The Edmund Fitzgerald’s Sister Ship 

I hear that a lot - that the Homer was slightly longer than Fitzgerald - but Fitzgerald was considered the Queen of the Lakes (longest ship) until 1971. Usually, if a there are a number of ships of the same length, the first gets the "Queen" title, though it is an unofficial title. The 1000-foot ships had been around starting in 1971 with the launch of the Stewart J. Cort, the ship that took the Queen title from the Fitzgerald. What I think doomed the Homer is that she was lengthened, which limited what ports/docking facilities she could access, at a time where the decline in the steel industry made versatility a must. Even the 858-foot Roger Blough was laid up in the mid-80's for a time. There is an article on the web which highlights the record number of ships scrapped in 85/86 due to the downturn. Always nice to see the Homer gets some love - she certainly was overshadowed by her sister, even before the Fitzgerald was lost.

Good job, Connor. I learned something new, today. I didn't know that the Edmund Fitzgerald had a sister ship. This was a concise video laid out in a logical manner. Thanks! You don't need to apologize for not posting for some time. Sometimes, life just jams you up even when you're a teenager ...or especially when you're a teenager.

My grandfather, Jere Sullivan was her first Captain. We grew up hearing stories about her. Thank you for the film.

Another rumor is that the Homer was laid up in 1980 after the Fitz sank BECAUSE they were the same design, and built the same way. There were also rumors of a loose keel on both ships, and people didn’t want a repeat from five years earlier when the Fitz sank. All rumors, or course. Nothing substantiated. But thought I’d throw the rumors out there for others to ponder.

When I said the St. Clair was the longest ship to be scrapped at Port Colborne I meant to say it was the widest. My apologies….

I, along with a friend, worked the summer of 1976 as student engineers at The Tilden mineral processing plant in Ishpeming, MI. We were both in Marquette, MI and had a crew member of the Homer invited us aboard after we had met him at a nearby bar. It was moored waiting to be loaded with taconite pellets from The Cleveland-Cliffs Tilden Mine. The Edmund Fitzgerald disaster was a prominent news item the whole summer of 1976, even more so after Gordon Lightfoot’s epic song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald which was played endlessly on local radio stations.

Love your passion for these ships

I saw the Homer shortly after it arrived at Port Colborne a few weeks before scrapping began. The ship was completely intact and looked really good and I wondered why it was being scrapped.

Two Ships, Two different Fates. The Arthur B. Homer was scraped, and The Edmund Fitzgerald sank with all Hands.

Thank you for this, everybody always quotes the Anderson as being the sister ship but it's not. My dad worked on the Colby??? summer of 57 and used to think it was a sister to the Fitz but all freighters from that era look alike, but not neccesarily sisters.

Millions of dollars spent on her legethening just to be scrapped a few years later..... ether Homer did have some hull flaws as rumored by the shipyard workers and the shipping industry wanted to avoid paying Fitzgerald's families money OR great lakes shipping industry is incredibly wasteful and foolish. Both are probably true. Fitzgerald's last surviving leading engineer said Fitz and Homer weren't designed to be carrying the amount of cargo that they were in the 70's. Put added stress on the keel especiallyin bad weather... former Fitzgerald crew Richard Orgel's and Red Berger's testimony to the coast guard also put Fitzgerald's hull into question too.

Excellent video Connor! You always have great information about ships.

It would have been genius to turn the Homer into an Edmund Fitzgerald museum ship.

I particularly love the photo used for the thumbnail and on screen around the 20 second mark, with who I presume to be the captain, leaning out of his window in the pilothouse. Just gives a good sense of scale of how massive these boats are. I have a few photos of myself and my girlfriend stood next to the William G. Mather in Cleveland, even with those photos it’s tough to understand the true size of these boats. I can only imagine how imposing the 1,000 footers are. The Walter J. McCarthy Jr. was in Cleveland while I was there but I wasn’t able to go see her where she was docked.

There's a little more to the story about that ship it had some of the quirks the fitzgerald had it shook in bad seas they kind of blamed it on no wheat to ship which they never shipped the coastguard wanted to go on a run with it the owners declined the request blamed downturn of iron ore and wheat shipments and it never sailed again

She was a beautiful ship so sad to see her go to waste

Connor, you’re such an interesting lad! Keep up the flame, mate!

Thanks for the information Connor. I never knew this.

St clair is the widest ship to be scrapped on the lakes, not the longest. Arthur B Homer still holds the record

Thanks for the this video. I thought I read once years back there was a sister ship but when I tried to look it up again couldn’t find it. Too bad it is scrapped 😕

I grew up in Erie Pa and remember Homer in the bay. My brother and the neighbor kids would climb on the anchor chains!! 😂 That was in the mid 80’s.

Thank you for being smart I’m tired of the people that are like oh the Arthur m Anderson is the sister of the fitz but nope it’s the Arthur b homer thank you man

Niclely well done mate and thank for tell the Edmund Fitzgerald had a sister ship name home b

Well done. Thanks. 👍

Do you do the Yamato channel..your voice sounds the same

Had they made a movie about the Fitz between 1976 and 1980, very clearly the Homer would have played her I’ll-fated sister.

Is it always the unknown sister ship that has a better story

shame she was scrapped. Also a shame that there doesn't seem to be a picture of the two sisters together.

Why always the greatest ship sisters are destined to be scrapped

th Homer is the longest ship ever to be scrapped on the Great lakes, but the St.Clair is the widest

Fun Fact: when the Homer was launched she was 1 foot longer than the fitz

Had no idea she had a sister

She did?

Conor, you are still saying fixgerald

Homer should have been preserved being Fitzgerald’s Sister.

What a waste

I love how much people put effort in to teh Great Lake ships