Edmund Fitzgerald - Gitche Gumee

Date 9-11-05

The position of Fitzgerald relative to that of Anderson cannot be reconstructed. Information available is based on the recollection of the Master and Watch Officers on Anderson, since the relative position of Fitzgerald was observed intermittently on the radar, but not positions reports by officers of Anderson were not sufficiently accurate to allow the trackline of either Fitzgerald or Anderson to be reconstructed.

In reconstructing the ANDERSON’s probable trackline, the Safety Board relied primarily upon the ship’s log entries concerning fixes taken at 1520 and 1652, the courses steered, and the reported speed of 14.5 mph. Subsequent testimony indicated a course change at 1652, which was not logged and a fix taken at 1701, which also was not logged. These times do not correlate with the other navigational data. Instead, calculations indicate that course was probably changed at 1634 and the fix probably was obtained at 1734. With these time corrections, the ANDERSON’s track correlates with the fixes, times, courses, and speeds given in the testimony of the ANDERSON’s master and mate.

Time from Distance and Speed

Distance from Speed and Time

Speed from Distance and Time

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