The S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, the ship immortalized in Gordon Lightfoot’s song, sank in a powerful storm on Lake Superior 48 years ago this month. The freighter, which was the largest ship on the Great Lakes at the time, went down on November 10, 1975, resulting in the loss of all 29 crew members. The tragedy has since become one of the most well-known shipwrecks in American history, largely due to Lightfoot’s song that vividly describes the ship’s final moments. A dive in 1995 to recover the ship’s bell captured footage of the wreck lying 535 feet below the surface of Lake Superior.
The Edmund Fitzgerald was commissioned by Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee and the Great Lakes Engineering Works of Ecorse, Michigan, with the intention of being the largest bulk carrier on the Great Lakes. It was launched in June 1958 and named after the president and chairman of Northwestern Mutual. The ship remained the largest vessel on the Great Lakes until 1971, measuring 729 feet in length and weighing 13,632 gross tons. It primarily traveled between Silver Bay, Minnesota, and the Detroit and Toledo area.
On November 9, 1975, the Fitzgerald departed Superior, Wisconsin, carrying over 25,000 tons of taconite pellets to Detroit, Michigan. The ship set sail amid the brewing storm, with Captain Ernest M. McSorley opting to take a northerly course across Lake Superior, hoping that the highlands on the Canadian shore would provide some protection. However, the weather quickly deteriorated, with winds reaching 50 knots and waves reaching 16 feet.
Around 3:30 p.m. on November 10, Captain McSorley reported damage on the Fitzgerald, informing Captain Bernie Cooper of the Arthur M. Anderson, which was in radio contact with the Fitzgerald. McSorley mentioned a fence rail down and damaged vents. The crew of the Anderson attempted to track the Fitzgerald’s path on radar but struggled due to the extreme waves. The last contact from the Fitzgerald came at approximately 7:10 p.m., and it disappeared from radar shortly after. All 29 crew members perished, with the Anderson later finding the Fitzgerald’s lifeboats in the water.
The Coast Guard conducted an extensive search for the missing ship in the days following the storm. While some wreckage was located, it wasn’t until the following year that officials confirmed the location of the wreck, discovering the ship’s stern 535 feet beneath the surface of Lake Superior. Investigators determined that the Fitzgerald was in an extremely treacherous position at the time of the sinking.
Each November, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point holds a memorial service to honor the lives lost in the tragedy. The Edmund Fitzgerald remains a haunting symbol of the dangers faced by sailors on the Great Lakes.
