Jeremy Armarndis, Senior Correspondent to Chancellor Neill's Office, RNN
FIRST CITY, REYDOVAN PRIME (7 December 2502): A Republic frigate, named after a legendary American ore carrier, has been lost with all hands under extremely mysterious circumstances on the outskirts of the Tiberius system.
The R.S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, named after the ore carrier which sunk in Earth's Lake Superior on November 10, 1975 (321 Pre-Empire Date), was a Chamberlain-class scout frigate commanded by Captain Joseph Maerker. Maerker, who was one of Admiral Joshua Underwood's star students at the Naval Academy, reported that he had encountered an unusual energy signature outside of the Tiberius system at about 7:15pm RST. Five minutes later, the Fitzgerald disappeared from the Republic sensor network. The wreckage was found three hours later near Tiberius Prime. The entire crew, including Captain Maerker, was found dead. Maerker and the 28 bodies not incinerated by the blast were placed in coffins draped by the Republic flag. The coffins were taken aboard the Atrus, Chancellor Jeremiah Neill's personal flagship, where they will be interred on Reydovan Prime.
Admiral Underwood examined the reports that the Fitzgerald's class had been built with many faults since the prototype, the Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, left Reydovan Prime on October 21, 2491. The Chamberlain's entire starboard side shattered under stress from the transwarp drive, killing most of its 600-man crew and Emperor Joshmaul's eldest son, Prince Azrael. Underwood had been in command of the Chamberlain when it exploded. On January 18, 2495, the I.S.S. Warspite, the test-bed for the Grazer Cannon, exploded when the cannon went into overload during testing in the Korolev Nebula asteroid belt, one-half lightyear outside of the Reydovan system. All but 41 were killed in the blast. Emperor Joshmaul himself had commanded the frigate, and was ushered off the ship by his flag captain when the overload was detected.
The remaining crew of the Warspite set a course for Reydovan Prime and fired off its thrusters. It was found near Reydovan III's first moon, Lecter, seven years later by Chancellor Underwood's Discovery Two. The Chancellor was taken hostage by the Imperial crew but was arrested by the Republic Guard when the ship reached Reydovan Prime. The Warspite's wreckage was placed in the Republic Aerospace Museum.
In memory of the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald - the American freighter as well as the Republic frigate - the Gordon Lightfoot song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" will be played in Republic Square tomorrow, where the funeral is being held.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called 'Gitche Gumee'
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
