Here is the most plausible explanation about the Wreck of the Fitzgerald:
"When the report was completed in July 1977, Gordon Lightfoot "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" had become not only a national hit recording, but had also introduced the power and fury of Lake Superior's legendary storms to the rest of the world and, undoubtedly, the words he used in describing the wreck have influenced the way that most people think about that disaster. It is worth noting rhat Lightfoot's lyrics have stood up well through nearly a quarter of a century - as moving and as germane today as when they were first performed.
"'We just kept sailing along, not really knowing for sure what happened," Captain Paquette (Wilifred Sykes) says of that period of fragmentary information. "But I kept going back to the first night of the storm and hearing McSorley tell Cooper (Arthur Anderson) that the Fitz was working so much that he had checked down and was going to try for lee off Isle Royale. I couldn't get that out of my head. Even a slam-bang captain that pushed his boat all the time would be able to tell if something felt different from past storms and it seemed to me that's what I heard in his comment."
In his Marine Board testimony and almost as an afterthought to his commentary about the possible shoaling, Captain Cooper did say that the Fitz might have developed a stress fracture that opened a leak and allowed in more water than the pumps could handle.
Captain Paquette states. "To my way of thinking, this ship was a perfect candidate for a stress fracture because she had been subjected for five or six seasons to the strain of hauling cargos that were thousands of tons heavier than she was designed for and had been pounded through all kinds of seas for years. In that same time, she required repairs to reattach the hull plating to the keel, There was damage sustained in a grounding and a collision with another ship, as well as three instances when she struck lock walls at the Soo and had to lay-up for repair. Put all of that together with McSorley's reputation for running in all weather and full speed ahead and it seems to me a stress fracture would be the first thing that would come to mind.
And remember, McSorley was running full ahead right up to the time he reported to Cooper that his boat had developed a list after he passed Caribou. Only then did he check down his speed so the Anderson would be able to close up a little. A half hour or so after that, he reported that his radars weren't working and asked the
Anderson to provide navigational assistance to make his way to Whitefish Bay through the storm and snow squalls. That seems to show that he had radar when he navigated the Six-Fathom Shoal area and would have missed it easily." Shortly thereafter the Fitz went under.
