Talk:SS Edmund Fitzgerald

Did Sault Tribe back an expedition?

The sentence "The Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians backed the expedition by co-signing a loan in the amount of $250,000" uses this as a source. I looked at the source. It does not mention the loan. I may delete that sentence if no one can find a source for it. --David Tornheim (talk) 22:46, 25 June 2023 (UTC)

I think it's good to delete it. North8000 (talk) 02:32, 26 June 2023 (UTC)

Suggest that instead of "deleting it", you make a revision, identifying the four organizations that sponsored the dive (according to this page. Probably worth verifying the rest of that paragraph, though. Risker (talk) 02:37, 26 June 2023 (UTC)

Or change it to the information that's on the page that you provided and change the target of the ref to that page. North8000 (talk) 03:36, 26 June 2023 (UTC)

Updated version of last radio transmission

I wonder about the provenance of the additional portion of the last radio transmission. The 1978 NTSB report states that the last transmission was "We are holding our own." Sources as recent as 2020 do not give any more than that, yet some more recent sources are giving the last transmission as "We are holding our own, going along like an old shoe." Does anyone have any insight as to the change? Imzadi 1979 → 05:17, 16 November 2023 (UTC)

@Imzadi1979: It looks like the only source of that extra part is an interview with the other captain, speaking from his memory decades later. I have and read all the books on the Fitz and none of them had that in the quote. North8000 (talk) 20:49, 21 May 2024 (UTC)

I don't think there's any recording of it. The investigators probably got it from Cooper. So maybe what we hare is what Cooper said during the investigation at the time conflicting with what Cooper said decades later from memory? North8000 (talk) 20:57, 21 May 2024 (UTC)

In 1993 Cooper himself said just "We are holding our own." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VXY6tuZ5eU I think it needs to be removed. North8000 (talk) 21:05, 21 May 2024 (UTC)

Actually the "old shoe" is even weaker than that. It's what Mark Brush said that Mike Simonson said that Cooper said decades later, and conflicts with what Cooper said in 1993 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VXY6tuZ5eU and with what Coope apparently said to the investigators at the time. I'm going to take it out. North8000 (talk) 21:10, 21 May 2024 (UTC)

I just removed this yet again. Meters (talk) 22:24, 15 November 2024 (UTC)

And I removed the recent addition of this claim from the captain's article, Ernest M. McSorley. Meters (talk) 21:50, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

I have found a 2015 Michigan Public Radio reference that uses the "going along like an old shoe" version of the quote, so it's at least that old: https://www.michiganpublic.org/arts-culture/2015-11-10/listen-to-radio-transmission-on-the-night-of-the-edmund-fitzgeralds-sinking Not surprisingly, despite the deceptive title of the site, "Listen to radio transmission on the night of the Edmund Fitzgerald's sinking", it is not the actual transmissions of that night. Instead it's a radio show about the last night. The quote is from Thom Holden, the the curator of the Army Corps of Engineers' Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Meters (talk • contribs) 22:14, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

I found the actual transcript from the log from the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum:https://www.wzzm13.com/article/news/history/ss-edmund-fitzgerald-49th-anniversary/69-597bd3cc-367f-4ee1-92de-26a1c4fc8bd9

I do stand corrected, about Captain McSorley's last words. It seems from reading that Captain Cooper added the "going along like an old shoe." part. Brotherbenz (talk) 22:29, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

No problem. That version of the quote has been around for several years, and it now shows up in many sources. Meters (talk) 23:15, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

Personal note

- personal note by John Eilers - I know a last minute drop out crew member of The Edmund, he was supposed to be an galley mate (an cook) but my grandfather hired this crew member and he became a "Uncle" family friend. If he would have said no to my grandfather the bell would have ring 30 times instead of 29. I'm glad but also sad that it was only my "uncle" that was spared. - end of note by John Eilers - — Preceding unsigned comment added by 136.226.109.10 (talk) 06:16, 21 May 2024 (UTC)

Dates need to be reviewed for accuracy

Snippet: SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in Lake Superior during a storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29 men. When launched on June 7, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America

If it sank on November 10, 1975, shouldn't the date for when she launched be before June 7, 1958? I really don't think it possible to launch after sinking, correct? 97.87.22.82 (talk) 11:48, 13 November 2024 (UTC)

?? 1958 IS before 1975. North8000 (talk) 14:45, 13 November 2024 (UTC)

Newsweek article

The name of the ship was not misspelled in the Newsweek article. Yes, Gordon said it was Newsweek in the NPR interview, but he misremembered. Here is an image of the Edmund Fitzgerald article: https://html.scribdassets.com/4s4bruekw01gtrrr/images/1-c78db4648a.jpg . You can see that "Edmund" is spelled correctly. In interviews decades earlier he said he saw it misspelled in a news article (I think it was a Great Lakes area paper); then saw the article in Newsweek. It was after reading the Newsweek article that he wrote the song. 72.228.45.183 (talk) 17:06, 25 December 2024 (UTC)