A great shot from North Africa, circa WWII. I could find no information about the photographer.
Monthly Archives: November 2012
November Gales
10 November 1975
It was 37 years ago when the great iron-ore freighter went down in a stormy Lake Superior, taking 29 men with her.
The SS Edmund Fitzgerald spent 17 years hauling taconite iron ore from the the Iron Range of Minnesota to iron-works ports like Detroit and Toledo. The Fitzgerald was the workhorse of the Great Lakes, setting a record for a single haul, and setting seasonal haul records six times, often beating her previous record. In all, she traveled over a million miles across the Great Lakes.
The Fitzgerald encountered a major winter storm on Lake Superior at 1am on 10 November. Near hurricane-force winds produced waves at over 30 feet. The last communication came from the Fitzgerald at 7pm: “We are holding our own.” She sank just minutes later; no distress signal was received.
An interesting maritime fact: From 1816, when the “Invincible” sank, to 1975 when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down, 240 ships were lost in the area off Whitefish Point.
The historic Split Rock Lighthouse in Two Harbors, MN lights its beacon annually in honor of the twenty-nine men who went down with the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Dutch Harbor Dares
From the Unalaska Police Blotter:
“1136 – Suspicious Person/Activity – Officer investigating the source of several odd text messages found that a young man in Anchorage had sent them after being dared to send text messages to random number. The young man was advised not to do so again.”
“0230 – Suspicious Person/Activity – Vehicle owner said four men were in the parking lot at Safeway, trying to lift up his van. Officers determined several men from a USCG cutter had dared another man to lift the vehicle off the ground.”
…and for good measure:
“0057 – Drunk Disturbance – Officers responded to the Airport Bar regarding an altercation involving multiple people, and found that two men had been wrestling – an activity in which they regularly participate – and had no intention of hurting one another. The participants and their audience left the area without incident.”
Denali Fault Quake
Ten years ago yesterday, the 7.9 magnitude Denali Fault Quake hit Interior Alaska. It remains the largest earthquake I have experienced. I was stopped at a light on University Avenue in my ’66 Chevy pickup, when the truck suddenly started to lurch & sway. It was actually hard to stay on the brakes, so I popped the transmission into neutral. Two guys in a car next to me rolled down a window and asked me, “What the hell is going on?” All I said was, “Earthquake.” The passenger in the car then smacked his buddy on the head and said, “I told you it was an earthquake!”
The shaking went on for a surprisingly long time. I remember an elderly couple had been walking down the sidewalk, the woman couldn’t keep her balance and she dropped to the concrete. Her husband stayed upright only by holding onto a street sign. When he offered her his hand to help her up, she only shook her head. It was probably a good idea to wait until the Earth stopped shaking.
A friend of mine was walking his dogs across the frozen tundra when it hit. He watched a “wave” move across the ice on the frozen pond in front of him. He was forced to hold onto a spruce tree to keep from falling to the ground.
In October of 2002, we had experienced a foreshock, in the form of a 6.7 quake. At the time, the experts were on the radio telling us that the Denali Fault could produce an 8.0. but doubted that it could produce anything larger. I couldn’t help but wonder how the hell they could conclude that, but a month later we found ourselves on the 8.0 doorstep. It was the largest quake ever recorded in Interior Alaska, and the largest in the interior of the United States in over 150 years.
Both the Parks & Richardson Hwys suffered damage, and the Tok Cutoff suffered a 23 foot offset. The Alaska Pipeline did exactly what it was suppose to do where it crosses the fault: It slid laterally on the beams it sits on and no oil was spilled. A peak out at Black Rapids showed the most dramatic change with a rather large landslide.
In Seattle, the Supersonics were in pregame warmups, when the main scoreboard started to sway, due to our trembler.
3 November 2002
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