Edmund Fitzgerald, on the way down, from the SS Schoonmaker 

Former great lakes sailor here, most likely nobody survived the trip to the bottom. In the bow, any water tight spaces were so distorted upon impact with the bottom, that they filled with water pretty quickly. The bow imploded, and all structures were bent past being efective in keeping water out, not to mention the force of the impact, and the sudden pressure change from surface to lake bottom. In the stern, most crew members were killed during the roll, especially in the engine room, as its all steel, with plenty of heavy loose objects flying around. IF someone were to survive the roll, the rush of water that occurred upon hitting the lake bottom for the same reasons as the bow, pressure change, cabins crushed, etc. The lights most likely were off before she hit bottom, due to the steam turbine being inverted, the rush of water into the stack and ventilation, among other things. Its also highly likely that an explosion occured from the near freezing water hitting the hot boilers and other machinery. The ster would show little evidence of this explosion, as it occured in a very structurally spund enclosed engineroom. While this may seem terrible, i find peace in these pieces of information, because a sudden death beats suffering for god knows how long in the dark. Ive sailed abourd boats that were built in the same decade as the fitz, and were even closer in design to the fitz.

My grandfather was a First Mate on these freighters in the Kinsman fleet for over 30 years. They went out the night the Fitz went down but hugged the shoreline. He died in 99, the song played at his funeral. His last ship, the Kinsman Independent, is still out there under the name Ojibway. I hope to take a ride on it someday and see his old cabin. He was a great man and arguably the most popular guy in the fleet. I went on a Facebook group hoping to maybe find one person who might have remembered him… and one of the very first posts I saw was a photo of him that they were sharing!

God, I never thought about the fact that the crew of the Fitzgerald were probably in their cabins, and had time to think about what was happening. That had to be horrifying.

Great video. Its terrifying to think those men might not have died quickly but knew what was happening, rest in peace.

Very interesting. I would never have thought that these ships were so luxuriously equipped. The Schoonmaker is an impressive piece of history.

Beautiful job showing and explaining. It makes me sad to this day the events that took place that awful day!

Great job HMM! Love the museum and especially the Schoonmaker. It's so cool that visiting never gets old to me. I'd like to look in to volunteering time and services at the museum sometime. I've been claiming to be a proud Toledoan all my life. Toledo has everything you need. It's not too big nor too small. To all the people I've heard piss and moan over the years I say if you think the grass is greener elsewhere then by all means go right ahead. I'll be just fine and dandy right here.

These ships are fascinating and thanks for the video 🙂

I think that is what spooks me the most about the Fitz's sinking, imagining what the final moments of the men in the stern section as it went down was like.

Unfortunately, water would have gotten, in through the ventilation system, through the air ducts and, also in the windlass room. Because the anchor haws pipes are NOT water tight, so we can pack the openings and put the covers on over the hole but it's open at the top for the chain to fit though. Here on my boat the Arthur M. Anderson, we get water up the haws pipes all the time if it's a heavy sea, But! We do have drains in the far back corners that drain right out over the side through the deck. So if their surfing down the lake and that bow keeps getting pushed down in the water, it'll shoot water up those drains and haws pipes, if it doesn't have a chance to drain back out it will flood the windlass room and down the stairs into the laundry room. So it would have been beneficial to have had someone who sailed these boats to have been on all of the dives, that way we would have known where to check and look to see if inner doors and hatch openings to the lower inside decks were closed. If they weren't then that would have added to the bown riding low in the water too

I loved the video and information keeping history alive! Only trouble I had was the Fitzgeralds hatch clamps were in fact different, but glad they have tours and people interested in the history!

WOW!! Thank you HMM, another "home run" video!!

Excellent insight and information. Thanks for taking us along on the tour. I enjoyed both versions of the video and am glad you didn't remove the bell at the end. Thanks again!

I love waking up in the morning and seeing that you have posted another one of your amazing videos I fix me a cup of coffee and settle down for another awesome day with you Thank You So Much For All You Do On All These Interesting Videos Please Keep Up The Amazing Work Thank You Again 💯💯💯!!!

Wow that’s awesome! Thanks for sharing, I’m going to put that in my list of places to visit.

Thank you for a great video! I want to visit that ship soon!

Great video. The wind in the background is eerie; love it! I'm going to have to take a vacation to Toledo and check this out!

Thanks for this lovely 'tag along' on a wonderful day in Toledo Ohio. Cheers!

I plan on getting here in spring . Great video

Very nice tour and video! I got excited when I heard the name Snyder and the Shenango Furnace, I grew up in Sharpsville, PA…. I’ve recently been studying up on all the history of the blast furnaces and steel mills in our area…. Sharpsville, Sharon, Farrell and Youngstown area….Thank you for your work and this amazing video!!

I have to go back to see the whole ship again. Thanks History Mystery Man for taking the bell sound out, even though it was a cool sound like the ship was talking!

Beautiful boat!

These are great! Thank you

This looks awesome, just might have to take a ride there I would LOVE to actually be on a laker, my grandpa was stationed on the Fitz before he was drafted, recently I found some old union due cards of his that were stamped fitzgerald

Always fascinating stuff, thank you! I'll honk again for Christmas en route from Benson, NC to St. Clair Shores, MI. Merry Christmas!

I gotta go to Toledo right after Christmas. I wish I had to time to do that tour. Man I felt like there was probably certain smells that couldn't translate to video. Thanks for further fueling my obsession with the Edmond Fitzgerald

My dad was just talking about visiting this freighter earlier this week. Lol. Thanks HMM.

I was on lake Superior it is cold water and there is a roaring Erie noise .it is alive and does what it wants.

Awesome video thank you ❤

Thank you for your teams work on these videos.

That's beyond horrifying to think that the men aboard the Big Fitz plausibly suffered before they died...😞 I have always been fascinated by the story about the Big Fitz...idk why?? It's such a tragic story that resonates with anyone who hears about it!! Thank you for sharing this!! I would love to do a tour at the Great Lakes Museum!!! ❤❤❤

The Great Lakes Museum is a must see if you are interested in the lakes and the history of them etc.

Just took the tour of the schoonmaker and museum for the first time this last summer

Thanks for the video Additionally: there many more maritime museums throughout the Great Lakes : growing up around these vessels as a kid was amazing able run around and mtg several guys seeing these videos brings back so many memories : A couple my favorite ones : downtown Cleveland Vermilion , Fairport harbor Obviously my home town Toledo Many stories from my grandfather ::;:❤ Long live Cleveland Cliffs

Thanks for another informational video HMM. How terrible that must of been for the crew. God bless. Merry Christmas everyone. Take care and stay safe.

I've been very enlightened by your video as I always thought those freighters were dirty grimey places to live and work on. Never knew they could be so elegant inside, especially for the officers!

My dad was an officer on the Coast Guard Woodrush that went out after them, as a result I have always been interested in the Fitz.

The Edmund Fitzgerald, at 730ft in length, was 200ft longer than the depth of the water(530ft) in which it sank!

Awesome video, working on push boats on the gulf coast the woodwork is beautiful, the newer boats that I've been on don't have that, and the tribute to the crewmembers is respectful, on my bucket list to visit this museum

Excellent video

Nice ! 👍

Much better this is a great video thank you.

Somewhere on the Museum Ground is a Stanchion from the Barge Maida, That My Grand Father Capt James Alexander was the Master of and The Constitution..saw it on a video...Have many Pictures of the Same..Great Place to Visit....

Remember sitting at the table just after blowing out my birthday candles when the news about Edmund Fitzgerald sinking came on. My dad looked at me and said, hell of a thing to remember on your birthday. 😔

That guy was a great tour guide, you guys are lucky.

Love your videos. Fascinated with the Fitz. Sad these men died. They had families and dreams. Good job telling the story.😊

Hello from Windsor Ontario Canada great video brother I was born in 79 I heard the talk around the table as a kid in the 80s about the Edmund Fitzgerald that and the Titanic is what got me facinated with ships and boats and shipwrecks that and the fact I grew up on lake Erie and lake Superior . In the new year I hope too go too mariners church in Detroit , the national great lakes museum and the other great lakes museum and do a documentary about the Mighty Fitz from her beginnings too her tragic end and the other Shipwrecks that lay at the bottom of our great lakes just too name just one of the videoes amongst many I will do . There is an old saying the lakes are oceans disguised as lakes .

Thanks for posting the video. I will now have a more vivid image of the ship as I listen to Gordon Lightfoot. I have had an interest in the Edmund Fitzgerald since I first heard the song. Back then there was no internet to help with research of the mystery. I'm sure old Gord has met with those brave souls on the other side now that he's passed on. He said the tale fascinated him as he was a sailor himself. He had several sailing boats in his life time. She was a big ship, bigger than I imagined. People forget how big the Great Lakes are. Most people who never venture out in a boat for leisure or otherwise underestimate the power of the sea and those lakes are inland seas.

Thank You

My grandpa worked the ore freighters his whole career. He had some stories of frightening adventures and he was unbeatable at any card game. I wish I had taken the time to actually record some of his stories.

I could easily write an essay on the Fitzgerald. In my opinion, that boat had absolutely no chance of survival in that storm.

Fun Fact HMM the Schoonmaker is the only surviving boat that was in The White Hurricane of 1913. (To my knowledge.)

Thank you

I've heard there is a second procedure where they are supposed to go below while in port and look for daylight coming through gaps that form over time, and take sledge hammers and pound them back into shape where there are gaps from bending of the hatches.

Great stuff. Sad ending for a great crew and ship.

Visited the "Schoonmaker" in the summer of '22. Don't forget about the pilothouse of the "St. Mary's Challenger," another survivor of the White Hurricane of 1913, and (launched in 1906) even older than the "Schoonmaker."

Thank you for posting. I'm from Australia so very unlikely I'll ever get to see in person

Great content, the rule about the survival suits is noble but I was always under the impression that the ship went down so fast that nobody had time to put one on 😮

A fun fact. Three of the former Shenango fleet ships exist, the Schoonmaker, the original William P. Snyder, now the barge St. Marys Challenger and the Shenango II, now the Hon. James. L. Oberstar.

I was there in July 2022 my family and I had a great time touring the museum and both boats.. 13:12

Maybe there was an air pocket in the engine room and that's partially why the stern is upside down, because of the air in the top/bottom.

Great video, one question, where did you find the pictures of Fitzgerald like at 10:22 and 10:28? Ive looked everywhere but haven't found any pics of those rooms? Thanks

Thank you for sharing this. I could only imagine how scary it would have been to be down there when the ship sank. It goes to show how much the Fitzgerald was in bad shape. They really abused it to the point where it couldn't take it anymore. Its a lesson in knowing how to take care of things so they will last as long as humanly possible. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Nice looking ship! IS this the ship the living nephew, the ex-Lakes captain whose uncle died on the Fitz, said was haunted?

Still heartbreaking after all these years😢

You can thank Gordon Lightfoot, for his song and keeping the memory of the Edmund Fitzgerald alive. If it was not for his song, no one would know about the ship wreck. So you can thank a CANADAIN for keeping the memory alive!

I’ve seen that ship docked I don’t know how many times going through Toledo, never knew it’s a museum. I’m going to have to stop next time

Thanks for sharing this! I’ve never been out there but this I’ll definitely have to add to my bucket list. I visited the Valley Camp about 10 years ago probably, back then I was just a kid and didn’t recognize the significance of the Fitzgerald as much as I do now. I don’t remember it too well but I hope to go back to it one day. Have you ever been to the Valley Camp?

I think what contributes the most to the interest and mystery surrounding the Fitz is that the sinking left no survivors to tell the tale. When you have first hand accounts, it allows the story to be put to rest easier. There was not even a mayday call by the captain, and even though she was seen by those on the Anderson one minute and gone the next, reported missing and had coast guard assets out there looking and reported by news media as missing presumed lost pretty quickly, and eyes on the wreck via submersible surprisingly fast for the time period and the way she was found torn apart, the cause of it all, although I think the bottoming out on shoal/taking on water/bow pushed down by huge wave/plunged and broke apart when striking bottom is most likely, will never be truly known and eternally be debated. Has had me hooked for a long time.

🙏🙏

Where did they find that guide ?

Even though the crew passed away physically they live on forever in every one’s memory

Any Fitz crew holed up in a cabin or the engine room would know the ship was underwater quickly due to lack of pitching and rolling motions, once the ship was submerged.

Crazy to think that they were built 45 years or so apart and almost identical

Very good video.i sailed the great lakes for 30 years on the canadian side.some if what you say is true. During summer we only put the corner vlamps on sometimes one or 2 in the middle. That was from june till anytime in September, after that all clamps on. As for the rooms,i never hot bunked but on some boats i shared a room and ithers i had my iwn room but shared a bathroom in between. The whole crew rooms you couldnt access from the outside to each room,you had to walk indide and fown the hall. The fitz was the sameway. No sonar wouldnt have helped him dince he didnt really know whete he was at with no radar and very limited visibility. As far as people alive.ill say no. The bow part with the windows blown out,water would rush in but from bow to stern on noth sides of the ship would have been the crew tunnels.they would use in bad weather to ho back for supper or anything.water would have rushed in there and flooded the bow fast . Either way in the bow they were dead by the time they hit the bottom. Same as the stern . If it broke apart on the surface,the stern could have stayed afloat for a few seconds longer but the rush of water from the tunnels then if the steam engines didnt explod when the cold water hit them. Remember the engineers turned iff the boilers on the titanic so they eouldnt explode.

Thats terrifying that some of them may have survived a short time in a air pocket

Need to make a note that the Fitz's clamps were a different style clamp compared to the Schoonmaker.

Outro music 👍

I love your videos very interesting

I got them same flooring tiles in my house.

"When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck ......."

Strange to think that the Fitzgerald's bow could have hit the bottom while the stern was still on the surface. Sank in 530ft of water, and was 730ft long

It's difficult to comprehend that this ship was built at the same time as the Titanic.

I just watched..

Just a thought !

Beautiful ship. Separate dining quarters for officers and crew isn't even a thing on the new ships built for Canada Steamship Lines. Even the PRT still has the Captain's dining room, although the Captain and officers only dine in it when there are guests. Things are much more egalitarian nowadays.

I have a black and white Polaroid picture of the Edmund Fitzgerald, (circ. 1950's) that I had found in my late uncle's picture album that I received from my mother many years ago. My uncle had been in tool and die I believe at one time. The ship is on dry-dock and doesn't look totally complete, but its name is clearly visible. I would like to donate it to some museum, so, if anyone has any suggestions, please leave a comment. Namaste. From a Vietnam Era Marine Corps veteran.

I would love to tour that but Ohio is a long way off.

i started dating a girl in June of 1976 - in Nov. there was a program about the Fitzgerald & that is when she told me her & her girlfriend were guests on it - must be with her girlfriends parents too because her dad was a Dr. here in Lorain Ohio

Neat name, schoonmaker is outside of a last name like here is a job wich translates to cleaner in dutch

The crews of the fleet used to eat at Pacos while the ships were being loaded and unloaded.

I wonder if everyone got blown out of the bow

H man, this is reall cool. You would be the guy that would be able to tell me....something I have never heard anyone talk about. The Fitz. Look at the underwater pics. The sun sheild over the windows of the pilothouse, they are all bent pretty badly. This didn't happen from hitting the bottom. Why are they bent? Nose diving as Cooper and other have speculated, does not seem to be logical to me especially if they were already low in thd water. Huge waves might have done it. But they were running with the waves. Really it can only be from nose diving or huge waves smashing down on her. What does Captain Ned, or whatever his name is, think? How about you?

May there souls rest in peace no more expadenitons to her let the rest

They made titanic and perfect storm. We need an edmund fitzgerald movie

The SS Valley camp is basically a clone of the schoonmaker, and the fitz

i do think where ever a crewman was at - they were either knockout or killed before it went down from beating they took by the waves - some i think some are still inside somewhere - that's why no dives are allowed anymore since one man was spotted on the lake floor wearing a life jacket

Whatever happened it happened so fast it was over in a matter of minutes tragic loss

The ship lost it vent stacks on the bow. Letting water in with ever wave. Look up the ships last call. That's what he told them.

In my opinion, the Fitzgerald is not the Titanic of the Great Lakes. The James C. Caruthers is. I understand why the Fitzgerald went to the bottom of Lake Superior.