ODBAL, it takes more balls to admit you were wrong. 
As for Gordon's version? I don't see ANYONE ever singing this song with as much passion and emotion as Gordon's original. He sang this almost from a "perspective of once being on the ship". There are odd times I'll hear this tune on the radio and I have to be cautious to focus, as this song has so much detail, your mind "recalls the night".
"Does any man know where the love of God goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?" It's hard to beat that for capturing a ship wreck.
I have not heard too many even attempt to cover it, and I do not know of many, if any, that could pull it off. It's one of those songs that just shouldn't be covered.