"Great Lakes Shipwrecks & Survivals" is probably classified as a book with limited 'regional' interest, which is a shame because it deserves a much wider audience. I think it merits a place on the bestseller list next to "In the Heart of the Sea : The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex" by Nathaniel Philbrick, or "The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea" by Sebastian Junger.William Ratigan, a journalist whose father was a steamboat engineer, has written a romantic, blood-curdling maritime history of the Great Lakes, starting with Champlain's canoe as it ventured out onto Lake Huron, and ending with the thousand-foot bulk freighters that now churn our waters.
In his introduction, Ratigan warns the reader that even the biggest freighter is not guaranteed a safe return to port:
"These great ships sail Great Lakes that can swallow them in one black moment without a trace. Storms exploding across hundreds of miles of open water pile up mountainous seas that strike swifter, and more often, than the deadliest waves on any ocean. Before the ship has a chance to recover from the last blow, the next is upon her. The Lakes captain has no sea room in which to maneuver; unlike his salt-water counterpart he must stay on course throughout the storm; he must weather the teeth of the gale."
Each Lake's storms, shipwrecks, fires, and rescues gets its own section within "Great Lakes Shipwrecks & Survivals." The last section of the book's third edition (which I own) is devoted to the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, the introduction of bulk freighters into the Lakes, and the extension of the shipping season.
I'm glad this book was reissued in 2000, as I will soon need a replacement copy. I reread it almost every November, when gray skies close down over the freighters that still steam up and down the Detroit River near our house.
Are there captains out there, like the captains of the ill-fated Howard M. Hanna, Jr., the Daniel J. Morrell, the Carl D. Bradley, and the Edmund Fitzgerald, who are trying to squeeze in 'one last run' of the season?
As Ratigan says of these captains, "...they often stay out on the Lake beyond the time of regular insurance, beyond the time of navigational prudence. Once in a while, striving to make one last trip before winter locks up the Lakes, they make one last trip indeed---the last trip forever."
