SS Edmund Fitzgerald Trivia

1. On which body (or bodies) of water did the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sail?

From Quiz The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: The Great Lakes

The Edmund Fitzgerald was a cargo ship on the Great Lakes in North America. These ships were called "lakers". At the time she was built, the Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest of her kind, measuring 729 feet in length.

From Quiz Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: 1957

The keel was laid for the Edmund Fitzgerald on August 7, 1957. She would be the largest ore bulk laker to sail the Great Lakes.

From Quiz Edmund "Big Fitz" Fitzgerald Factoids

Answer: 530

The wreckage lies in 530 feet of water in 2 pieces. The bow lies upright in the mud, while the stern lays face down about 170 feet away from the bow. The ship broke almost perfectly in half with the bow section measuring 276 feet and the stern about 253 feet.

From Quiz Shipwreck - S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: Great Lakes Engineering Works

The Edmund Fitzgerald was given hull number 301. It was originally built as a "coal burner", but it was retrofitted as an oil burner during the winter layup of 1971-72.

From Quiz The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: November 10, 1975

'The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down of the big lake they call Gitchie Gumee. The lake it is said never gives up her dead when the skies of November turn gloomy.'

From Quiz The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Lightfoot is a Canadian folk singer, born Nov 17, 1938. He is thought to have been inspired to write about the wreck after reading an article in Newsweek. "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" became one of Lightfoot's most successful recordings.

From Quiz Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: Big Fitz

Because of her enormous size, the Fitzgerald was known to other sailors as the Big Fitz. The "Big Fitz" would be nearly 800 ft. long and could carry up to 26,600 tons of iron ore. It held the record for the largest freighter on the Great lakes before other 1000 footers came along.

From Quiz Shipwreck - S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: June 8, 1958

At the time of her naming and launching, the Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest freighter on the Great Lakes at 729 feet.

From Quiz The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: 26,116

'With a load of iron ore 26,000 tons more than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty. The good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed when the winds of November came early.'

From Quiz Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: Great Lakes Engineering Works

Northwestern Mutual Insurance contracted the Great Lakes Engineering Works to design and build the Fitzgerald. The contract was given on February 1, 1957 and the keel was laid that August. Edmund Fitzgerald was launched and christened on June 8, 1958. The ship was named after the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Northwestern Mutual Insurance, Edmund Fitzgerald.

From Quiz Edmund "Big Fitz" Fitzgerald Factoids

Answer: Their President and Chairman of the Board

Northwestern announced their decision to name the boat for their President and Chairman of the Board, Edmund Fitzgerald, whose father had been a lake captain.

From Quiz Shipwreck - S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: Ineffective cargo hatch closures

Amateurs and experts hold differing opinions as to why the Edmund Fitzgerald went down so quickly. Of all the theories, the only one to be ruled out by physical investigation is the Six Fathom Shoal theory. All other theories are equally plausible.

From Quiz The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: Superior, Wisconsin

'The ship was the pride of the American side, coming back from some mill in Wisconsin. As big freighters go it was bigger than most, with a crew and good captain well seasoned.'

From Quiz The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: Her bell

Due to the fact that many divers were visiting the wreck which is the final resting place of the 29 men who died when she sank, the crew's family members had requested that just one item be taken from the wreckage and put on display as a memorial. In July 1995, the Edmund Fitzgerald's 200 lb. bronze bell was recovered by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society and other groups. The bell is now on display in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum as a memorial to her lost crew.

From Quiz Edmund "Big Fitz" Fitzgerald Factoids

Answer: Coal

The boat's engines were originally coal-fired, but would be converted to burn oil during 1971-72.

From Quiz Shipwreck - S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: Big Fitz

This was a term of affection given to the Edmund Fitzgerald by sailors and "land lubbers" alike.

From Quiz The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: Detroit, Michigan

'Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms when they left fully loaded for Cleveland.' (Mr. Lightfoot made a little boo boo, the ship was headed to Detroit)

From Quiz The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: Cold temperature

According to the Gordon Lightfoot ballad "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald": "The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead When the skies of November turn gloomy". One reason for this is the cold temperature of the lake below 660 feet (110 fathoms)deep. It is almost constant, at 39 degrees F. This is too cold for bacteria to work and form oxygen that would attach to and carry biological remains to the surface.

From Quiz Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: Ernest McSorley

McSorley had taken command of te Fitzgerald in 1972. He had commanded 9 other ships before and was known as the best bad weather captain on the high seas. He had over 40 years of marining on the Great Lakes and oceans. He had planned to retire after this voyage.

From Quiz Edmund "Big Fitz" Fitzgerald Factoids

Answer: 21

Her large cargo hold was loaded through twenty-one watertight hatches, each measuring 11'-7" by 54' of 5/16" steel. Failure of these "watertight" hatches would later be one of the leading theories for why the Fitz went down.

From Quiz Shipwreck - S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: Ogelbay Norton

Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Ogelbay Norton is still in operation. In Gordon Lightfoot's ballad, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", the song states that the ship was heading for Cleveland. Actually, it was heading for Zug Island, Detroit, and then Cleveland.

From Quiz The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: Ernest McSorley

Sadly Captain Earnest McSorley had decided that this was to be his last trip before he retired.

From Quiz The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: 29

She was captained by Ernest McSorely. This was to be his final voyage before he was due to retire. During the search and rescue efforts November 10 and 11, and the later recovery endeavors, no survivors were found nor bodies recovered.

From Quiz Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: Arthur Anderson

The Arthur Anderson was accompanying the Fitzgerald across Lake Superior when they ran into a fierce winter storm. They were heading for White Fish Bay which was 15 miles off.

From Quiz Edmund "Big Fitz" Fitzgerald Factoids

Answer: Arthur M. Anderson

The Arthur M. Anderson was destined for Gary, Indiana and joined with the Fitzgerald along the way. The Fitz, being faster, took the lead with the Anderson not far behind. It would be the Anderson who would radio in to the Coast Guard that the Fitz had disappeared from its radar.

From Quiz Shipwreck - S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: 26,116

Taconite is a ball or pellet of iron ore used in the steel smelting process. The cargo on the Edmund Fitzgerald was to be delivered and off-loaded at Zug Island in Detroit, Michigan.

From Quiz The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: 'We are holding our own.'

The sinking of the Fitzgerald happened so suddenly that many believe the crew never knew what happened until it was too late.

From Quiz The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: November 10, 1975

2:20 AM April 15, 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic of the White Star Line after colliding with an iceberg. 10:09 AM July 26, 1959 sinking of the Andrea Doria, a after a colliding with the MS Stockholm of the Swedish American Line 2:12 - 2:32 PM May 7, 1915 sinking of the RMS Lusitania after being hit with a German u-boat torpedo. 7:30 - 7:30 PM November 10, 1975 the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald

From Quiz Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Answer: November 10, 1975

The Fitzgerald reported a minor list and some topside damage which included the radar getting knocked out on the afternoon of November 10, 1975. McSorley slowed down so he would be able to pick up signals from the Anderson's radar. They later ran into a fierce storm with wins up to 60 mph.

This is category 14209

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