Adam Epling

Thank you all for coming along on this journey of remembrance. We'll be back next year when the gales of November come again. Until then, let the legend live on. 🫡 🚢 🌊 🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔 🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔 🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔 🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔

When word of the wreck reaches Rev. Richard Ingalls at the Mariner's Church of Detroit, he prays for the souls of the men who lost their lives on the Edmund Fitzgerald. He ascends the church's belltower and rings the Brotherhood Bell 29 times, once for each member of the crew.

The Edmund Fitzgerald disappears from the Anderson's radar. Attempts to make radio contact fail. The ship and her crew of 29 are lost.

Captain Cooper of the Anderson radios Captain McSorley to notify him of another ship about 9 miles ahead, and asks how they're doing. McSorley replies: "We are holding our own."

[Fitzgerald]: "I have a bad list, lost both radars. And am taking heavy seas over the deck. One of the worst seas I've ever been in." [Avafors]: "If I'm correct, you have two radars." [Fitzgerald]: "They're both gone."

Captain McSorley radios the Anderson: "I have sustained some topside damage. I have a fence rail laid down, two vents lost or damaged, and a list." He slows down and asks the Anderson to stay nearby.

The Anderson changes course to avoid the Six Fathom Shoal area north of Caribou Island, with the Fitzgerald about 16 miles ahead. Heavy snow begins to fall and the Edmund Fitzgerald is lost from sight. It's the last time the ship would be seen by human eyes.

The Fitzgerald, approximately 35 miles north of Copper Harbor, MI, makes its last routine weather report, indicating 35-knot winds and 10-foot waves. No sign of immediate distress yet, but Captain McSorley reports a delayed arrival due to the worsening weather conditions.

The weather conditions are beginning to deteriorate. Winds are picking up to around 32 knots (37mph) with waves starting to build. Captain McSorley and Captain Cooper radio each other to discuss altering their route to avoid the worst of the storm.

The National Weather Service issues an unexpected shift in the forecast: a gale warning is now active for all of Lake Superior. The storm system is now tracking faster, stronger, and more northerly than previously anticipated.

The "Mighty Fitz", with a crew of 29 led by Captain Ernest McSorley, departs from Superior, WI. A storm is building over Kansas, heading northeast, but the National Weather Service predicts it to pass south of Lake Superior.

The Edmund Fitzgerald is loaded with 26,116 long tons of taconite pellets in Superior, WI, bound for Detroit.

Preparations have been made and tweets have been scheduled. See you all tomorrow. May the legend live on. 🫡