Rogue Wave or Human Error: What Sunk The Infamous SS Edmund Fitzgerald? | Dive Detectives | Timeline

The bell now rings 30 times, once more to Gordon Lightfoot who enshrined the tragedy of the Edmund Fitzgerald who we lost this time last year. RIP to Gord and the crew of 29

It is easy to say "crew neglect" because there is no one left to say any different.

Remarkable investigation that absolves the crew. Tragic on so many levels. Greed. Exploitation. Cutting corners. Very informative. I sailed as a passenger in 1982 on a small freighter to South Georgia, South Atlantic. It had been chartered by the RN and I was part of 30 man British Army team. The crew were indigenous St. Helenians. Incredible sailors. We hit a F11 storm approaching Shag Rock (or maybe just passed it). The skill of the crew was staggering. We got through unscathed but the two cargo holds were pulverised. We’d lost all our rations, fuel, some ammunition. But the St. Helena was in one piece, as were we. Nothing but respect for sailors, merchant or military.

I know absolutely nothing about ships, sailing, but I'm truly fascinated by all of these documentaries, and the bravery of all these men. God bless them.

"Does anyone know where the love of God goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours..."

The Captain of the Anderson was behind the Fitzgerald and said he had been hit by 2 rogue waves less than a ship length apart and the Fitzgerald went down about the time he figured the waves would have hit the Fitzgerald and disappeared from his radar. The crew was not to blame for the ships loss, but the greed of the owners and the weather are the culprits.

I'm a lake Huron solo sailor, and I'm a welder fabricator, they water tested a non twisting and non rolling ship, even with clamps done a worn out twisting ship in my eyes will leak a lot! No blame to the sea men!! Blame falls on the money holders, they lived happy lives and that's wrong

When a storm is coming you Batten Down the Hatches and double check them. Never bought the story that the Captain or Crew were at fault. No Way.

The fact they tried to blame the crew is the most disgusting part of this story. The investigators and company owners should all be slapped with something heavy and jagged. That Ship was their home on the water and regardless of lax attitudes in calm weather, as soon as it turned sour they would have been racing around making sure everything was buttoned up tight, laziness was not an option. The fact they were overloaded is what sunk the ship, they may have withstood the storm as the other other ships did if loaded correctly, this was the owners fault not the Crews.

I was out with my buddy hunting duck on Lake Saint Clair the day the Fitzgerald was lost, I got soaked hauling in the decoys because of the winds. We heard the radio broadcast of the news on the way home from the lake. Will never forget that day.

My grandfather had friends that died on the Edmund Fritzgerald, thank you for creating this to remember them and RIP all who died onboard that ship.

Has anyone noticed. Everytime you hear a bell ring it rings periodically in the video. In total it rang 29 times.

I’m a flatlander. I watch these shows to learn and to appreciate the men that risk their lives to transport goods across the water. RIP 🚢

I grew up in a town on Lake St Clair, we used to go for boat rides and see these monsters all the time. When you're 10 yrs old and doing the " Trucker horn pump" and the freighter blasts his horn for you, You're King of The World. I remember when she went down. The entire town was sad. It was a difficult time.

As a man from Michigan, THANK YOU for shedding light on this beautiful but tragic ship for the young ones

Well done documentary. As someone who grew up on the lakes and lost a uncle on the Bradley it's really nice to see someone cover this topic with this much sensitivity toward the families of those lost. So many docs just gloss over the human toll for a bunch of statistics.

I will preface this with that I’m writing this comment before finishing the video. As a Great Lakes sailor myself working on the boats out here I have to say this a good video! Personally I believe what they say about the bow flooding I believe what happened is that they were in the storm taking waves over the pilot house and radioed that they had water coming in. But the reason for no call saying they were going down or anything of the sort was because the water they sank in was shallower than the boat was long and I believe they crested a wave water and cargo rushed forward and where they thought they were going to pop back that it drove them nose first into the bottom before they even knew they were going down which caused her to snap in the middle

I was on the oil tanker M.V. Lakeshell in 1975. We were too far away in Lake Superior from the Edmond Fitzgerald to help her. Our crew did experience high waves in Lake Huron, but the chief engineer took on ballast to sink us like a submarine, so we survived. Also our design as a tanker (bridge and engine room positioned on the stern) helped, as not to twist to cause a breakup of the metal structure. The angels were looking over us that time. 😇

I'm sure that ship building has gotten even better, but a former Capt on the Lakes made a comment about the ship losses that stayed with me. Most ships go down are run by "Company" men who do whatever it takes to make a run on time, and (more significantly), they make that one last run of the season. What changed after the Fitz is that the insurance companies refused to insure any ship that made a run when the weather predicted severe storms (like the Witch of November). I'm no fan of insurance companies, they bleed just about every segment of society, but that decision took the decision to sail out of the Captain's hands, and companies stopped pressuring the Captain as well.

The courage of the men who sail this most dangerous stretch of water daily is beyond belief.