What do you think?
Rate this book
Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals
In this breathtaking chronicle of the most spectacular shipwrecks and survivals on the Great Lakes, William Ratigan re-creates vivid scenes of high courage and screaming panic from which no reader can turn away.Included in this striking catalog of catastrophes and Flying Dutchmen are the magnificent excursion liner Eastland, which capsized at her pier in the Chicago River, drowning 835 people within clutching distance of busy downtown streets; the shipwrecked steel freighter Mataafa, which dumped its crew into freezing waters while the snowbound town of Duluth looked on; the dark Sunday in November 1913 when Lake Huron swallowed eight long ships without a man surviving to tell the tale; and the bitter November of 1958 when the Bradley went down in Lake Michigan during one of the greatest killer storms on the freshwater seas. An entire section is dedicated to the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald -- the most famous maritime loss in modern times -- in Lake Superior in 1975.Chilling watercolor illustrations, photographs, maps, and news clippings accentuate Ratigan's compelling and dramatic storytelling. Sailors, historians, and general readers alike will be swept away by these unforgettable tales of tragedy and heroism.
429 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1960
76 people are currently reading
456 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
January 16, 2022
“[I]n their interflowing aggregate, these grand fresh-water seas of ours – Erie, and Ontario, and Huron, and Superior, and Michigan – possess an ocean-like expansiveness. They contain round archipelagoes of romantic isles. They have heard the fleet thunderings of naval victories. They are swept by Borean and dismasting waves as direful as any that lash the salted wave. They know what shipwrecks are; for, out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew…”
- Herman Melville, Moby Dick
“First Mate Elmer Fleming and Captain Bryan, both on watch in the pilot house, heard an unusual thud. They spun around and looked down the six-hundred foot deck [of the Carl D. Bradley] toward the stern. The stormy day was darkling into sunset but the deck lights were glowing and, at the end of this string of lights, the two officers saw the aft section of the boat sag…Twenty seconds later there was a second thud and the boat humped upward slightly as the aft section continued its sag. The skipper ordered the first mate to send out distress signals. Fleming grabbed the radio phone and shouted: ‘Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!’…At first there were a number of ham radio operators at their home sets and workaday wireless men aboard vessels going about their business…who failed to get the significance of the message…But...the operator of the Marine Radio Station in Port Washington, Wisconsin, very much alive to the perilous situation…cut in with the stern warning: ‘This is an emergency! Clear the channel!’ For a moment there was a deathlike silence on channel 51. Then Coast Guard signalmen…and radio operators on ships plying the Ohio and far down the Mississippi froze to attention as the words of First Mate Fleming crackled through space: ‘Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! This is the Carl D. Bradley…We are in serious trouble…’ In the background, horrified short-wave radio operators monitoring channel 51 could hear another voice, presumably that of Captain Bryan, shouting: ‘Run, grab life jackets! Get your life jackets…’”
- William Ratigan, Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals
William Ratigan’s Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals is a small-press publication written by an enthusiast of the inland seas whose passion for his subject far outstrips his talent. Like as not, you’ve never heard of this author or his book.
Unless, of course, you live or have vacationed along the Great Lakes’ 4,500 miles of coastline.
Because if you happen to visit the giftshop of a lighthouse or a maritime museum within earshot of the breakers of these massive lakes, you have seen this title prominently featured. First published in 1960, and later revised following the 1975 sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals has gained a strange kind of literary immortality as an impulse purchase of cargo-short-wearing tourists who have just finished touring the bulk freighter William A. Irvin in Duluth Harbor. I don’t mean this as an insult; most authors would love the longevity and repeat printings that Ratigan achieved. Nevertheless, enjoyment comes with some preconditions. Specifically, this is a book that perfectly fits a certain mood: the mood you get when you stand shoreside of a lake that stretches clean to the horizon; the mood you get when you hear the thunder of whitecaps against immobile boulders, or the deep and mournful dirge of a foghorn; it is the mood you get when the wind whips up on the lake in the late autumn, and the skies turn gray, and you sense a storm building.
I must have been ten or twelve, and definitely wearing cargo shorts and Tevas with socks, when my parents purchased Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals from the Split Rock Lighthouse store. I read it as we camped along the North Shore, lulled to sleep every night by the restless waves.
Recently, in the midst of a brutal summer of relentless heat and enervating humidity, I sought the relief that my overtaxed air conditioner cannot provide. I needed cold thoughts. In that state of mind, my eyes fell on my well-worn copy of Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals, with its dogeared pages and broken spine. Certainly, it fit my needs, as one of the coldest memories of my life is an October “swim” in Lake Superior (if jumping into a lake, losing all breath, and screaming the scream of the castrated can be called swimming).
Turns out I should have let my childhood memories remain unsullied.
Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals is clearly the product of a man deeply steeped in lake legend and lore. He is here to tell stories, and that’s what he does. It is story after story after story, with no discernible theme or structure. The book is broadly divided into five chapters (with multiple subheadings), one for each of the lakes, with an additional chapter devoted solely to the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Within each chapter, Ratigan is all over the place, skipping back and forth in time, with little effort made to corral his information or provide smooth transitions. About the only outlining he’s done is to separate the ships that sank in storms from the ships that burned. Much of the time, Ratigan's retellings are as perfunctory as the clippings from the shipping news, which appears to be his chief research source. He seems more interested in listing everything he knows than in taking what he knows and molding it into something meaningful.
The prose here – which sang so beautifully to me as a kid – is almost unreadably purple to my grownup eyes. Ratigan writes with a determined penchant for overselling the drama of events that need not be oversold. (If you play the “doom” drinking game, in which you take a shot every time “doom” is mentioned, you will be in trouble). Subtlety is something that seems to have been lost in the November gales. There is also a golly-gee-whiz quality, as Ratigan endlessly extolls the “gallant seamen” fighting wind and weather; as he imagines captains going down with their ships, orphaned infants tucked beneath each arm; as he describes the act of moving taconite across the water in such mythical terms you’d think that Great Lakes cargo transport is the only thing keeping the world on its axis.
There is still some joy to be found reading this. Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals has a tale or two worth revisiting, including the sinking of the Carl D. Bradley in Lake Michigan, which opens the narrative. Moreover, in the “present-day” parts of the book (which are actually in the 60s and 70s), Ratigan provides a snapshot of a vanished time in the history of Great Lakes shipping.
Ratigan’s labor of love is deeply-flawed. It is a volume that is best read while in the shadow of the lakes themselves when, caught in their spell, these pages can work their magic.
- Herman Melville, Moby Dick
“First Mate Elmer Fleming and Captain Bryan, both on watch in the pilot house, heard an unusual thud. They spun around and looked down the six-hundred foot deck [of the Carl D. Bradley] toward the stern. The stormy day was darkling into sunset but the deck lights were glowing and, at the end of this string of lights, the two officers saw the aft section of the boat sag…Twenty seconds later there was a second thud and the boat humped upward slightly as the aft section continued its sag. The skipper ordered the first mate to send out distress signals. Fleming grabbed the radio phone and shouted: ‘Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!’…At first there were a number of ham radio operators at their home sets and workaday wireless men aboard vessels going about their business…who failed to get the significance of the message…But...the operator of the Marine Radio Station in Port Washington, Wisconsin, very much alive to the perilous situation…cut in with the stern warning: ‘This is an emergency! Clear the channel!’ For a moment there was a deathlike silence on channel 51. Then Coast Guard signalmen…and radio operators on ships plying the Ohio and far down the Mississippi froze to attention as the words of First Mate Fleming crackled through space: ‘Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! This is the Carl D. Bradley…We are in serious trouble…’ In the background, horrified short-wave radio operators monitoring channel 51 could hear another voice, presumably that of Captain Bryan, shouting: ‘Run, grab life jackets! Get your life jackets…’”
- William Ratigan, Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals
William Ratigan’s Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals is a small-press publication written by an enthusiast of the inland seas whose passion for his subject far outstrips his talent. Like as not, you’ve never heard of this author or his book.
Unless, of course, you live or have vacationed along the Great Lakes’ 4,500 miles of coastline.
Because if you happen to visit the giftshop of a lighthouse or a maritime museum within earshot of the breakers of these massive lakes, you have seen this title prominently featured. First published in 1960, and later revised following the 1975 sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals has gained a strange kind of literary immortality as an impulse purchase of cargo-short-wearing tourists who have just finished touring the bulk freighter William A. Irvin in Duluth Harbor. I don’t mean this as an insult; most authors would love the longevity and repeat printings that Ratigan achieved. Nevertheless, enjoyment comes with some preconditions. Specifically, this is a book that perfectly fits a certain mood: the mood you get when you stand shoreside of a lake that stretches clean to the horizon; the mood you get when you hear the thunder of whitecaps against immobile boulders, or the deep and mournful dirge of a foghorn; it is the mood you get when the wind whips up on the lake in the late autumn, and the skies turn gray, and you sense a storm building.
I must have been ten or twelve, and definitely wearing cargo shorts and Tevas with socks, when my parents purchased Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals from the Split Rock Lighthouse store. I read it as we camped along the North Shore, lulled to sleep every night by the restless waves.
Recently, in the midst of a brutal summer of relentless heat and enervating humidity, I sought the relief that my overtaxed air conditioner cannot provide. I needed cold thoughts. In that state of mind, my eyes fell on my well-worn copy of Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals, with its dogeared pages and broken spine. Certainly, it fit my needs, as one of the coldest memories of my life is an October “swim” in Lake Superior (if jumping into a lake, losing all breath, and screaming the scream of the castrated can be called swimming).
Turns out I should have let my childhood memories remain unsullied.
Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals is clearly the product of a man deeply steeped in lake legend and lore. He is here to tell stories, and that’s what he does. It is story after story after story, with no discernible theme or structure. The book is broadly divided into five chapters (with multiple subheadings), one for each of the lakes, with an additional chapter devoted solely to the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Within each chapter, Ratigan is all over the place, skipping back and forth in time, with little effort made to corral his information or provide smooth transitions. About the only outlining he’s done is to separate the ships that sank in storms from the ships that burned. Much of the time, Ratigan's retellings are as perfunctory as the clippings from the shipping news, which appears to be his chief research source. He seems more interested in listing everything he knows than in taking what he knows and molding it into something meaningful.
The prose here – which sang so beautifully to me as a kid – is almost unreadably purple to my grownup eyes. Ratigan writes with a determined penchant for overselling the drama of events that need not be oversold. (If you play the “doom” drinking game, in which you take a shot every time “doom” is mentioned, you will be in trouble). Subtlety is something that seems to have been lost in the November gales. There is also a golly-gee-whiz quality, as Ratigan endlessly extolls the “gallant seamen” fighting wind and weather; as he imagines captains going down with their ships, orphaned infants tucked beneath each arm; as he describes the act of moving taconite across the water in such mythical terms you’d think that Great Lakes cargo transport is the only thing keeping the world on its axis.
There is still some joy to be found reading this. Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals has a tale or two worth revisiting, including the sinking of the Carl D. Bradley in Lake Michigan, which opens the narrative. Moreover, in the “present-day” parts of the book (which are actually in the 60s and 70s), Ratigan provides a snapshot of a vanished time in the history of Great Lakes shipping.
Ratigan’s labor of love is deeply-flawed. It is a volume that is best read while in the shadow of the lakes themselves when, caught in their spell, these pages can work their magic.
February 8, 2023
This was my father's last book. Growing up I remember seeing oars, and other debris from the Carl D. Bradley shipwreck around the house. The significance of them really never dawned on me. Then later when the Edmund Fitzgerald shipwrecked, that was later added to the book. When the song about it was written and sung by Gordon Lightfoot, he actually came over to our house and sang the song for my mom and dad as he played my grandmothers piano. I could just barely see the pride and joy he was feeling watching this. I had no idea how fortunate I was at the time to experience a singer, songwriter, and musician like that. The song was beautiful, soft, and a little eerie, (of course). And I was never really able to appreciate what a great writer my dad was until I matured more as an adult.
My father was a writer, and a very good one at that. I had a lot to live up to if I was going to even attempt to write a book. It meant a lot to me to write the best possible book that I could in order to make him proud, and pass on as much helpful information to people as possible. I self published it in 2009. It has many of my life experiences woven into it. It surprised me how much of your life you share when you write a book.
Some of it is very personal, and you don't know the person on the other side finding out all these things about your life. So I have a new found appreciation of what writers must go through. It gives you a whole new perspective when you're the writer and not the reader!
My two books were about my career as a character actor in LA, and then as a therapeutic music teacher for special needs kids, adults, working with other groups, and lots more. Both are Kindle only now: "An Actor's Face" $3. and "A Practical Guide to Hand Drumming and Drum Circles". $8. I hope you will check one of them out, and thanks!
Shannon Ratigan
My father was a writer, and a very good one at that. I had a lot to live up to if I was going to even attempt to write a book. It meant a lot to me to write the best possible book that I could in order to make him proud, and pass on as much helpful information to people as possible. I self published it in 2009. It has many of my life experiences woven into it. It surprised me how much of your life you share when you write a book.
Some of it is very personal, and you don't know the person on the other side finding out all these things about your life. So I have a new found appreciation of what writers must go through. It gives you a whole new perspective when you're the writer and not the reader!
My two books were about my career as a character actor in LA, and then as a therapeutic music teacher for special needs kids, adults, working with other groups, and lots more. Both are Kindle only now: "An Actor's Face" $3. and "A Practical Guide to Hand Drumming and Drum Circles". $8. I hope you will check one of them out, and thanks!
Shannon Ratigan
October 19, 2025
The Great Lakes of North America are monsters. I say that as a bonafide coastal ocean-lover. All this time, I never thought some inbound bodies of water could terrify sailors the way oceans do, but after reading this rip-curler of a book, I have been so very wrong. Those Great Lakes are nasty! Looking at the myriad “personalities” of each Great Lake, this book takes the reader on a comprehensive tour of the many, many disasters that have plagued ships and their crews and passengers since industry started using the Lakes as convenient transport.
The waves on the Lakes have a different motion; they are much sharper than ocean waves; they jump and tumble rather than roll and swell.
Before there were cars and mass transit, there were boats, at least in the northern portion of America. People would jump on a boat the same way we now catch streetcars or plug in coordinates for a car trip. Instead of waiting for a bus to arrive, the passenger of the nineteenth century would carelessly crowd into a ship on the Great Lakes, regardless of whether that sailing contrivance was actually safe. It was a cheaper and faster way to get across larger distances. This attitude was even more prevalent outside of the stormy season, as even ship captains thought a little breeze before the gales of winter was trivial.
Because of a combination of indifference and irresponsibility, there are many shipwrecks at the bottom of the Great Lakes. True, some happened even with top-notch crews and attentiveness to vessels, but really, if the Lakes want you, they will get you. Many times, it has been due to the cargo being shipped. Before the behemoth iron ore ships, the main items being shipped were corn or wheat. And when water leaked into a hold full of those commodities, it turned the innocent ships into malignant growths, as swelling tilted the balance of conveyance.
And each Lake has its own way of doing things, regardless of size or depth.
Fourth largest of the Great Lakes, Lake Erie holds the record for being the shallowest of the five and consequently has a history of kicking up the biggest fuss in the least time. A breath of wind is enough to make her start doing somersaults and turning handsprings.
Take Lake Superior, which is far larger than little Erie. It’s the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface volume and the most northern of the Great Lakes. In my opinion, it’s also the most dangerous, not only because of the potential for blizzards and hurricane-style winds, but because some of the shoreline is so isolated that surviving a shipwreck on Superior usually meant perishing on the shore for lack of rescue. And Lake Huron, the “wolf”?
Around the beach the sea gulls scream;
Their dismal notes prolong.
They’re chanting forth a requiem,
A saddened funeral song.
They skim along the waters blue
And then aloft they soar
In memory of the sailing men
Lost off Lake Huron’s shore!
The book also goes through the various storms that have plagued the Lakes with the worst seeming to be the Lake Superior Storm of 1905, the Lake Huron Storm of 1913, the Lake Erie Black Friday Storm of 1916, and the Lake Michigan Armistice Day Storm of 1940. Understandably, weather forecasting was not at the level it is now, but why anyone would have gone out during those storms is simply stunning.
This book really kept me motivated all the way through. I knew little of the Great Lakes before I started but I sure know a whole bunch more now and that’s because the author kept the pace moving along. Again, each Lake gets its own focus but there’s also the storms that would affect all the Lakes. And don’t get me started on the rogue waves, which we now know exist. A ship could be happily rolling along one minute and then gone the next. For me, this was a terrific read and quite an eye-opener. I think I trust the ocean more.
Book Season = Winter (heavy seas)
The waves on the Lakes have a different motion; they are much sharper than ocean waves; they jump and tumble rather than roll and swell.
Before there were cars and mass transit, there were boats, at least in the northern portion of America. People would jump on a boat the same way we now catch streetcars or plug in coordinates for a car trip. Instead of waiting for a bus to arrive, the passenger of the nineteenth century would carelessly crowd into a ship on the Great Lakes, regardless of whether that sailing contrivance was actually safe. It was a cheaper and faster way to get across larger distances. This attitude was even more prevalent outside of the stormy season, as even ship captains thought a little breeze before the gales of winter was trivial.
Because of a combination of indifference and irresponsibility, there are many shipwrecks at the bottom of the Great Lakes. True, some happened even with top-notch crews and attentiveness to vessels, but really, if the Lakes want you, they will get you. Many times, it has been due to the cargo being shipped. Before the behemoth iron ore ships, the main items being shipped were corn or wheat. And when water leaked into a hold full of those commodities, it turned the innocent ships into malignant growths, as swelling tilted the balance of conveyance.
And each Lake has its own way of doing things, regardless of size or depth.
Fourth largest of the Great Lakes, Lake Erie holds the record for being the shallowest of the five and consequently has a history of kicking up the biggest fuss in the least time. A breath of wind is enough to make her start doing somersaults and turning handsprings.
Take Lake Superior, which is far larger than little Erie. It’s the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface volume and the most northern of the Great Lakes. In my opinion, it’s also the most dangerous, not only because of the potential for blizzards and hurricane-style winds, but because some of the shoreline is so isolated that surviving a shipwreck on Superior usually meant perishing on the shore for lack of rescue. And Lake Huron, the “wolf”?
Around the beach the sea gulls scream;
Their dismal notes prolong.
They’re chanting forth a requiem,
A saddened funeral song.
They skim along the waters blue
And then aloft they soar
In memory of the sailing men
Lost off Lake Huron’s shore!
The book also goes through the various storms that have plagued the Lakes with the worst seeming to be the Lake Superior Storm of 1905, the Lake Huron Storm of 1913, the Lake Erie Black Friday Storm of 1916, and the Lake Michigan Armistice Day Storm of 1940. Understandably, weather forecasting was not at the level it is now, but why anyone would have gone out during those storms is simply stunning.
This book really kept me motivated all the way through. I knew little of the Great Lakes before I started but I sure know a whole bunch more now and that’s because the author kept the pace moving along. Again, each Lake gets its own focus but there’s also the storms that would affect all the Lakes. And don’t get me started on the rogue waves, which we now know exist. A ship could be happily rolling along one minute and then gone the next. For me, this was a terrific read and quite an eye-opener. I think I trust the ocean more.
Book Season = Winter (heavy seas)
January 8, 2025
Be like Abigail Becker.
Side note the last couple pages felt like nails on a chalkboard because it started talking about Winter Runs and honestly idc I’m just here to read about shipwrecks and survivals. Also side note not much detail in the survivals of people compared to the first book I read which I liked a lot more.
Side note the last couple pages felt like nails on a chalkboard because it started talking about Winter Runs and honestly idc I’m just here to read about shipwrecks and survivals. Also side note not much detail in the survivals of people compared to the first book I read which I liked a lot more.
September 4, 2024
On the one hand, the book covers the shipping history on the Great Lakes until 1976, when the book was written, and includes plenty of information about the major ships, the cargoes and/or passengers they transported, where they went, when, and why, and as the title implies, the dangers they faced that a number did not survive. It also mentions how the weather patterns are, and ironically how the Great Lakes are actually more deadly than the major oceans in navigational hazards. The people on the ships and living around the lakes are also covered.
Fascinating as the subject is, several reviewers already mentioned flaws such as the overwrought writing and repetition which were irritating. But one other problem was the author's use of nautical terms that a layman would not know, but worst of all, only a few rather crude illustrations that don't show things like where many of the locks were located that the author repeatedly describes, or how they work. If those were in the book it would have been much easier to understand.
Fascinating as the subject is, several reviewers already mentioned flaws such as the overwrought writing and repetition which were irritating. But one other problem was the author's use of nautical terms that a layman would not know, but worst of all, only a few rather crude illustrations that don't show things like where many of the locks were located that the author repeatedly describes, or how they work. If those were in the book it would have been much easier to understand.
October 23, 2014
This was an absolute favorite for our 2nd and 3rd graders in Marianne McWhirter's class in Dimondale, Michigan. We used to sing the song Christmas Tree Ship in class all the time, and because each of the episodes presented in the book is so short, it was very readable even by our young children. A lot of the time, that's the secret with difficult text. If it's short enough, kids will figure it out. It's a great book for challenging the idea of levels based on text alone (vocabulary, grammar), and not considering motivation and engagement in the formula.
January 22, 2021
This book was not what I expected, but still a decent book. The first section was promising with exciting stories of shipwrecks, but it tended to get watered down with repetition, dramatic prose, and an over abundance of news on shipping. I would say this book is more of a history of shipping on the Great Lakes that stops in the 70s rather than an exciting book about shipwrecks on the lakes. One thing that bothered me was that the author continuously compared wrecks to the wreck of the Bradley, to the point that it got a little annoying.
November 10, 2020
This book is mostly engagingly written, with fascinating stories of Great Lakes naval history. Unfortunately, it’s poorly ordered and expects you to remember ship names across dozens of pages without a handy reference table. The last section, after the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, also feels more like an academic paper than part of this book. It’s mostly enjoyable... but there may be other similar books that tell the stories equally well in a better organized manner.
February 7, 2021
Interesting, but not real engaging. Lesson learned: don't sail the Great Lakes in November!
January 11, 2022
I had no idea that there had been that many shipwrecks on the Great Lakes or that so many people had died. The reading was "dry" at times but the detail was great and the stories quite interesting.
January 22, 2025
I don't recall the last time I so looked forward to reading a book and was so disappointed. I'd heard this book referenced a few times by a couple of YouTubers that do documentaries on ships and shipwrecks, so, Great Lakes shipwrecks being an interest of mine, I wanted to check it out.
It's not a horrible book — a diehard local historian interested in this topic may find it valuable. All the information as far as I can tell is accurate and many of the stories were interesting. But it needed a firm editor with a steady supply of red ink. The most annoying problem for me was the lack of first names — or even names, period — with stories where I'm reasonably sure the full names were available (there was one story where the name of the person he kept referencing wasn't mentioned until the end, which was irritating). Given the author's journalism background, this is puzzling. This was especially an issue in the first couple chapters. The first chapters also were a bit scattershot, the narration all over the place. These issues became far less prevalent in later chapters. But then there was the copious amount of flowery language, and sometimes it bordered on tacky. The weirdest one was when he adopted the phrase "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat" as the running theme/phrase in relating the story of the Eastland. Which... OK. But then I ran across a sentence, something about him not knowing what the songwriter was thinking (he knew it as a popular radio tune), which made me realize that he didn't know this song was written for the musical "Guys and Dolls," and the message is quite clear there. I know this book was written well before the advent of Internet search engines but still.
That said, there were many, many interesting stories I'd never heard of, such as how, on two occasions, there were people who thought it would be fun to send ships full of animals over the Niagra Falls (!!!) for fun. I have the updated version of Ratigan's book, which has a section on the Edmund Fitzgerald, which was good and had information I didn't know before. Also, the final 20 pages or so were dedicated to the efforts when the book was written in trying to extend shipping year-around, and the challenges with that. This was fascinating!
So, final verdict- not sure I'd recommend this for the casual reader with a nominal interest in the Great Lakes and its many, many stories. But for the aficionado with a good deal of patience, reading this could be worthwhile.
It's not a horrible book — a diehard local historian interested in this topic may find it valuable. All the information as far as I can tell is accurate and many of the stories were interesting. But it needed a firm editor with a steady supply of red ink. The most annoying problem for me was the lack of first names — or even names, period — with stories where I'm reasonably sure the full names were available (there was one story where the name of the person he kept referencing wasn't mentioned until the end, which was irritating). Given the author's journalism background, this is puzzling. This was especially an issue in the first couple chapters. The first chapters also were a bit scattershot, the narration all over the place. These issues became far less prevalent in later chapters. But then there was the copious amount of flowery language, and sometimes it bordered on tacky. The weirdest one was when he adopted the phrase "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat" as the running theme/phrase in relating the story of the Eastland. Which... OK. But then I ran across a sentence, something about him not knowing what the songwriter was thinking (he knew it as a popular radio tune), which made me realize that he didn't know this song was written for the musical "Guys and Dolls," and the message is quite clear there. I know this book was written well before the advent of Internet search engines but still.
That said, there were many, many interesting stories I'd never heard of, such as how, on two occasions, there were people who thought it would be fun to send ships full of animals over the Niagra Falls (!!!) for fun. I have the updated version of Ratigan's book, which has a section on the Edmund Fitzgerald, which was good and had information I didn't know before. Also, the final 20 pages or so were dedicated to the efforts when the book was written in trying to extend shipping year-around, and the challenges with that. This was fascinating!
So, final verdict- not sure I'd recommend this for the casual reader with a nominal interest in the Great Lakes and its many, many stories. But for the aficionado with a good deal of patience, reading this could be worthwhile.
April 12, 2025
A very informative book, written in a engaging and sometimes possibly romantic way? The author clearly has a kind of spiritual awe of these Great Lakes and their majesty come across in his recalling of these numerous tragedies.
The book splits the histories of the 5 lakes into different chapters. Which works wonderfully in terms of being able to separate the nature's of the lakes stories, however the stories seem to jump around a little from event to event and sometimes not chronologically. This did sometimes confuse me a little and the sheer number of smaller stories leaves one a little confused as to where one is at times. I think a more chronological presenting of these events may help a new reader of the lakes maybe?
I definitely preferred the stories where a little more time was spent on particular sinking or event it was describing. For example the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald, The Carl D Bradley and the Morrell captivated me. These were more like reading an "El Faro" like story were you are able to immerse totally in the happenings described.
The lakes are immense. Their histories are also. With every bit the charisma anger and beauty of the oceans they are well worth learning about, and this book is your definitive history of these legendary bodies of freshwater.
The book splits the histories of the 5 lakes into different chapters. Which works wonderfully in terms of being able to separate the nature's of the lakes stories, however the stories seem to jump around a little from event to event and sometimes not chronologically. This did sometimes confuse me a little and the sheer number of smaller stories leaves one a little confused as to where one is at times. I think a more chronological presenting of these events may help a new reader of the lakes maybe?
I definitely preferred the stories where a little more time was spent on particular sinking or event it was describing. For example the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald, The Carl D Bradley and the Morrell captivated me. These were more like reading an "El Faro" like story were you are able to immerse totally in the happenings described.
The lakes are immense. Their histories are also. With every bit the charisma anger and beauty of the oceans they are well worth learning about, and this book is your definitive history of these legendary bodies of freshwater.
November 16, 2020
This was a highly entertaining read, especially following up on that book about the survival of the Great Lakes. Reading about all of the shipwrecks throughout the years really put the dangerous side of the lakes into perspective. If I had a complaint, it would be that Ratigan has a love of purple prose and spends a lot of time telling us what long dead folks were thinking and/or doing without the benefit of proof, but I'm sure it helped to make this more readable.
January 18, 2022
i read this book for the first time when i was like 7 and it goes so hard. gordon lightfoot’s “the wreck of the edmund fitzgerald” wipes all modern music. DOES anyone know where the love of god goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
5/5 everyone should read this book multiple times in their life
5/5 everyone should read this book multiple times in their life
July 5, 2022
Absolutely riveting. I learned so much about weather, especially the notorious gales of November; taconite; survivor's guilt; the Soo Locks; the Bradley; the Fitz; and more. If you love legends like The Flying Dutchman or disasters like the Titanic, this is the nuanced, meticulous, enthralling book for you.
July 26, 2023
I'm in this "shipwreck" fascination phase at the moment. This book I really enjoyed. It was like sitting with an old salt listening to tales of life on the water. I was unaware the Great Lakes have claimed so many ships & their crews. You'll like this book if you love acts of nature beyond comprehension or the mystery of seemingly disappearing vessels.
November 19, 2024
It took me so
Long to read it as it seems to list ALL the wrecks of the Great Lakes, saving the Edmund Fitzgerald for last, but certainly NOT the least of the wrecks. Even so, this was an interesting book as it seems that the Lakes have their own weather systems and traits it takes a lifetime to learn and understand.
Long to read it as it seems to list ALL the wrecks of the Great Lakes, saving the Edmund Fitzgerald for last, but certainly NOT the least of the wrecks. Even so, this was an interesting book as it seems that the Lakes have their own weather systems and traits it takes a lifetime to learn and understand.
October 12, 2019
Some very big unnamed heroes stories are told in this book. Which were fascinating but there was a lot of redundancies in the book especially toward the end that made it a slower read and hard to finish. All the excitement was in the beginning of the book.
March 27, 2024
As in michigander I am in awe of these great iron vessels that are always around and always working. There hasn't been a large one to go down and quite some time so it's crazy to read about how common it was to lose ships and crew. Quite the dangerous endeavor.
August 20, 2024
Interesting stories but disjointed and poorly organized. First published in then reprinted in1977 with thin information about the Fitzgerald. Some repetition and self-indulgent writing that calls attention to itself.
November 3, 2024
I should buy more books as souvenirs. Each time I picked this book up, it reminded me of my trip to the U.P. of Michigan. It reminded me of kayaking on Lake Superior, and seeing shipwrecks in the waters near Pictured Rocks. The book was just okay, but the memories were great!
December 14, 2025
This book is quite dated. It does, however, provide information on the shipwrecks that have dotted the lakes and the tremendous loss of life as a result. The writing is not very good but you still get the sense that the lakes can turn quite violent.
October 27, 2017
Wonderful collection of true Great Lakes shipwreck stories. Written in a compelling way. Very enjoyable read.
September 8, 2018
Interesting information though at times a little dry.
August 6, 2020
Didn't finish it.
January 6, 2024
Beautiful writing in a book about maritime disasters.
January 27, 2024
Was obsessed with this book as a kid growing up near the Great Lakes
June 22, 2024
Great recounting of the major wrecks on the Lakes but not my writing style
October 17, 2020
An older book. 1st edition, 1960; 2nd edition 1977 and covers the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Author goes thru history of lost ships since western europeans came to the area.
Focused on the worst storms as of 1975, what happened and what happened to ships. Also addressed fire tragedies.
Tales of great rescues and survivors, and when all attempts failed.
Readable.
Got it when visiting Cleveland in August 2014.
Author goes thru history of lost ships since western europeans came to the area.
Focused on the worst storms as of 1975, what happened and what happened to ships. Also addressed fire tragedies.
Tales of great rescues and survivors, and when all attempts failed.
Readable.
Got it when visiting Cleveland in August 2014.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews