Very good, Tom.

Thanks!



Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On 13 Dec 2006 05:43:38 -0800, "Tim" wrote:


Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On 12 Dec 2006 16:40:35 -0800, "Tim" wrote:

Was it possibly rogue waves like this, maybe even bigger.. that could
have been the death of the Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior?

Not really.

USCG and a later NTSB ROV survey indicated that two conditions
probably caused the sinking.

The first was leaking hatch covers which was originally rejected by
the NTSB, but after the ROV investigation, they revised their report
to reflect the original USCG determination.

A secondary cause was bilge pump vent failure caused by heavy wave
action which caused the Edmond Fitzgerald to list to starboard and it
hit a big wave which caused it to spin in breaking up as it sank.

Tom, I can understand the leaking hatchs, especially if they had been
reported int he past, and/or had a history of such.

But how would one know about the pluged bildge vent? had this also
been neglected?

or a speculative afterthought?

Anyhow, what you said makes sense.

It was a working hypothesis from the original Court of Inquiry. Of
course in these cases, much is speculation, but it was a fact that the
Edmond Fitzgerald had hatch cover problems prior to this event, the
fact that the bilge vents were located in an area that could have
sustained heavy damage from a severe storm, the starboard list that
McSorley reported and the fact that there were large waves in the area
as reported by the Anderson which was traveling behind the Fitzgerald.

McSorley also reported to the Anderson that there were missing rails
and blocked vents before it disappeared from radar.

Originally, the NTSB held out for a severe grounding as there was a
reef in the general area where the Anderson and Fitzgerald were
steaming and a secondary theory was two rogue waves which broke the
Fitzgerald's back.

The ROV evidence indicated that the Fitzgerald was hit, the list was
exaggerated and the Fitzgerald spun in.