Some think she took on water from faulty hatches, or may have been taking on water from scraping the shoals since the radar was knocked out.
Discovery Science Channel had a special on it about 8 to 10 years ago that was interesting. One thing they said was of note was that something 200 ft of amidships is missing and the steel ore pellets were scattered over the bottom in the vacinity of where the missing midsection should be. And from talking to the crew of the Anderson who was behind the Fitz, the Anderson was hit broadside by a rogue wave that rolled the ship so far that the helmsman was standing on the portside entry hatch to the wheelhouse. So with the missing section of midships, and the rogue wave, they had a rough idea of the directiobn the Fitz was traveling, and they theorized she may have been hit by a smaller rogue wave from one direction, and before she recovered, she was hit astern by this monster wave that rolled the Anderson on her side, but being hit astern and not fully recovered from the wave before caused the ship's bow to get driven into the bottom of Superior.
That's one of the areas in the summer up there by Whitefish Point where dad and I would go for Lakers. In the summer when it's calm, it's a great place to have some mariner type fun, but I wouldn't want to be on those lakes in the the gales of autumn. They are even more viloent than the oceans with breakers as high as 35 to 45 ft. And as one of the oreboat captains said, you get hit by waves from 3 sides on those lakes, where the oceans tend to be from one direction. And if anything goes wrong even if you're on a big ship like the oreboats, you're most likely a deadman. Dad's 30ft cruiser out on Huron with 6 to 10 ft rollers could be scary, I wouldn't even think of big seas like that even on a big ship.
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A legislative act contrary to the Constitution is not law.
-John Marshall Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
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