Overview
- Ric Mixter, author of Tattletale Sounds, says many of Gordon Lightfoot’s lyrics are inaccurate, including the nonexistent Chippewa legend, references to Wisconsin pelletizing mills, and the ship’s destination.
- He asserts the freighter was partially loaded and bound for Detroit from Superior, Wisconsin, contradicting the song’s description of a fully loaded run to Cleveland.
- Drawing on a 1994 dive and wreck analysis, Mixter argues the vessel likely broke on the surface after a large wave collapsed hatches one and six, a claim he links to a wave reported by the nearby Arthur M. Anderson.
- He notes the Coast Guard’s post-sinking actions, which found leaking hatches and widespread noncompliance on similar ore carriers and recommended reduced cargo and better hatch maintenance.
- New coverage also revisits the ship’s earlier reputation as a Great Lakes engineering standout, launched in 1958 at 729 feet with a roughly 26,000-ton capacity and nearly 750 round trips before the 1975 tragedy.