Gordon Lightfoot to Change Lyrics of His Song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"

Canadian singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot has decided to slightly alter the lyrics of his 1976 hit song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" in light of new evidence suggesting the ship sank due to a large "rogue wave" and not due to error by the ship's crew. According to The Toronto Globe and Mail, Lightfoot became convinced that the change was needed for historical accuracy after previewing an episode of a new Canadian television documentary series called Dive Detectives.

In Dive Detectives, father and son dive team Mike and Warren Fletcher set out to solve the mysteries of maritime disasters worldwide. The Edmund Fitzgerald episode is set to debut March 31st on Canada's History Television Network. As of this writing, there is no word on when or if the show will be seen on U.S. television.

History of the Edmund Fitzgerald

The S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was built in 1958. It was named after the president of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Northwestern Mutual was also the ship's owner. She was 729 feet long with a gross tonnage of over 13,600 tons, and was built to haul iron ore. When the Edmund Fitzgerald was launched on June 8, 1958, it was the largest ore carrier on the Great Lakes, and remained so until 1971.

On November 9, 1975, the Edmund Fitzgerald, loaded with 26,116 tons of taconite pellets (a form of iron ore) left Superior, Wisconsin bound for Detroit. (The song mentions Cleveland as the destination, but it was actually Detroit). Trailing a few miles behind the Edmund Fitzgerald was the freighter S.S Arthur Anderson. The two ships made their way across Lake Superior and stayed in communication with each other as a huge storm moved across the lake. During the evening of November 10th, the Edmund Fitzgerald disappeared from Arthur Anderson's radar and all communication between the vessels abruptly ended. The ship sank about 17 miles north of Michigan's Whitefish Point, in water 530 feet deep. All 29 members of the crew perished.

A subsequent investigation by the U.S. Coast Guard concluded that "the probable cause of this accident was the sudden massive flooding of the cargo hold due to the collapse of one or more hatch covers" and "flooding into the cargo hold through nonweathertight hatch covers". This essentially placed the blame on human error for not securing the hatch covers correctly. This conclusion has been disputed for years.

Now the Dive Detectives believe they have convincing evidence that the ship sank due to a huge 50 foot wave crashing onto the ship. Their evidence convinced Lightfoot to change the lyric "At 7 P.M. the main hatchway gave in" to "At 7 P.M. it grew dark, it was then" . Lightfoot will sing the new lyric in live performances, but has no plans to rerecord the song.

Sources

Dive Detectives History Television Web Page

Posner, Michael. "The Edmund Fitzgerald Lives on... But With a Major Change ". Theglobeandmail.com March 25, 2010.

Quill, Greg. "Gordon Lightfoot Changes Edmund Fitzgerald Lyrics" thestar.com March 25, 2010.

Stonehouse, Frederick. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Glynn, MI: Avery Color Studios, 1999.

U.S. Coast Guard/ National Transportation Safety Board Marine accident report S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald Sinking in Lake Superior