– “Every Man Knew” by David Conklin
(1995)
(1995)
Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, 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, ranging in age from 20 to 63. The disaster has been called “America’s defining shipwreck.”
Growing up in rural Australia in the 1970s, I knew about this tragedy from Gordon Lightfoot’s popular song, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” (1976). I was especially drawn to Lightfoot’s ballad not only because of its haunting quality but because of my interest in the sinking of the Titanic and the fact that my paternal grandfather, Aubrey (“Aub”) Bayly, had perished in the sinking of the hospital ship Centaur during World War II.
Notes the Facebook group White Stars, Black Sea:
Remembering today the twenty-nine crewmen lost aboard the Great Lakes freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald, which foundered in a sudden and violent storm while crossing Lake Superior on the night of November 10th, 1975 with no survivors.
The 13,600 gross ton vessel had served seventeen years hauling taconite iron ore before her final and most famous Detroit bound voyage, her last captain being 63-year-old Ernest Michael McSorley who had joined the Fitzgerald in 1972 and was known both for his steady hand as well as for his wide experience with Superior’s notoriously violent weather. An unexpected change in forecast shortly after the freighter’s outset from Superior, Wisconsin however on the afternoon of the 9th quickly escalated into sustained gale force winds and waves as high as 30 ft (9m) as the ship made her approach into Whitefish Bay, an often dangerous area which has seen many dozens of wrecks in poor weather.
The Fitzgerald maintained radio contact throughout most of the next morning and into the afternoon, reporting increasingly dire conditions, the loss of two hatch covers and a bad list. McSorley’s last message was received by the freighter Arthur M. Anderson at 7.10 PM, replying to their inquiry into her situation by saying simply, “we are holding our own.” Ten minutes later, Edmund Fitzgerald disappeared from radar.
The crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald:
Michael E. Armagost – third mate, 37
Frederick J. Beetcher – porter, 56
Thomas D. Bentsen – oiler, 23
Edward F. Bindon – first assistant engineer, 47
Thomas D. Borgeson – maintenance man, 41
Oliver J. “Buck” Champeau – third assistant engineer, 41
Nolan F. Church – porter, 55
Ransom E. Cundy – watchman, 53
Thomas E. Edwards – second assistant engineer, 50
Russell G. Haskell – second assistant engineer, 40
George J. Holl – chief engineer, 60
Bruce L. Hudson – deck hand, 22
Allen G. Kalmon – second cook, 43
Gordon F. MacLellan – wiper, 30
Joseph W. Mazes – special maintenance man, 59
John H. McCarthy – first mate, 62
Ernest M. McSorley – captain, 63
Eugene W. O'Brien – wheelsman, 50
Karl A. Peckol – watchman, 20
John J. Poviach – wheelsman, 59
James A. Pratt – second mate, 44
Robert C. Rafferty – steward/cook, 62
Paul M. Riippa – deck hand, 22
John D. Simmons – wheelsman, 63
William J. Spengler – watchman, 59
Mark A. Thomas – deck hand, 21
Ralph G. Walton – oiler, 58
David E. Weiss – cadet, 22
Blaine H. Wilhelm – oiler, 52
in Superior, Wisconsin.
About Gordon Lightfoot’s famous song, Wikipedia notes the following:
Ontario singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot wrote, composed, and recorded the song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” for his 1976 album Summertime Dream. On NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday on February 14, 2015, Lightfoot said he was inspired to write the song when he saw the name misspelled “Edmond” in Newsweek magazine two weeks after the sinking; he said he felt that it dishonored the memory of the 29 who died.
Lightfoot’s popular ballad made the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald one of the best-known disasters in the history of Great Lakes shipping. The original lyrics of the song show a degree of artistic license compared to the events of the actual sinking: it states the destination as Cleveland instead of Detroit.
Also, in light of new evidence about what happened, Lightfoot modified one line for live performances, the original stanza being:
When suppertime came the old cook came on deck,
Saying “Fellas, it’s too rough to feed ya.”
At 7 p.m. a main hatchway caved in,
He said, “Fellas, it’s been good to know ya.”
Lightfoot changed the third line to “At 7 p.m. it grew dark, it was then,” although possibly to “At 7 p.m. it grew dark, it was dim.”
He also changed the word “musty” in the lines
In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral
to “rustic,” as the building is not actually musty (it is also not a cathedral as it is not the seat of a bishop, and its name is actually Mariners’ Church, but this line was never changed).
On May 2, 2023, at 3 p.m. the Mariners’ Church of Detroit tolled its bell 30 times; 29 times in memory of the crew of the Fitzgerald, and a 30th time in memory of Lightfoot, who died at age 84, on May 1, 2023. Additionally, the Split Rock Lighthouse, which overlooks Lake Superior in Minnesota, shone its light in honour of Lightfoot on May 3.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake, they called Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
With a load of iron ore, twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early
The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ship’s bell rang
Could it be the north wind they'd been feeling?
The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too
’Twas the witch of November come stealing
The dawn came late, and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashin’
When afternoon came, it was freezin’ rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind
When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin’
"Fellas, it’s too rough to feed ya"
At seven p.m., a main hatchway caved in, he said
"Fellas, it’s been good to know ya"
The captain wired in he had water comin’ in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went outta sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they’d have made Whitefish Bay
If they’d put 15 more miles behind her
They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man’s dreams
The islands and bays are for sportsmen
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered
In a musty old hall in Detroit, they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral
The church bell chimed ’til it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake, they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early
Related Off-site Links:
Split Rock Lighthouse Lights Its Beacon to Honor the Edmund Fitzgerald and Its Crew – Dan Kraker (MPR News, November 11, 2025). Nobody Knows What Sank the Edmund Fitzgerald. But Its Doomed Final Voyage Will Always Be America’s Defining Shipwreck – Ellen Wexler (Smithsonian Magazine, November 10, 2025).
The Edmund Fitzgerald Teaches Men How to Feel – Michael Sebastian (Esquire, November 10, 2025).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Commemorating My Grandfather, Aub Bayly, and the Loss of AHS Centaur
• Thoughts on the Titanic Centenary
• Weekend in the Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior
• A Visit to Grand Marais (2017) – Part I | Part II
• Days of Summer on the Bayfield Peninsula (2013)
Artwork: “Every Man Knew” by David Conklin (1995).
