Today’s Awkward and Inauspicious Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
Sailors are widely thought to be a superstitious group, even in modern times. There are countless good and bad omens, traditions and myths surrounding ships and the water, and the christening and launch of a new ship is considered especially important.
On June 8, 1958, a brand-new 729-foot ore carrier was officially launched in Detroit. She was to be christened the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, named after the chairman of the board of directors of the insurance company who owned her.
Mr. Fitzgerald himself was present at the ceremony, and his wife Elizabeth did the honors. “I christen you the Edmund Fitzgerald. God bless you” she announced and swung a champagne bottle against the ship’s bow. Nothing happened. She tried again, and still the bottle remained intact. On her third try, she succeeded, and the signal was given to launch.
Pre-launch Fitz
It took over a half hour to get the steel blocks to release the ship, and finally the huge freighter slid down the greased timbers into the Detroit River. She hit the water sideways, pitched and rolled violently from the awkward landing, and slammed into the dock, sending a giant wave over the startled spectators.
One man, 58-year-old Jennings Frazier of Toledo, suffered a heart attack and died almost instantly.
It was a most inauspicious start, and even a non-superstitious person might be forgiven for wondering if it was all some kind of bad sign.
Seventeen years later, on November 10, 1975, the “Mighty Fitz” broke apart in a vicious storm on Lake Superior, taking all 29 crew members to a watery grave. The ship and her crew would become famous worldwide thanks to Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot’s melancholy “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” which reached #2 on the US Billboard charts in 1976.
Culled from: Edmund Fitzgerald
Generously submitted by: Aimee
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| Here’s the less-than-smooth launch itself. |
Jennings Frazier died June 7, 1958. How could he have died the 8th when the Fitz launched.
Because they need to edit the article reflecting the correct date of the launch as June 7, 1958. Good catch.