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Wilfred Sykes docking at Port Dolomite near Cedarville in early October.
This Great Lakes History Log is presented by Filer Credit Union and the Mason County Historical Society.
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
Editor’s note: On Nov. 10, 1975, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank on Lake Superior, killing all 29 men aboard. The SS Wilfred Sykes was among the freighters that participated in the subsequent search. In October, I spent five days aboard the Sykes, which remains in service 51 years later. This account combines that experience with the history of the 1975 disaster.
Standing in the pilothouse of the SS Wilfred Sykes last month, I thought about the history that had taken place aboard the 678-foot freighter. Built in 1949, the ship has outlived generations of Great Lakes vessels. It has transported millions of tons of cargo, survived dangerous weather and participated in two of the lakes’ best-known maritime emergencies.
One of those emergencies occurred 51 years ago, when the Edmund Fitzgerald disappeared during a violent Lake Superior storm. The Sykes and its crew were among those who responded to the search for survivors.
During my Oct. 4-8 voyage aboard the Sykes, Capt. Jason Cracraft of Hamlin Township and his crew gave me an opportunity to experience the vessel from places I had previously known only as an observer. I spent time in its pilothouse, was given the opportunity to steer the ship and, under the supervision of the engineers, operate its steam engine controls as we approached Burns Harbor, Indiana.
Stern of the Sykes
Our weather was mostly pleasant. But it was impossible to stand at the helm of that historic freighter without wondering what it was like for the people working aboard it in November 1975.
The Fitzgerald departed Superior, Wisconsin, on Nov. 9, 1975, carrying more than 26,000 tons of taconite pellets. Capt. Ernest M. McSorley was bound for the Detroit area. Nearby, the Wilfred Sykes was loading cargo. It followed the Fitzgerald out of port approximately two hours later.
Capt. Dudley J. Paquette, master of the Sykes, had decades of Great Lakes sailing experience. He also took a particular interest in weather patterns. As forecasts warned of a powerful storm, he became concerned about the course the system would take across Lake Superior.
McSorley and Capt. Jesse B. Cooper of the Arthur M. Anderson, which was traveling behind the Fitzgerald, proceeded east across the lake. Paquette chose a more northerly route, seeking whatever protection the Canadian shore and the area around Isle Royale might provide.
Chief Engineer Mark Nickerson, left, and Third Assistant Engineer Tyler Gray-Hoehn operate the steam engines while entering Burns Harbor.
Paquette later described his decision in interviews about the tragedy. He remembered being uneasy about taking a different course than other experienced captains, but believed the forecast called for caution. He would later conclude that his route helped the Sykes avoid some of the storm’s most dangerous conditions.
Even along that route, the weather was terrifying. Heavy seas battered the Sykes. Snow squalls reduced visibility and waves crashed over the vessel. Paquette later estimated some waves were 25 to 30 feet high. The Sykes temporarily sheltered at Thunder Bay, Ontario, before proceeding east when the wind shifted.
Farther across the lake, the Fitzgerald was in trouble. During the afternoon of Nov. 10, McSorley reported damage, including a downed railing and damaged vents, as well as a list and pumps operating. Later, the Fitzgerald experienced difficulty with its radar and relied on the Anderson for navigational assistance.
The Anderson was following the Fitzgerald toward the relative safety of Whitefish Bay. Shortly after 7:10 p.m., the Fitzgerald vanished from the Anderson’s radar. Its final reported communication indicated that the crew was holding its own. There was no distress call.
Wheelsman Gavyn Crawford mans the wheel of the Sykes.
All 29 men aboard were lost. The wreck was later located in approximately 530 feet of water, about 17 miles from Whitefish Bay. Although the sinking has been extensively investigated, the precise sequence of events that caused the ship to go down remains disputed.
Paquette recalled hearing some of the radio traffic between the Fitzgerald and Anderson that night. In an interview with Minnesota Public Radio years later, he said unusual atmospheric conditions allowed him to hear radio conversations over considerable distances. He knew the missing ship had been battling severe weather, and understood what the silence might mean.
When attempts to contact the Fitzgerald failed, a search began. Capt. Cooper turned the Anderson back into the storm despite the danger to his own vessel and crew. The William Clay Ford also took part in the initial nighttime effort. Coast Guard aircraft and additional vessels joined as the search expanded.
The Sykes backs up to the Port Dolomite dock.
The Coast Guard’s official investigation lists the Wilfred Sykes among the commercial vessels that responded and assisted in the search. Other ships included the Armco, Roger Blough, Reserve and William R. Roesch, along with Canadian vessels. They searched a broad area of eastern Lake Superior while aircraft swept the water from above.
The Sykes should not be confused with the Anderson and William Clay Ford, which conducted the initial search in the darkness of Nov. 10. The Sykes took part in the larger response that followed. The Coast Guard report does not specifically credit its crew with recovering wreckage.
The search continued through Nov. 13. Lifeboat material, life preservers and other debris were found. No survivors or bodies were recovered. For the men aboard the Sykes, a routine cargo voyage had become an attempt to find fellow sailors who had disappeared in the same storm their own ship had endured.
The Fitzgerald search was not the Sykes’ first involvement in a maritime emergency. In May 1953, when the steamer Henry Steinbrenner sank on Lake Superior, members of the Sykes crew took a lifeboat into heavy seas and rescued two men. A plaque recognizing their bravery remains displayed aboard the ship. I saw it during my October visit.
That plaque speaks to an old maritime principle: When another vessel is in distress, sailors help if they can do so without placing more lives in unreasonable danger. The 1953 rescue ended with two men saved. In 1975, the searchers found no one alive. Both events are part of the Wilfred Sykes’ story.
My own journey began at Port Dolomite near Cedarville in the Upper Peninsula. We loaded limestone there and at Port Inland, carried it to Burns Harbor and returned north. Along the way I observed the people whose work makes a large freighter function: the mates in the pilothouse, engineers tending the machinery, deckhands handling cargo and maintenance, and the steward department feeding the crew.
I was particularly grateful for the chance to steer the Sykes. It gave me a sense, however limited, of the attention required to hold the vessel on its course. The experience did not make me a sailor. Rather, it increased my appreciation of those who do this work for a living, often through darkness, bad weather and long stretches away from home.
At Burns Harbor, Chief Engineer Mark Nickerson and Third Assistant Engineer Tyler Gray-Hoehn also allowed me, under their guidance, to work the steam controls during the approach. The Sykes is powered by oil-fired boilers and steam turbines, a propulsion system from an earlier era of Great Lakes shipping. It was extraordinary to see that equipment still performing the job for which it was designed.
Capt. Cracraft, who joined the Sykes as a deckhand in 2005 and became its permanent captain in April, explained that maneuvering an older steamship demands anticipation. Unlike a modern vessel with a controllable-pitch propeller, the Sykes must stop its propeller before reversing its direction. ‘A steamer is a whole different animal,’ he told me.
On our return north, Cracraft selected a mid-lake route to avoid higher waves forecast closer to Lake Michigan’s eastern shore. The rougher weather did not develop as predicted. Still, watching a captain assess conditions made Paquette’s choice of route in 1975 seem more immediate to me. Technology has improved dramatically, but weather, judgment and responsibility remain central to the profession.
Capt. Jason Cracraft looks out the window of the Sykes’ pilot house.
The voyage also brought a personal connection to Mason County. Cracraft is the grandson of the late Capt. Bruce Masse, a Ludington carferry captain who helped lead the SS Badger into its modern era. As the Sykes passed the Ludington area, I saw familiar landmarks from offshore. On the return trip, I spotted the Badger several miles away on its Lake Michigan crossing.
That is especially important when remembering the Fitzgerald. The 29 men lost on Nov. 10, 1975, had families waiting for them. So did the sailors on the Anderson, William Clay Ford, Wilfred Sykes and other ships that answered the call. They knew the hazards because they lived with them.
More than half a century later, the Wilfred Sykes remains at work. Its crew members have changed, but its engines still turn and its officers still navigate the lakes. The vessel carries with it a history of industrial service and, during moments of crisis, service to other sailors.
For me, the opportunity to stand in its pilothouse, steer the vessel and learn from its crew made that history more than a collection of dates. I came away with an even greater respect for the people who sailed the Sykes in 1975, and for those who continue that tradition today.
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