The foundering of the M.M. Drake in 1901 was absolutely wild, we need a song about that.
femboyisbestboy on
Largest on the lake and the last of the iron ore carrier that sunk plus her sinking changed naval regulations massive just like the atlantic empress oil spil. No wonder she is rememberd this well.
Ohh and she was already a celebrity on the great lakes when dur launched
Low-HangingFruit on
People also blaming the bad weather on the lakes but not the fact that many modern sinking were ex liberty ships known to Crack in two and bad designs.
BlueOrb07 on
It was the most famous for sure. During the 1800s there averaged a ship a day lost to I forgot if it was the Great Lakes in general or specifically Lake Superior, but for 100 years it averaged a ship a day lost.
Juicey_J_Hammerman on
Well those other shipwrecks should’ve done more to catch Gordon Lightfoot’s attention then.
Dominarion on
I learned last year how dangerous the Michigan and Superior lakes were to ships. It’s a real cemetary in there. These lakes got weird winds and waves patterns and in a bad day, which is really often, there can be rogue waves!
sweaty_parts on
Yeah, but you know she was the pride of our side?
YagottawantitRock on
Wouldn’t put too much stock into singer-songwriter tribute songs.
For instance: Hurricane almost certainly *did* murder that dude.
SParkVArk111 on
The fitz was the last major sinking on superior, the one before that was in 1953, so over 20 years. It also happened after a proliferation of TVs in the average american household. Every news channel was talking about it hours after it was declared missing.
When adding in other lakes, it’s 9 years more recent than the next closest for a large sinking with fatalities.
More recent sinkings are typically tugs or sank slowly enough for rescue to happen.
And as others have mentioned it is the largest ship lost on the lakes by about 90feet.
The Carl Bradley is 2nd and the Morrell is 3rd
DirtyBalm on
“I told the kid a hundred times, don’t take the lakes for granted. They go from calm to a hundred knots so fast they feel enchanted” – White Squall by Stan Rogers, another Canadian folk icon.
11 Comments
A good soundtrack goes a long way.
The foundering of the M.M. Drake in 1901 was absolutely wild, we need a song about that.
Largest on the lake and the last of the iron ore carrier that sunk plus her sinking changed naval regulations massive just like the atlantic empress oil spil. No wonder she is rememberd this well.
Ohh and she was already a celebrity on the great lakes when dur launched
People also blaming the bad weather on the lakes but not the fact that many modern sinking were ex liberty ships known to Crack in two and bad designs.
It was the most famous for sure. During the 1800s there averaged a ship a day lost to I forgot if it was the Great Lakes in general or specifically Lake Superior, but for 100 years it averaged a ship a day lost.
Well those other shipwrecks should’ve done more to catch Gordon Lightfoot’s attention then.
I learned last year how dangerous the Michigan and Superior lakes were to ships. It’s a real cemetary in there. These lakes got weird winds and waves patterns and in a bad day, which is really often, there can be rogue waves!
Yeah, but you know she was the pride of our side?
Wouldn’t put too much stock into singer-songwriter tribute songs.
For instance: Hurricane almost certainly *did* murder that dude.
The fitz was the last major sinking on superior, the one before that was in 1953, so over 20 years. It also happened after a proliferation of TVs in the average american household. Every news channel was talking about it hours after it was declared missing.
When adding in other lakes, it’s 9 years more recent than the next closest for a large sinking with fatalities.
More recent sinkings are typically tugs or sank slowly enough for rescue to happen.
And as others have mentioned it is the largest ship lost on the lakes by about 90feet.
The Carl Bradley is 2nd and the Morrell is 3rd
“I told the kid a hundred times, don’t take the lakes for granted. They go from calm to a hundred knots so fast they feel enchanted” – White Squall by Stan Rogers, another Canadian folk icon.