Edmund Fitzgerald November 10, 2010 George "Red" Burgner

My daughter and I donated this flag and other items that my Dad had requested to the Corp of Engineers museum next to the Ariel Bridge in Duluth, Minnesota in 2005.

Michelle R. Burgner, granddaughter of George "Red" Burgner, had a senior paper due in English class that was a persuasive essay. She requested to do the report on the Edmund Fitzgerald and her report follows.
I proceeded to go through all of my Dad's material for her report. Enough resources were available but we were missing some items. My wife and daughter found Roscoe Clark's web site and saw material on the site that was new and quite interesting. Contacting Roscoe, we spoke for over three hours about the Edmund Fitzgerald and about Red's passion about this boat, its sinking, and demise.
I contacted Pam Johnson, daughter of Robert Rafferty the Executive Chef who was filling in for my Dad during his surgery and time off. Our discussion was emotional and a blessing for me that she did not blame my Dad for not showing up for work. I will never know her family's pain and suffering from this event and she moved me to tears for her loss. Thank-you Pam.
Sadly, George "Red" Burgner passed away in an automobile accident in 2002 and his passion and dream to tell his version of why this mighty ship sank will have to be just that, "a passion and dream". Hopefully, other explorers will use his material to help determine the "real" cause of why this vessel sank.
George was a hard worker, took pride in his work, and taught me to "Always do the job right". He was quick to correct me, but was patient enough to show me what I did wrong and how to fix it. He spoke his mind and was upfront and straight with anyone he met.
He was ship keeper on the Edmund Fitzgerald during the winter months at Frasier Shipyards in Superior, Wisconsin. George was the only company representative onboard to oversee repairs made on the boat by the shipyard crew, including inspections, and repairs which he was involved in.
I was 14 years old, working on the Edmund Fitzgerald at Frasier Shipyards. Our job was painting the crew quarters bedrooms, bathrooms, and showers on the aft end. Dad and I would set up electric heaters to warm up the rooms so the paint would stick to the walls. It was so cold in Superior in December through March. I worked on the Edmund Fitzgerald assisting my Dad's ship keeping duties in those winter months until I was 17. My two sisters and I had the opportunity to take some 5-day trips with him from Silver Bay, Minnesota to Toledo, Ohio as well.
We moved to Texas in the summer of 1973. My Dad's other passion was horses and he purchased a 40 acre ranch in East Texas to fulfill this dream. I was not interested in these animals, but spent time cross fencing, tree cutting, barn building, and fixing the place up.
I pursued a career in the oil field industry, working offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. I will be celebrating my 30th year with a Major Oil Company in April of 2008.
In closing, I have read articles and found web sites that talked negatively about my Dad. This saddens me deeply. His efforts an ambition was to bring the truth forward about why this tragic event happened. He wanted his crewmembers and families to be taken care of by Oglebay Norton Transportation. In his mind they were not.
My daughter's report brought all this back to me. I wanted to just share my thoughts and hopefully not offend anyone with my comments or her report.

Respectfully,
Jeff George Burgner
Michelle R. Burgner

A newspaper article written by George Braatz with the Toledo Blade in the late 60's had some interesting things to say about George "Red" Burgner. Two poems from some guests that rode the Edmund Fitzgerald write:

"The cook of the crew is a man named Red.
His second's Al and his Porter is Fred.
Their food and service cannot be found
In any restaurant in the world around."

"And Red, bless his soul,
A bundle of laughs and heart of gold,
Who has fed us with gourmet meals
Galore
So that we will all have to be rolled ashore."
Michelle Burgner

S. Farrell

English 1301

December 7, 2007

The Mystery of the Edmund Fitzgerald
To some people, November 10, 1975, was a day of great tragedy and significant loss of twenty-nine men in the sinking of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior. To most of the nation, this was an ordinary day and people are clueless as to why it is a devastating day in history. The "Fitz" and its crew disappeared that stormy night with no trace of its wreckage until it was discovered four days later. Gordon Lightfoot's song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" memorializes what happened that awful night the ship and her crew went down. What caused the sinking of the "Fitz" is one of the most controversial topics even to this day. Many theories have been discussed; however, one theory made by my Papa, George "Red" Burgner, who was the executive chef, chief steward, and ship keeper, gave convincing evidence of what the real explanation for its demise, and why his theory has been kept secret for so long.
The 729-foot ore carrier S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was considered to many as the "Queen of the Great Lakes." She was first launched in 1958 where she became renowned for her record-breaking speed and of the massive weight she could haul. She was known as the largest freighter on the Great Lakes (Temple). The captain and his crew worked hard to get their names in the record books (Jackson). The ship set sail November 9th, 1975, with 26,000 tons of taconite pellets at the Burlington Northern Docks and departed from Duluth-Superior, Wisconsin at 2:30 p.m. headed for the Zug Island Steel Plant on the Detroit River. In tow behind the Edmund Fitzgerald was the S.S. Arthur M. Anderson. This voyage was the final trip of the year for the ship before it was to be stored at the docks for the harsh winter. In a matter of hours, a heavy storm came through Lake Superior bringing strong winds and dangerous tides. The storm escalated into freezing rain and snow showers with gale-force winds. Some reports stated that the winds reached 100 miles per hour at times and there was blizzard-like snow. This storm was considered to be the "fiercest storm of the year" (Temple). Captain McSorley of the Fitzgerald reported several minor damages to the S.S. Arthur M. Anderson, but no problems were too tough for the ship to handle. At about 7:10 p.m., McSorley reported, "We're holding our own," to the captain of Arthur M Anderson (Temple). That was the last transmission received from the "Fitz." Shortly after that, the Edmund Fitzgerald disappeared from radar screens and radio calls went unanswered (Temple). Many ships, including the Arthur M. Anderson and the U.S. Coast Guard, searched for survivors, but none were found, and no bodies were recovered. All that was discovered were two pieces of the Fitzgerald's lifeboats, life preserver, raft, and stepladder. The search continued for three more days before the ship was finally located by a Navy plane seventeen miles from the ships destination (Nolan). The ship now lays 530 feet deep on the bottom of Lake Superior divided into two pieces (Jackson).
The big mystery for more than thirty years has been the cause of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. This has resulted in many theories. Three theories have been considered to be the most reasonable and accurate. The first theory stated that the cargo hold suffered major flooding due to the hatch not being closed sufficiently. Photographs taken of the sunken ship show little or no damage done to the hatches. These photographs lead investigators to question whether the hatches were even latched to begin with. A second theory was that the Edmund Fitzgerald passed over Caribou Island's "Six Fathom Shoal," which is a rocky plateau rising from the lake's bottom an estimated twenty-six feet from the lake's surface. Some have concluded that the Fitzgerald passed too close to this plateau. Records show that other ships that traveled that day chose to take a route that stayed further west of this shoal. If the Fitzgerald were to have hit the shoal, this would have been a reasonable explanation of the bad list, which is an imbalance of the ship, and the severe deck damage. After underwater expeditions to the sunken ship, no evidence of damage has been found on the rudder or propeller, which would be easily noticed on the overturned stern of the ship. The last reasonable theory considered is that the Fitzgerald sank because of a stress fracture. If this theory were true, the ship may have broken apart on the waters surface from the waves twisting the keel or the hull, which is the frame of the ship. This theory was disregarded because there are no underwater photographs that show any sign of a stress fracture. Perhaps the most unlikely theory of the cause of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald is the idea that the ship was engulfed by the "Three Sisters" from the heavy storm. The "Three Sisters" were a pair of large waves that covered the decks of the boat that were followed by a third wave that simply took the "Fitz" down to the bottom (Bishop). This theory can be easily disproved because there were four other ships traveling nearby in the same severe weather, and they did not sink because of the "Three Sisters" (Burgner).
George "Red" Burgner knew everything there was to know about the Edmund Fitzgerald after taking care of her for ten years. He was the ship keeper whose duty was to stay with the ship while she was docked during the three harsh winter months for maintenance and repairs. George was to oversee all work that was done on her and document it. He was the only Oglebay Norton employee that knew of all work that was done on her (Burgner). He believed the reason the "Fitz" sank was because the keel, considered to be the backbone of the ship, was loose. George described,
Her keel was so loose it used to scare us. There were times it would sway from side to side. The reason the keel was loose was because it was tack-welded during construction, not completely welded as to specifications. On several occasions, we would pull the hull back with a crowbar, and we could see the welding rods. (Temple)
He was not on the ship for this last trip of the year due to being out on sick leave. When he was released by his doctor, he could not decide whether to join his crew on the voyage or stay at home as his wife had begged him to. Little did he know in making the decision to stay home with his family that his life was spared from a horrible tragedy. After George found out about the terrible catastrophe and loss of his co-workers, his main concern was the well-being of the families of the crewmembers. George spoke with the Oglebay Norton Company after the accident. They knew that he had privileged information about the repairs of the ship that no one else would have known. He told them that as long as they took care of the families and treated them right, he would keep his mouth shut about the lack of proper maintenance on the Edmund Fitzgerald. George and the company knew that if the public were to find out about the serious lack of maintenance, this would result in all fingers pointing to Olgebay Norton Company in not taking action to make sure inspections were made on a regular basis to assure the safety of the ship and its crew. Oglebay Norton promised George that they would take care of the families of its lost crewmembers. George finally came forward when he received a letter from the wife of a dead crewmember stating that the company had not done anything to help her or the other families (Temple). Some families did not agree and questioned George's theory because he had kept quiet for so long. Olgebay Norton turned against George and tried to discredit him. The company executives met with George in Dallas and sternly instructed him to stay in Texas and not to contact anyone up North where he once lived. They knew that he had damaging evidence and wanted to keep him quiet. This upset George and led him to further realize that the company was not keeping their word to take care of these families (Burgner). This stirred up a lot of controversy, and questions began to be directed toward Olgebay Norton in a negative way. George was given his chance to tell all he knew and help his fallen comrades when several families chose to sue Olgebay Norton for the loss of their loved ones, and was contacted by their attorney (Temple). George gave an official deposition with security guards on each side of him. All his documentation and his eyewitness accounts of substandard maintenance were discussed and documented. Due to George's testimony, Oglebay Norton chose to settle with these families for an unspecified amount which was not the amount that the families deserved (Burgner).
Without any survivors, investigating what truly happened that November night is all the more difficult. Hopefully, everyone will soon learn the real reason as told by George Burgner why the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was lost that night. There have been many historians and shipwreck explorers who have had many lengthy conversations about the sinking of the ship with George since he was the only living crew member of the "Fitz" (Burgner). There have been organized dives by explorers down to the wreckage to look for more evidence to solve the mystery of the loss of this great ship and its crewmembers (Jackson). In my personal opinion, George "Red" Burgner knew the true reason why the "Fitz" sank that night. He was the only crewmember of the ship that was alive after it sank to verify the mishandling of the maintenance of the ship and the wrongdoings of the company that owned it. The company tried to hide their neglect in proper care for the ship and safety for its crewmembers. The remains of the crewmembers and wreckage of the Fitzgerald will forever remain 530 feet below the surface of Lake Superior, as this is their final resting place. The families have requested that the wreckage lay undisturbed where the crew can rest in peace at sea. As Gordon Lightfoot's song says, "Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?" explains how the families waited for word of their loved ones and hoped for their return. The minutes and hours has turned into over thirty years of waiting to find out what officially happened that cold, wintry night on Lake Superior. (Farnquist). Some day in the near future, my Papa's explanation on the mysterious sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald will be proven true by his convincing evidence, testimony, and knowledge.

Works Cited
Bishop, Hugh E. "Edmund Fitzgerald." Lake Superior Oct.- Nov. 2000. 2 Dec. 2007 <http://lakesuperior.com/online/225/225fitz.html>.
Burgner, Jeff G. Personal Interview. 2 Dec. 2007.
Farnquist, Thomas L. "Requiem for the Edmund Fitzgerald." National Geographic Jan. 1996: 36-47.
Jackson, Irvin L. "Shipwreck Stirs Emotions." Times Herald 11 Nov. 1995: 1A+12A.
Nolan, Jenny. "The Fateful Voyage of the Edmund Fitzgerald." The Detroit News. 19 Dec. 2002. 1 Dec. 2007 <l>.
Temple, Monica. "Twist of Fate Kept Nacogdoches Man off Doomed Ship." The Free Press 12 Oct. 1989: 1-2.