The Captian Wired in they had water comin in. The Cook came on deck saying...
 

PERSONAL INFORMATION AND PHOTOS OF THE CAPTIAN AND COOK AS WELL AS OTHER CREW MEMBERS.

One of the best and most powerful songs ever written by Lightfoot was the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. The people mentioned in the song are NOT given a name. Below is the name of the Captain and the COOK of the Mighty Fitzgerald and what I could find out about then. Its not evey detailed but maybe it will feel a little more personable when you here the song next time knowing their names. (Below the Capt and Cook I also listed the rest of the men) Didnt find much about the cook and captain but some of the other members people, i posted a link with bio and photos. Read what one crew member said about Mcsorley.

Ernest M. McSorley
63 (Age)
Captain
Toledo, Ohio

Allen G. Kalmon
43 (age)
Washburn, Wisconsin
Cook

THE REST OF THE CREW:

Michael E. Armagost
37
Third Mate
Iron River, Wisconsin

Fred J. Beetcher
56
Porter
Superior, Wisconsin

Thomas D. Bentsen
23
Oiler
St. Joseph, Michigan

Edward F. Bindon
47
First Asst. Engineer
Fairport Harbor, Ohio

Thomas D. Borgeson
41
Maintenance Man
Duluth, Minnesota

Oliver J. Champeau
41
Third Asst. Engineer
Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin

Nolan S. Church
55
Porter
Silver Bay, Minnesota

Ransom E. Cundy ( http://www.ssefo.com/crew/profiles/rrcundy.html ) CLICK HERE TO READ CUNDY'S SHORT BIO AND PHOTOS ITS REALLY NICE TO GET TO KNOW THESE FINE MEN.
53
Watchman
Superior, Wisconsin

Thomas E. Edwards
50
Second Asst. Engineer
Oregon, Ohio

Russell G. Haskell
40
Second Asst. Engineer
Millbury, Ohio

George J. Holl
60
Chief Engineer
Cabot, Pennsylvania

Bruce L. Hudson
22
Deck Hand
North Olmsted, Ohio

Gordon F. MacLellan ( http://www.ssefo.com/crew/profiles/gmaclellan.html )
CLICK TO READ MACLELLANS BIO WITH PHOTOS.
30
Wiper
Clearwater, Florida

Joseph W. Mazes ( http://www.ssefo.com/crew/profiles/jmazes.html ) MAZES PHOTO AND PROFILE HERE: An intersting note is Mazes siblings said that he had once said that the captain would never pull out of a storm and would put the boat in conditions no others would.
59
Special Maintenance Man
Ashland, Wisconsin

John H. McCarthy
62
First Mate
Bay Village, Ohio


Eugene W. O'Brien ( http://www.ssefo.com/crew/profiles/eobrien.html ) CLICK TO SEE PHOTO OF O'BRIEN AND BIO
50
Wheelsman
Toledo, Ohio

Karl A. Peckol
20
Watchman
Ashtabula, Ohio

John J. Poviach
59
Wheelsman
Bradenton, Florida

James A. Pratt
44
Second Mate
Lakewood, Ohio

Robert C. Rafferty ( http://www.ssefo.com/crew/profiles/rrafferty.html ) CLICK FOR PHOTO AND BIO. This was going to be Raffertys LAST trip as he was thinking of retiring. IN fact he was not suppose to be on the Fitgerald. Read more by click and discover too that there WAS a crew member still alive after the wreck!
62
Steward
Toledo, Ohio

Paul M. Riippa
22
Deck Hand
Ashtabula, Ohio

John D. Simmons ( http://www.ssefo.com/crew/profiles/jsimmons.html ) CLICK FOR BIO AND PHOTO . THIS WAS SUPPOSE TO BE HIS LAST TRIP AND GOING TO RETIRE WHEN HE GOT HOME!
63
Wheelsman
Ashland, Wisconsin

William J. Spengler
59
Watchman
Toledo, Ohio

Mark A. Thomas
21
Deck Hand
Richmond Heights, Ohio

Ralph G. Walton ( http://www.ssefo.com/crew/profiles/rwalton.html ) click for photo and bio.
58
Oiler
Fremont, Ohio

David E. Weiss
22
Cadet
Agoura, California

Blaine H. Wilhelmn ( http://www.ssefo.com/crew/profiles/bwilhelm.html ) Click for bio.
52
Oiler
Moquah, Wisconsin

INTERESTING LINK HERE ABOUT WHAT THE WIVES, SONS AND DAUTHERS SAID ABOUT THEIR FAMILY MEMBER AFTER THE SINKING. ( http://www.ssefo.com/families/index.html

Re: The Captian Wired in they had water comin in. The Cook came on deck saying...
 

Oh here's a little bit of info on Lightfoot and an article from a few years back in regards to Fitz. (Also, interesting bit of Trivia is that the only crew member not to die in the sinking was Richard Bishop who stayed home during the last trip due to an ulcer. What is interesting is HIS NAME....The church bells and service at the Maritime Sailors Cathrdral in Deroit was performed by a BISHOP RICHARD Ingalls. Richard Bishop- Bishop Richard hmmmmmm)

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" was among Gordon Lightfoot's greatest hits, an unlikely Top 40 smash about the deaths of 29 men aboard an ore carrier that plunged to the floor of Lake Superior during a nasty storm on Nov. 10, 1975.

"In large measure, his song is the reason we remember the Edmund Fitzgerald," said maritime historian Frederick Stonehouse. "That single ballad has made such a powerful contribution to the legend of the Great Lakes."

Three decades after the tragedy, the Fitzgerald remains the most famous of the 6,000 ships that disappeared on the Great Lakes.

Lightfoot's initial knowledge of the sinking came from an article in Newsweek. The singer/songwriter, after reading the piece, was inspired to write one of the signature songs of his lengthy career.

Clocking in at 6 1/2 minutes, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" appeared on the 1976 album "Summertime Dream" and eventually reached No. 2 on the pop charts. It spent 21 straight weeks on the charts, and still lingers like the memory of the doomed craft.

The song remains a part of Lightfoot's set list; he played it last summer at Detroit's Fox Theater, where the crowd included Ruth Hudson, the mother of a deckhand from the Fitzgerald.

Hudson, who met backstage with Lightfoot, has become friendly with the singer over the years. The North Ridgefield, Ohio, resident said the song is therapeutic to the families of the crew.

"It's kept the men and the memorial to the men alive," said Hudson. "I think it's been good for the families. They have felt comfort in it. I have talked to just about all of them, and I haven't talked to anyone who didn't like the song."

Lightfoot declined to be interviewed for this story. But he told the Associated Press in 2000 that "Wreck" was "a song you can't walk away from."

"You can't walk away from the people (victims), either," he said. "The song has a sound and total feel all of its own."

The structure of the song is simple: 14 verses, each four lines long. Its 450-plus words are carefully chosen, delivered over a haunting melody.

The song tells the story of the Fitzgerald's fatal voyage, which began Nov. 9 in Superior, Wis., where it was loaded with 26,116 tons of iron ore for a trip to Detroit.

A day later it was being pounded by 90-mph wind gusts and 30-foot waves.

Ernest McSorley, the ship's captain, radioed a trailing freighter, the Arthur M. Anderson, and said that the Fitzgerald had sustained topside damage and was listing. At 7:10 p.m., he announced, "We are holding our own."

But the ship soon disappeared from radar without issuing an SOS. After a few days, a vessel with sonar was able to locate the Fitzgerald only 15 miles from the safe haven of Whitefish Bay.

Lightfoot's song does more than recite the facts. It transports the listener on board the Fitzgerald that fateful night:

"The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait/When the gales of November came slashing/When afternoon came it was freezing rain/In the face of a hurricane west wind."

And then the crescendo:

"The captain wired in he had water coming in/And the good ship and crew was in peril/And later that night when his lights went out of sight/Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."

Several memorial events are planned to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the sinking, including a ceremony at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point and a service at the Mariners' Church of Detroit.

Undoubtedly, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" will be heard and discussed.

"Any bit of literature, prose or poetry that magnifies the loss of loved ones is so dramatic," said Bishop Richard W. Ingalls of the Mariners' Church. "Gordon Lightfoot's song definitely has given it a life that seems not to end."
the song.
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Re: The Captian Wired in they had water comin in. The Cook came on deck saying...
 

That's the first time I've ever seen the list of names from the ship and
I also never knew there was one survivor,I've never heard that mentioned.

Strange how I'm from Pennsylvania but knew nothing of that wreck or it's song until i movied to Arizona. Thankfully,I hang onto my great lakes roots and have just as much appreciation for this as I would if I still lived back east.

Re: The Captian Wired in they had water comin in. The Cook came on deck saying...
 

A few years ago,maybe more, a cable channel (I don't remember what one) had a very good show on the E.F.

The lyrics are really god,but the music is very haunting to me.

Re: The Captian Wired in they had water comin in. The Cook came on deck saying...
 

He wasn't really a survivor. He was based on the Fitz, but didn't go on that voyage - that is why he was a survivor.

Re: The Captian Wired in they had water comin in. The Cook came on deck saying...
 

interesting stuff..I wouldn't classify the one crewmember who was not onboard as a survivor tho.That implies he survived the sinking..when he really was a very lucky man to have not boarded the Fitz for what was to be that last fatal trip..
I can't imagine being a family member sitting in a concert hall as that song is being performed..wow.