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.) 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 (continued) ---------------- 15. Outages to Aids to Navigation ----------------------------- At approximately 1630 on 10 November, the remote monitoring equipment (Moore Gear) at Coast Guard Station Sault Ste. Marie, MI, which monitors the automated aids to navigation under the cognizance of Commanding Officer, Coast Guard Group, Sault Ste. Marie, indicated that the light and radio beacon at White- fish Point were inoperative. Whitefish Point is an unmanned light, radio beacon, sound signal and weather collection station 83 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- remotely controlled by Coast Guard Station Sault Ste. Marie. At 1639, FITZGERALD called Coast Guard Station, Grand Marais, MI, and asked if the radio beacon at Whitefish Point Light was operating. Grand Marais determined from the Coast Guard Sta- tion, Sault Ste. Marie, that the monitoring equipment indicated that the light and radio beacon were not operating and passed this on to FITZGERALD. Several attempts were made to restore the Whitefish Point navigational aids, using the remote controls on the monitoring equipment at the Coast Guard Station, Sault Ste. Marie. The light was observed to be operating at approximately 1700, but, sometime after that, the monitoring equipment again indicated a failure. For a while it was thought possible that the naviga- tional aids were operating properly, with the trouble indication due to the fact that the telephone lines used in the monitoring system were down as a result of the weather. Finally, however, it was concluded that the Whitefish Point light and radio beacon were not operating and could not be restored immediately, and, at 1905, Coast Guard Group Sault Ste. Marie sent out a Safety Broadcast to that effect. As soon as the weather subsided the next morning, Coast Guard Group Sault Ste. Marie sent a repairman to Whitefish Point. He found the aids not operating. The emergency genera- tor was not running, but the engine was warm, which indicated to him that the emergency generator had been running only a short time earlier. The relay which switches the aids from normal power to emergency power was found to be stuck in an intermedi- ate position. In this position, there would have been no power to the navigational aids. It was believed that the relay became stuck while efforts were being made to restore the aids through the use of the remote monitoring equipment. The naviga- tional aids at Whitefish Point were restored to full operation at 0930, 11 November. 84 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The aids to navigation monitoring equipment at Sault Ste. Marie Coast Guard Station is fitted with a paper tape recording mechanism, but there are no indicatior recordings for 10 November. There is no requirement that a permanent record of the monitoring equipment be maintained. The records of the Commander, Ninth Coast Guard District, indicate that Whitefish Point Light was automated and unmanned on 11 June 1970. This was one of the first aids in the area to be automated. Immediately following the automation, several outages were experienced, however these were attributed to the newness and complexity of the automation equipment. Between 1 June 1973 and 15 November 1975, outages were: Year Light Radiobeacon Fog Horn ---- ----- ----------- -------- 1973 6 11 7 1974 1 0 3 1975 2 3 5 The lighthouse at Whitefish Point is also fitted with a battery powered, auxiliary light, with a range of nine and one- half miles, which would come on automatically if both the normal power and emergency power for the main light should fail. The only U. S. navigational aids in eastern Lake Superior north or west of Whitefish Bay which were inoperative on the afternoon or evening of the 10th of November were those at Whitefish Point. There were no Canadian aids in eastern Lake Superior which were inoperative. 85 ===========================================================================