One of the worst nautical disasters in recent American history is the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald. On November 10, 1975, the “storm of the century” threw 100 mile-per-hour winds and 50-foot waves on Lake Superior. The ship found itself at the worst possible place, at the worst possible time. When she sank, she took all 29 men onboard down with her, leaving the tragedy shrouded in mystery for a half century.

The sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald is so strange because the ship was exceptionally large and strong, and would normally be able to shrug off storms like this. At 75 feet wide and 729 feet long, the Fitzgerald was at the time of her launch the largest ship on the lakes, and she repeatedly broke her own records for the largest loads, the fastest runs, and the biggest season hauls throughout her career. She was a champion heavyweight, sprinter, and workhorse, all in one.

To make the sinking stranger, she suddenly disappeared in a bad storm on Lake Superior without sending any distress calls despite having a massive modern radio system. The most widely accepted theories for the disaster include the ship hitting a shoal, suffering a structural failure like a broken back, or being overwhelmed by massive "three sisters" rogue waves.

However, some less common and conspiracy-like theories suggest the crew did not properly close the hatch covers, the ship was actually split by a UFO, or that it was the victim of a secret Coast Guard experiment gone wrong.

Todays’ guest is John Bacon, author of “The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” We explore the vital role Great Lakes shipping played in America’s economic boom, the uncommon lives the sailors led, the sinking’s most likely causes, and the aftermath for those left behind.

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Over the course of World War II, Germany’s submariners sank over three thousand Allied ships, nearly three-quarters of Allied shipping losses in all theaters of the war. Winston Churchill famously declared the only thing that truly frightened him during World War II was the U-boat threat. But the treat was more imagined than real. The actual capability of the German Navy was somewhat limited. Some historians think that the Germans would have been better off in WWII if they had built no navy at all and devoted those resources to the army and the Luftwaffe. In the process the submariners endured horrific conditions and suffered a 75 percent death rate, the highest of any arm of service in the conflict.

The campaign began with daring, high-profile successes that fostered a dangerous overconfidence, most notably the sinking of the HMS Royal Oak in 1939 by U-47, which killed 835 British crewmen. Yet, despite these early victories—when the U-boat wolfpacks inflicted devastating losses on weakly defended Allied convoys—the force was never able to maintain the scale needed for a knock-out blow. By the time Germany had sufficient numbers, the industrial and military might of the United States, coupled with increasingly effective Allied countermeasures, had already passed the U-boat's moment of maximum threat. As the war progressed, the elite, superbly trained pre-war crews were wiped out and replaced by those with less training, leading to a steady deterioration in effectiveness.

Today’s guest is Roger Moorhouse, author of “Wolfpack: Inside Hitler’s U-Boat War.” We look at how Germany’s U-boat campaign challenged British naval supremacy and brought international trade to its knees. We follow the story of these U-Boat crews from the enthusiasm of the war’s early days, buoyed with optimism about their cause, through the challenges of the Allied counterthreat, to the final horrors of enemy capture and death in the depths.

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America’s growth from a rugged frontier nation to the globe’s industrial superpower in the space of 100 years can be explained by one word: coal. Before coal dominance, American buildings were defined by height limits imposed by stonework. The tallest building in the 1830s was Baltimore’s 235-foot tall Phoenix Shot Tower. Transportation also worked poorly without coal. The early wood-fired 4-4-0 locomotives struggled with top freight speeds around 15 mph and pulling trains of approximately 450 tons. The transition to coal and cheap steel enabled the steel-supported 555-foot Washington Monument and allowed massive coal-fired trains to achieve express passenger speeds up to 100+ mph and haul loads over 4,000 tons.

For a century the entire world was dependent on coal. It powered railroads, built urban skylines, and provided warmth, light, and power for families rich and poor. Although the American economy soared, society unknowingly suffered from coal’s debilitating health and environmental impacts. Skies were so dirty that on some days, visibility was limited to a few feet. Coal miners frequently died from cave-ins, explosions, or contracting black lung. Towns like Centralia in Illinois were fundamentally destroyed by an underground fire started in 1962 that continues to burn.

Today’s guest is Bob Wyss, author of “Black Gold: The Rise, Reign, and Fall of American Coal.” We look at a range of figures that were part of coal’s story, from a largely unknown and unrecognized Pennsylvanian inventor who helped spark the Industrial Revolution to a prominent society clubwoman who clashed with the powerful coal forces in Utah that were fouling the air and sickening residents. It also includes clashes between powerful tycoons, coal miners, and the American public.

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