Mighty Fitz Sinking of Edmund Fitzgerald Schumacher Lake Superior 1975 1st HC LN

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Mighty Fitz Sinking of Edmund Fitzgerald Schumacher Lake Superior 1975 1st HC LN. (The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Arthur M. Anderson within minutes of her final radio call), the freighter had already taken on substantial water beforehand. The real mystery, Schumacher argues, is. Enlightening Minds · Great Lakes Maritime History · Lake Superior Bloomsbury USA · October 2005 · 30th Anniversary Edition First U.S. Edition · First Printing · Black Cloth with DJ LN · 243 Pages · ISBN 9781582346472 Mighty Fitz The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald Michael Schumacher November 10, 1975 · Lake Superior · 29 Crew Lost "The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee..." ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION · 1ST PRINTING · COLLECTIBLE First U.S. Edition · First Printing · Published October 2005 for the 30th anniversary of the loss · Hardcover with dust jacket · Sought by Great Lakes maritime collectors and Fitzgerald researchers About This Book Michael Schumacher's Mighty Fitz is the comprehensive narrative history of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald — the 729-foot Great Lakes taconite ore carrier that was the largest freighter on the Lakes when she was launched in 1958, and the largest ship ever lost on the Great Lakes when she went down in a November storm on Lake Superior on the night of November 10, 1975, with all twenty-nine of her crew. Published by Bloomsbury USA in October 2005 to mark the 30th anniversary of the sinking, the book draws on the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Board investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board reports, the Lake Carriers' Association response, three decades of subsequent dive investigations of the wreck site (in approximately 530 feet of water roughly seventeen miles northwest of Whitefish Point, Michigan), and interviews with crew families and Great Lakes shipping veterans. The six chapters follow the natural arc of the story. The Toledo Express covers the Fitzgerald's seventeen-year working career as the workhorse of the Great Lakes ore fleet. Final Voyage traces the November 9–10 trip from Superior, Wisconsin toward Zug Island, Detroit — a routine taconite run that turned in the early hours of November 10 into the worst inland-waters maritime disaster of the modern era. Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald reconstructs the moment of loss as far as the record allows. Search for Answers follows the Coast Guard response and search effort. The Marine Board Report presents and evaluates the official investigation findings and the competing theories of cause. Tarnished Gravesite covers the controversies of the years since — wreck-site disturbance by dive operators, the 1995 recovery of the ship's bell, and the ongoing debate about whether the wreck should be left undisturbed as a sailors' grave. Schumacher's central forensic point — repeated across maritime reviews of the book — is that while the sinking itself was sudden (the Fitzgerald disappeared from the radar of the nearby Arthur M. Anderson within minutes of her final radio call), the freighter had already taken on substantial water beforehand. The real mystery, Schumacher argues, is the cause of the flooding: faulty hatch covers and deck maintenance (the official Coast Guard conclusion), grounding on the shoals north of Caribou Island (the Lake Carriers' Association theory), structural failure, the rogue-wave / "Three Sisters" hypothesis — each gets careful treatment, none gets a definitive verdict. The Fitzgerald's loss remains officially "cause undetermined." Did You Know? Captain Ernest McSorley's last radio communication with the nearby ship Arthur M. Anderson — just seventeen miles ahead of the Fitzgerald in the same storm — was the calm, professional "We are holding our own" at approximately 7:10 PM on November 10, 1975. No distress call was ever sent. Within ten minutes the Fitzgerald had vanished from the Anderson's radar; Captain Bernie Cooper of the Anderson, who had been in voice contact with the Fitzgerald throughout the storm, is the last person known to have heard from the crew. The Anderson turned back into the storm to search, and Cooper would later become one of the principal witnesses in the Coast Guard Marine Board investigation. His radar logs and recollections remain among the most important primary sources for understanding the final hours of the Fitzgerald. About the Author Michael Schumacher (born 1950) is a Wisconsin-based writer with a substantial body of work across two distinct subject areas: literary and music biography (he has written full-length books on Allen Ginsberg, Phil Ochs, Eric Clapton, and Frank Sinatra, among others), and Great Lakes maritime history. In the maritime history field he is among the most prolific contemporary chroniclers, having produced or written approximately twenty-five documentaries on Great Lakes shipwrecks, including three documentaries specifically on the Edmund Fitzgerald. His other Great Lakes maritime books include Wreck of the Carl D. (the 1958 sinking of the Carl D. Bradley in Lake Michigan, also with all-hands loss), and November's Fury: The Deadly Great Lakes Hurricane of 1913 (the "White Hurricane" that sank twelve ships and killed approximately 250 mariners in a single storm — the deadliest single maritime event in Great Lakes history). Schumacher's combined documentary, archival, and writing work makes him among the few contemporary authors with the depth of source familiarity to write authoritatively on the Fitzgerald across multiple formats. ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ 🚢 The Ship729-foot ore carrier, launched 1958, largest on the Lakes for many years. ⛈️ November 10, 1975The "Witch of November" storm — 35-foot waves, sustained 70+ mph winds. 📻 "We Are Holding Our Own"Captain McSorley's final radio call, 7:10 PM. No distress call was ever sent. 🕯️ The 29 CrewAll hands lost. The largest single loss-of-life on the Great Lakes in the modern era. 🔍 Marine Board InvestigationThe official inquiry, the competing theories of cause, the unresolved verdict. 🛎️ The 1995 Bell RecoveryNow displayed at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, Whitefish Point. Title Mighty Fitz Subtitle The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald Author Michael Schumacher Publisher Bloomsbury USA · New York Year October 18, 2005 Significance 30th Anniversary of the Sinking Edition First U.S. Edition · First Printing Format Hardcover · Black Cloth · Dust Jacket Pages 243 (Bibliography pp. 213–231, Index) Includes 1 Map of the Final Voyage ISBN-13 9781582346472 ISBN-10 158234647X Dimensions 9.4 × 6.7 × 1.0 inches · 1.16 lbs Subject Area Great Lakes · Maritime Disaster · 1970s History Sinking Date November 10, 1975 · Lake Superior Condition LN · 1st Ed/1st Printing · See Notes ⚠ Condition — Like New (LN) · 1st Edition, 1st Printing First U.S. Edition · First Printing (the 2005 30th anniversary publication) Dust jacket present and intact Dust jacket shows some minor wear Binding is tight and square Pages are clean and crisp — no creases, folds, or marks No writing, highlighting, or underlining anywhere in the text Black cloth boards beneath the dust jacket — clean Sold as-is; all flaws fully disclosed — please review photos before purchase Ideal For Edmund Fitzgerald Researchers Great Lakes Maritime History Lake Superior & Whitefish Point History Maritime Disaster Library Shipwreck Investigation & Dive Research Gordon Lightfoot Bibliography Michigan / Wisconsin / Minnesota Local History November Storms · "Witch of November" 1970s American History First Printing Collectors Michael Schumacher Bibliography Crew Families & Memorial Reading ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ENLIGHTENING MINDS · SAME OR NEXT BUSINESS DAY SHIPPING · ALL FLAWS DISCLOSED · QUESTIONS WELCOME