Three more examples are illustrated here.
Reposted for the third time to add this video recording of a similar ship (a Ukranian freighter) actually splitting in the Black Sea:
The relevant action occurs in the first minute; there is a second segment showing the ship sinking.
Addendum: PBS Wisconsin has a video presentation of a public lecture on The Storm that sank the Edmund Fitzgerald.
And reposted for the final time because today marks the 50th anniversary of the sinking. Somewhere I hae seen a discussion of the phrase "The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead" being scientifically true because at depth the water is too cold for bacteria to generate decomposition gases to lift the corpse and/or because the hydrostatic pressure at depth prevents the bubble formation.
And I'll add a link to the lyrics, because they are hard to discern in the embedded video.
Even I blogged about it today.
ReplyDeleteSo haunting. Love this song, though.
ReplyDeletesince you are not allowing comments on your 'extended break' posting (the one that newer than this one), i am going use this posting to say that i have been thinking of you and hoping that everything works out well, better than well, for you and your family!
ReplyDeleteI-)
Noted. Thanks, smiley anon.
DeleteI have finally gotten back to the blog and reading all those I follow. I've missed TYWKIWDBI in my absence from blogging. As Anonymous is doing, I am also using this post to briefly comment on your break and hope that all turns out well. Looking forward to reading posts I've missed and seeing new ones inthe future.
ReplyDeletehttp://mileswmathis.com/lightfoot.pdf
ReplyDeleteOutlandish conspiracy theory regarding this
Thank you - I love conspiracy theories.
DeleteOops - but not numerology ones...
Apparently there is speculation on maritime web forums that the MV Arvin may have been sunk intentionally for the insurance. However with loss of life involved, that doesn't seem likely to me.
ReplyDeleteA recent Rolling Stone article about Gordon Lightfoot and the writing of the song. Worth a read, IMO
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/gordon-lightfoot-wreck-of-the-edmund-fitzgerald-story-1235436830/
Regarding the lake not giving up her dead, that was discussed in this interesting recent Atlantic article: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2025/12/wisconsin-kayaker-ryan-borgwardt-death/684631/
ReplyDeleteThat's a longread and a complex story, but for me the relevant part was this -
Delete"Below a certain depth, however, pressure prevents gases from building up, and keeps the body from rising. If Ryan had drowned anyplace deeper than about 100 feet, he might remain in Big Green Lake forever, unless divers or sophisticated sonar equipment were deployed to find him."
I always assumed it was the cold that prevented the bodies from rising, but apparently it is the hydrostatic pressure at depth. You learn something every day . Thanks, anonymous person.
I saw a puppet show at the Montreal Fringe Festival many years ago called "The Left Hand of Frank". Brilliant show. In the middle of an already funny bit, a propos of nothing, the puppet suddenly sang "The doorbell's been ringing for such a long time. Won't you answer it Edmund, it's Gerald." Then he went back to the original sketch. Awesome!
ReplyDeleteThis is a interest8ing recent article:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/nobody-knows-what-sank-the-edmund-fitzgerald-but-its-doomed-final-voyage-will-always-be-americas-defining-shipwreck-180987657/
also https://shipwreckmuseum.com/edmund-fitzgerald/ and https://shipwreckmuseum.com/the-fateful-journey/ has videos.