 9 April 1975, Certification: Toledo, OH Last Spar Deck Inspection: 31 Oct 1975, Toledo, OH Cargo: Taconite Pellets, 26,116 long tons Draft (at departure on 27'02" forward last voyage) 27'06" aft Propeller Diameter: 19'6" Pitch (on .7 radius) 15.86' FITZGERALD was a conventional "straight decker" Great Lakes ore carrier. The vessel was arranged with cargo holds in the 3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- center of the ship, and ballast tanks outboard of and below the holds. There was a forward deckhouse containing accommodations and the pilothouse and an after deckhouse above the engineroom with accommodations and messing facilities. The weather deck between the deckhouses was called the Spar Deck. Above the Spar Deck, forward, were the Forecastle Deck, which contained the Captain's office and stateroom and two additional staterooms, and, above that, the Texas Deck. The navigating bridge and chart room were in the elevated pilothouse with a void separat- ing it from the Texas Deck. Above the Spar Deck, aft, was the Poop Deck with a lifeboat port and starboard, and the galley, mess room, dining rooms and accommodations within the house. Access between forward and aft could be accomplished topside or through "tunnels" located port and starboard, outboard, immed- iately below the Spar Deck. FITZGERALD was fitted with a collision bulkhead separating the forepeak from the No. 1 ballast tank and with watertight bulkheads forward and aft of the engineroom. Figures (1) through (4) (pp. 10, 11 and 12) show the general arrangement and midships section of the vessel. Cargo was loaded and discharged through twenty-one cargo hatch openings, each eleven feet longitudinally and forty- eight feet transversely, arranged on twenty-four foot centers along the Spar Deck. The cargo hatches were numbered from No. 1 forward to No. 21 aft. The total molded volume of 860,950 cubic feet of cargo space was divided into three cargo holds by non-watertight screen bulkheads located between hatches No. 7 and No. 8 (frame 69) and between No. 13 and No. 14 (frame 117). The No. 1, or forward cargo hold, was 177'0" long, No. 2 (amidships) was 144'0" long and No. 3 (aft) was 198'0" long. Each cargo hatch was fitted with a vertical coaming all around the opening, the top of which measured 24 inches above 4 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- the Spar Deck. The Spar Deck had 18 inches of camber, thus the coaming at the centerline was 3'6" above the deck at the side. The longitudinal sections of the coamings were located three feet outboard of the hatch openings, providing a vestibule at each side of each hatch. Each cargo hatch was closed by a single piece (11'7" x 54'0") 5/16" stiffened steel hatch cover, with a gasket all around the underside of its perimeter. The gasket landed on a 3"x3"x9.49# angle iron which was welded all around the top of the coaming. Hatch covers for hatches No. 4, 10 and 17 had 18 inch circular, bolted scuttles in the middle of the covers. Each hatch cover was secured by sixty-eight manual- ly positioned "Kestner clamps," i.e., double pivot, adjustable, tension clamps, which were arranged on approximately two-foot centers around the coaming. Each Kestner clamp had an adjust- able bolt, one end of which landed on a dished "button" on the hatch cover. Thus, there were sixty-eight "buttons" around the perimeter of each hatch cover. Adjusting the bolts in- creased or decreased the force required to position the clamps and this determined the deflection of the hatch cover, the compression of the gasket and the tightness of the closure. There was no company requirement concerning routine maintenance of the clamps or gaskets. Hatch covers were removed and replaced by use of an electri- cally powered hatch crane which straddled the hatches and traveled fore and aft on tracks located outboard of the hatch coamings, port and starboard. In addition to the twenty-one cargo hatches, access from the Spar Deck to the cargo holds was provided through two 30" by 60" access hatches, each with a 24" coaming on the Spar Deck. One access hatch was located between hatches Nos. 7 and 8, immediately forward of the forward screen bulkhead on the starboard side providing access to the No. 1 hold. The other was located between hatches No. 13 and 14, immediately aft of 5 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- the after screen bulkhead on the port side providing access to the No. 3 hold. Each screen bulkhead was fitted with a door at the Main Deck which provided access to the No. 2 cargo hold from either access hatch and there was also a door providing access to or from the tunnel at these locations. Access to the cargo holds was also provided through a door in the forward bulkhead of the No. 1 hold, port side, Main Deck, and through a door at the after bulkhead of No. 3 hold, port side, Main Deck. Outboard and below the cargo holds were eight ballast tanks, divided at the centerline into port and starboard tanks. East ballast tank was fitted with two eight-inch vent pipes, one at each end of each tank. Each vent extended 18 inches above the Spar Deck and was fitted with a screw-down, "mushroom" closure cap, 14-1/2" in diameter and 9-1/4" high, over the top of the 8" vent pipe. Rotating the cap by use of the handle on top of it caused the cap to ride up or down on threads on the top of the vent pipe, opening or closing the vent. There was no external indicator to show whether the cover was in the open or closed position. The port and starboard access tunnels were provided with similar covered vents, one forward and one aft, extending thirty inches above the Spar Deck. Ballast tanks were sounded through sounding tubes terminating on the Spar Deck and the soundings were recorded on chalk boards called "sounding boards" located in the pilothouse and the engineroom. Remote reading gauges (King Gauges) in the lower engineroom near the ballast pumps also provided a check on ballast tank water levels. There were neither sounding tubes nor remote reading gauges for the cargo holds. The ballast tanks were filled and drained by four electri- cally driven 7000-gpm main ballast pumps and two electrically driven 2000-gpm auxililary ballast pumps. The pumps, valves and 6 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- manifolds and the remote reading level indicators for the ballast tanks were located in the forward section of the lower engineroom. Any ballast pump could be used to drain No. 3 cargo hold through the ballast manifold and through the single suction well ("rose box") located aft in No. 3 cargo hold, although it was common practice to use the 2000-gpm auxiliary pumps for this purpose. Water in these holds drained aft along the length of the holds and through sluices fitted in the lower portions of the screen bulkheads separating the holds, to the suction well at the after end of No. 3 hold. When the vessel was loaded with cargo, water entering the hold would have to filter through the cargo before it could be pumped. Experienced Great Lakes mariners testified that the cargo would restrict the flow and that the holds could not be pumped when loaded with cargo. Coast Guard regulations require a bilge pumpling plant capable of pumping from or draining any watertight compartment. As an antipollution measure, the discharge from the engineroom bilges was pumped onto the cargo. FITZGERALD was fitted with two 400-KW ship's service steam turbo generators, and one 200-KW auxiliary diesel genera- tor, located in the engineroom. A 30-KW emergency diesel generator located on the Poop Deck, starboard side, forward, was fitted with an automatic starting mechanism, and provided power only for emergency lighting. Radiotelephone equipment on board FITZGERALD was located in the pilothouse and chart room and consisted of the following: (1) VHF/FM, 12-channel, 25-watt radiotelephone, Model RF-457, Serial No. 5825, installed May 17, 1974. This set operated from ship's power. 7 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- (2) VHF/FM, 12-channel, 25-watt radiotelephone, Model RF-457, Serial No. 6273, installed October 22, 1974. This set operated from rechargeable battery power, with the batteries installed in the pilothouse. (3) Automatic, 12-channel, 25-watt, full duplex, Model RF-150-D, Serial No. 3850, VHF/FM dial radiotelephone installed September 13, 1975. This set operated from ship's power. (4) AM medium frequency and high frequency, eight- channel, 100-watt, Model LC-100-M8CL. This set had channel 51 (2182 Khz) capability and operated from ship's power. (5) AM 50-watt, medium frequency, emergency radio- telephone, Model KR-102, included channel 51 (2182 Khz). This set operated from rechargeable battery power. The FCC station license was issued on September 30, 1971, expiring September 30, 1976. The call sign WJ9721 was assigned to FITZGERALD. The last FCC inspection certificate was issued by the Detroit Office of the Federal Communications Commission on April 9, 1975. On 10 November, FITZGERALD had requested a radio serviceman to meet the vessel on arrival in Detroit. The service contractor believed that this request was for service on the duplex dial radiotelephone which had been recently installed. FITZGERALD was also fitted with a McKay type 4003A radio direction finder. 8 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FITZGERALD was not required to have a fathometer and none was installed. Soundings, if needed, would have been taken by a hand lead. FITZGERALD was fitted with two surface scan radar sets, one a Sperry Mark 3 and the other a Sperry Mark 16. Maintenance records for 1975 indicated only routine maintenance on each radar set. There is no evidence that the radar sets were not operating properly when FITZGERALD left Superior, WI, on 9 November. 9 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Record of Missing Crewmen ------------------------- a. The following crewmembers are missing: McSORLEY, Ernest M., Lic. No. 398 598, BK 004418 Address: 4034 W. Bancroft, Toledo, OH 44140 Next of Kin: Wife, same address Master McCARTHY, John H., Lic. No. 422 663, BK 093395 Address: 30627 Webster Drive, Bay Village, OH 44140 Next of Kin: Wife, same address First Mate PRATT, James A., Lic. No. 398 675, Z 1112955 Address: 2221 Wascana Ave., Lakewood, OH 44107 Next of Kin: Wife, same address Second Mate ARMAGOST, Michael E., Lic. No. 398 571, Z 1102575 Address: Box 143, Iron River, WI 54878 Next of Kin: Wife, same address Third Mate HOLL, George J., Lic. No. 422 713, Z 341510 Address: Rt. 1, Cabot, PA 16023 Next of Kin: Brother, Wilmer Holl, Berea, OH Chief Engineer BINDON, Edward F., Lic. No. 422 725, Z 927247 Address: 404 Courtland St., Fairport Harbor, OH 44077 Next of Kin: Wife, same address First Asst. Engineer 13 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- EDWARDS, Thomas E., Lic. No. 388 873, Z 1108560 Address: 850 Curtice Rd. N., Oregon, OH 43618 Next of Kin: Wife, same address Second Asst. Engineer HASKELL, Russel G., Lic. No. 398 266, Z 1062878 Address: 24923 W. Young Rd., Millbury, OH 43447 Next of Kin: Wife, same address Second Asst. Engineer CHAMPEAU, Oliver J., Lic. No. 398 812, Z 1130391 Address: 2121 W. Lapham St., Milwaukee, WI 53204 Next of Kin: Daughter, Deborah Champeau, Milwaukee, WI Third Asst. Engineer BEETCHER, Frederick J., Z 1261674 Address: 503 Homecraft, Superior, WI 54880 Next of Kin: Son, Gene Beetcher, Superior, WI Porter BENTSEN, Thomas, 362-56-9227 Address: 929 Harrison St., St. Joseph, MI 49085 Next of Kin: Parents, Harold and Florence Bentsen, same address Oiler BORGESON, Thomas D., Z 986178-D1 Address: 4405 Dodge St., Duluth, MN 55408 Next of Kin: Children, Mary Beth, Bradley, Theresa, Jack and Robin Borgeson, Duluth, MN AB Maintenance Man CHURCH, Nolan F., 476-09-5899 Address: 12 Garden Dr., Silver Bay, MN 55614 Next of Kin: Wife, same address Porter 14 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- CUNDY, Ransom E., BK 113957 Address: 615 Homecraft, Superior, WI 54880 Next of Kin: Wife, same address Watchman HUDSON, Bruce L., 300-54-2000 Address: 5806 Burns Rd., N. Olmsted, OH 44070 Next of Kin: Parents, Oddis A. and Ruth G. Hudson, N. Olmsted, OH Deckhand KALMON, Allen G., 399-30-6961 Address: 1016 Pine St., Washburn, WI 54891 Next of Kin: Wife, same address Second Cook MacLELLAN, Gordon F., Z 1187024 Address: 107 Teal Dr., Clearwater, FL 33516 Next of Kin: Parents, Donald and Sadonia MacLellan, Clearwater, FL Wiper MAZES, Joseph W., BK 084194 Address: 110-12th Ave., E. Ashland, WI 54806 Next of Kin: Brother, John Mazes, Ashland, WI Special Maintenance Man O'BRIEN, Eugene W., Z 956388 Address: 1475 Maywood St., St. Paul, MN 55117 Next of Kin: Son, John O'Brien, Toledo, OH Wheelsman PECKOL, Karl A., 274-56-3017 Address: 4550 S. Ridge W., Ashtabula, OH 44004 Next of Kin: Parents, William and Elinor Peckol, Ashtabula, OH Watchman 15 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- POVIACH, JOHN J., Z 461606-D1 Address: 5110-14th St. W., Lot 51, Bradenton, FL 33505 Next of Kin: Wife, same address Wheelsman RAFFERTY, Robert C., Z 234608-D1 Address: 2510 Consaul St., Toledo, OH 43605 Next of Kin: Wife, same address Steward RIIPPA, Paul M., 279-56-7716 Address: 946 Elk Drive, Ashtabula, OH 44004 Next of Kin: Mother, Ashtabula, OH Deckhand SIMMONS, John D., BK 383641 Address: 312-10th Ave. W., Ashland, WI 54806 Next of Kin: Wife, same address Wheelsman SPENGLER, William J., Z 1042895 Address: 3236 Eastbrook Dr., Toledo, OH 43613 Next of Kin: Wife, same address Watchman THOMAS, Mark A., 292-52-6950 Address: 618 Meadowline Dr., Richmond Hts., OH 44143 Next of Kin: Father, Richard A. Thomas, Richmond Heights, OH Deckhand 16 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- WALTON, Ralph G., Z 1097319 Address: 224 Morrison St., Fremont, OH 43420 Next of Kin: Wife, same address Oiler WEISS, David E., 550-84-7199 Address: 27201 Ventura Blvd., Agoura, CA 91301 Next of Kin: Father, Aaron W. Weiss, Canoga Park, CA Cadet (Deck) WILHELM, Blaine H., Z 1102423 Address: Rt. 3, Box 254, Moquah, WI 54806 Next of Kin: Wife, same address Oiler 17 ===========================================================================