Remembering The Edmund Fitzgerald At Split Rock Lighthouse

TWO HARBORS (WJON News) -- Over two thousand are expected at Split Rock Lighthouse on the North Shore on Monday as Minnesota and the nation mark 50 years since the ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald sank in a Lake Superior gale, taking all 29 crew members to their deaths.

Read More: Remembering The Edmund Fitzgerald: 50 Years After Its Sinking |

At dusk, a bell will ring at Split Rock as the name of each man who died is read, and toll a 30th time for all sailors lost on the Great Lakes.  The historic beacon at Split Rock will then shine out over Lake Superior in what has become an annual observance.

Numerous theories on the cause of the wreck have been hotly debated since the Fitzgerald went down in 1975.  Among possible causes:  very strong and high "rogue waves"... flooding of the cargo hold... and inadequate maintenance resulting in structural failure.

Well-known shipwreck historian Ric Mixter told audiences in Duluth and Superior, Wisconsin, on Saturday:

"The Fitzgerald flexed way more than other ships.  I've talked to three third mates that said it was like watching a rug go like this. And course now we're knowing damage is happening as that happens.  It wouldn't, if you stayed out of the storms."

Some say Captain Ernest McSorley pushed his ship too hard.  Mixter says a few years before it sank (1971 and '72) the Fitzgerald went through more storms than any other freighter on the Great Lakes:

"These storms are showing you one, two, three on Lake Superior, gale-force in (19)75 alone, and each time it's bending, each time it's causing problems below deck -- to the point where the cook heard the engineer say, Cap, I think we've got problems on that keel again.  And (Captain) McSorley looked at him -- and this is eyewitness from the cook -- he says, it just has to hold together 'til I retire, and it's just a couple more months and we'll be done."

Mixter says the Fitzgerald had water coming in through the hatches -- which some say were not adequately secured --  plus eight-inch vents had been torn away.  And the Arthur Anderson, following some distance behind...

"Giant wave that hit the Andersen.  It was over three stories tall.  Damaged their lifeboat, sped ahead of the Andersen to the Fitz, and as soon as it hit the ship -- it was way lower in the water than the Anderson was -- and it broke the ship on the surface."

There has been no major shipwreck on the Great Lakes since the Fitzgerald sank 50 years ago, but we asked Mixter, could it happen again?  He says technology -- for example, G-P-S -- is better, as are lifeboats and immersion suits -- BUT...

..."no one believes that we can build a ship that Mother Nature can't hurt.  So the whole problem would be, somebody taking a big chance."

Mixter says the likelihood of a ship sinking is less because there are now fewer ships on the Great Lakes, with thousand-footers moving most of the iron ore.

This story is courtesy of Bill Werner.