How big were the waves that sank the Edmund Fitzgerald?
SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in Lake Superior during a storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29 men. When launched on June 7, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America’s Great Lakes, and she remains the largest to have sunk…
SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in Lake Superior during a storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29 men.
When launched on June 7, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America’s Great Lakes, and she remains the largest to have sunk there.
She was located in deep water on November 14, 1975, by a U.S. Navy aircraft detecting magnetic anomalies, and found soon afterwards to be in two large pieces.
How big were the waves that sank Edmund Fitzgerald?
The Edmund Fitzgerald sank at the eastern edge of the area of high wind where the long fetch (the distance that the wind blows over water) produced significant wave heights (average of the highest 1/3 of waves) to over 7 meters (23 ft) by 0000 UTC and over 7.5 meters (25 ft) at 0100 UTC with a maximum significant wave of 7.8 meters (26ft).
Given a significant wave of 7.5 meters (25ft) about 1 in 100 waves could reach over 11 meters (36ft) and one out of 1000 waves could have been as high as 14 meters (46ft).
