The sun, the sun! We were promised the sun today. So far, the sun is still a no-show. But as we approached the Grand River over lunch, my wife squealed with delight, “A ship, a ship!”. The Wilfred Sykes was just leaving Grand Haven, heading out to Lake Michigan. We of course had to stop and watch as it crept out. A ship that large cannot turn around to re-enter the lake. Instead, it has to back all the way down the channel before it can be free to push forward.
The sight of such a large ship traversing a relatively narrow channel is always a delight. Dozens of people joined us to gaze and smile. I wonder how many of them know the history of this particular ship.
The Wilfred Sykes was commissioned in 1949. At 668 feet in length, it was the largest vessel on the Great Lakes at the time. Less than a decade later, it was joined by the larger Edmund Fitzgerald at 729 feet. In November of 1975, the two ships were loaded together at the Burlington Northern terminal. The Sykes trailed the Fitzgerald, but ducked into the safety of Thunder Bay when its captain, Dudley Paquette, saw a ferocious storm developing.
“We were really out right in the middle of the lake — just huge seas, 30-35 foot seas. I was completely awash and I was on a super ship,” said Paquette. “ I was registering 70, 75 knots steady with gusts to 100. Huge seas, I was completely awash. Water was flying over the top of my bridge.”
November 10th, 1975 the Edmund Fitzgerald famously went down. The Wilfred Sykes was one of the ships that searched for survivors.. but the entire crew of 29 died that night. The Fitzgerald remains the largest to have sunk on the Great Lakes.
And the Wilfred Sykes, lives on, due the captain’s decision to seek shelter in November of 1975.