The SS Edmund Fitzgerald did not have any survivors of the 1975 sinking in the frigid waters of Lake Superior. If there had been one, his story may have sounded a lot like Dennis Hale’s - the only crewman to survive the sinking of the SS Daniel J Morrell nine years earlier. Hale is coming to Rhode Island for his first time, to share his unbelievable survival story.
Like the Edmund Fitzgerald, the Daniel J Morrell was a Great Lakes freighter that went down in a large November storm. The Morrell broke in half in Lake Huron during 65 MPH gale force winds, rain, ice and 30 foot waves. And while both ships had crews of 29 men, only one man can tell the horrific tale of certain death -- yet miraculous survival. Being tossed into the frigid waters as the ship sank, then being exposed on a raft for 38 hours in brutal winter conditions.
Hale tells his story, recently recounted in his book Shipwrecked: Reflections of the Sole Survivor, on May 17 in Newport. Presented by Steamship Historical Society of America, of which Hale is a long time member, Hale will be the keynote speaker of the annual SSHSA banquet and awards dinner at the Atlantic Beach Club.
The event is open to the public; tickets are $75 and include dinner and a cocktail hour opportunity to meet the author.
sshsa.org
