Arthur M. Anderson - In the Face of a Hurricane West Wind

Okay, not quite a hurricane! But I couldn't keep myself from quoting the Gordon Lightfoot song in the video title, not only because of the Arthur M. Anderson's connection to the Edmund Fitgerald sinking, but because of the very strong winds present during the Anderson's arrival... winds that were coming straight from the west, no less. This arrival in Duluth, Minnesota was recorded in the early afternoon of September 2, 2020. The 767-foot Anderson was bringing in a load of limestone to be off-loaded at the Hallett #5 dock.

The morning of September 2 had already been particularly windy, which could be seen and heard in my previous upload showing the BBC Thames. But just as the Arthur M. Anderson approached the entrance to the Duluth shipping canal, the wind speed suddenly increased with sustained gusts around 30-40mph. (The footage of the flag in the wind was actually taken before the wind speed suddenly jumped up.) Normally, ships will avoid going through the canal in winds of this magnitude, but two things were working in the Anderson's favor here. First, she was fully loaded and less susceptible to being blown off course. And second, she was meeting the wind head on. Had the wind been at her side, it would have posed a greater threat of pushing her into the piers. Even on a clear, sunny day, the weather on the lakes can still pose a danger!

As many here already know, the Arthur M. Anderson is closely associated with the sinking of the 729-foot Edmund Fitzgerald on the night of November 10, 1975. The Anderson was roughly 10 miles the Fitzgerald and was the last vessel to have both radio and visual contact with her. Indeed, the Anderson fought the same wind and waves that the Fitzgerald did. Visual contact between the ships was lost shortly after 7:00pm when a snow squall reduced visibility during the storm. When the snow cleared, the Fitzgerald could not be seen. Attempts to reach her on the radio also failed. And despite reaching the safety of Whitefish Bay shortly afterwards, the Anderson and her crew bravely turned around and went back into the storm to search for survivors. She was joined a short while later by the William Clay Ford in her search efforts. Both ships are fondly remembered for their bravery on that night. (Unfortunately, the William Clay Ford met her fate with the scrapper's torch in 1987.)

This was probably the windiest arrival I've captured to date in Duluth, and it was one of the few times I needed to use both hands to hold my tripod to the ground! I mostly kept this footage to wider angle shots, just because it would have been fruitless to try any close-up zooms. I didn't capture any footage of the Anderson after passing through the shipping canal, as I raced to Superior to watch another ship. As it turned out, that ship ended up going to anchor because it was too windy to attempt an entry into the harbor. (She later came in four hours later once the winds subsided.)

This is also the first video I've made with a nice, clear, close-up view of the Anderson's port side. After filming her starboard side in all previous videos I've made, it was nice to see her from a different vantage point. While nothing stopped me from recording her port side previously, I pick whatever side is best illuminated by the sunlight. This was the first time I saw her when the sun favored the port side.

Видео Arthur M. Anderson - In the Face of a Hurricane West Wind канала 1 Long 2 Short