Sorry Dave, but I lost track of this thread (old age) but I really appreciate and respect your views as one who has "been there."

I just find it interesting I guess that McSorley made such little use of the Anderson travelling just behind, not that it would have done any real good. I would be willing to bet that the pilot house was already submerged before they realized she was going down. I have heard others speculate the same thing but in the end I believe all that could be found out has been found out and the rest no longer matters.

If there is one thing that stands out perhaps it has to do with Kendall's "greed" statement. The Fitz wasn't overloaded but like so many before her she was lost making that one last trip before weather closed the Lakes to shipping. I suppose you can attribute that to greed but I really think it is the same sort of thing that caused the Challenger and Columbia shuttle losses, a kind of arrogance or maybe just playing the odds. The list of ships lost over the years in the early "gales of November" is long but if you think how many were not it seems but a tiny percentage. The Anderson made it as did numerous others that found safe harbor behind Whitefish Point but some combination of circumstance or fate conspired to come together that day to kill 29 men.

Spaw