Fascinating Read

I enjoyed the true story, of the Edmund Fitzgerald sinking, as told by the author. It is also a great resource, for additional information and books on the topic. I highly recommend this book.

Interesting stuff, but there was a lot of filler information in it. I would’ve preferred a more straightforward approach instead

The Edmund Fitzgerald was an ore carrier the length of two football fields, plying the Great Lakes picking up and delivering cargo for decades. It went down in a massive storm in 1978 about 15 miles from its destination: no Mayday calls (even though it had been in radio contact constantly with other ships in the storm), and no survivors (29 lost). Even though the wreck was found not long after the ship sank, it's never been indisputably determined exactly why the ship sank. An interesting book, with details on how vital load-balancing is on these massive cargo ships, how different lake sailing is from ocean sailing, and more. If you enjoy nonfiction books of adversity, this one might be for you.

Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot had a hit song about the Edmund Fitzgerald a year later. And someone, I guess because they could, made a video of the wreck in Legos animation. https://vimeo.com/254530360

Good read

I purchased a signed/autographed copy, and to have hanging around my Lake Erie cottage. It provides an interesting look at the Lake Erie shipping industry. The author seemed to have done his research and presented logical explanations as to what may have happened the night the Edmund Fitzgerald sank. Great read.

Always been intrigued with the sinking. As a child spent time at Whitefish Point and the museum. This book gave great insight into the night of the sinking and some of the men on board. My heart goes out for the families. Great book!

Thoroughly fascinating and enjoyable account of the tragic loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald and her crew.

Schumacher sure does like Gordon Lightfoot. Yet despite this seeming handicap he has managed to write a pretty nice little book. He fully captures what went on and what continues to go on regarding the FITZGERALD, and manages to make everything save the last two chapters engaging.

This is a must read for any one who has spent time near the Lakes. We grow up knowing about the FITZGERALD, but prior to reading it I more or less thought it was a Minnesota story: launched from Duluth and wrecked somewhere near Split Rock. I blame Gordon Lightfoot for that; I’m sure it’s somehow his fault.

November 1975, the Edmund Fitzgerald is on its last shipment of the season heading down Lake Superior to Detroit, when one of the Great Lakes’ infamous storms blew and sank the ship along with its crew.

As the last major vessel to sink on the Lakes and certainly the largest of the Great Lake freighters at the time, immortalised in Gordon Lightfoot’s ballad, the Edmund Fitzgerald casts a spell over the history of shipping on the Lakes; the human element of the disaster is equally compelling: did Captain McSorely realise what had happened to his ship amidst the November storm winds, could the Coast Guard have mobilised quicker to search for the stricken ship? Each of the crew had families and friends forever haunted by the sinking and the ultimate lack of closure as to why the ship sunk.

Michael Schumacher launches straight into the final voyage of the Edmund Fitzgerald and tells the story of that fateful trip from the perspective of the crew of the Arthur M. Anderson, the last ship to see the Fitz before sinking. He is an efficient and professional writer, not needing to get bogged down in the controversy over the Maritime Board’s report but merely outlining the major possible reasons for the Fitz’s sinking. Schumacher then outlines the history of the wreck, its discovery and exploration, and the eventual recovery of the ship’s bell, finally bringing closure to the crew’s families.

Most likely this is a book specifically for students of shipwrecks, aficionados of Great Lakes shipping, and specialised maritime historians but nevertheless, the Mighty Fitz has a hold on people like few others ship ever did and this is a fine history of its final voyage and a monument to its crew.

Good read. The legend lives on…

I wanted to understand the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald and this book did it for me.

Very enjoyable read covering the ill fated final journey of the Edmund Fitzgerald and then the aftermath. Recommended.