Edmund Fitzgerald

One of the more tragic shipwrecks in recent history is the lost of the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975. It was an ore carrying freighter that sank on Lake Superior on a stormy night in November of 1975, taking all hands with her to the deep.

The Edmund Fitzgerald was a large ore carrying freighter traveling across Lake Superior in November of 1975. She was thought to be a stout and hearty ship, and the 29 crewmembers on board were thought to be some of the best trained crew on the Great Lakes.

It is not known for sure what caused the Edmund Fitzgerald to sink. Some think it was the sheer volume of the waves and the height of the storm. There is also evidence that some of the shipping hold doors on board the freighter failed, which allowed water from Lake Superior to wash aboard and into the holds, causing the eventual sinking of the ship.

The loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald is one of the more famous ship wrecks in history, it has been commemorated by a famous song by singer Gordon Lightfoot, and the legend of the ship lives on, both in the memories of the families of the crewmembers, and in the famous Lightfoot song, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”

The Edmund Fitzgerald went down between 710pm and 730pm on November 10th, 1975, and there were no direct witnesses to the loss. There were other ships on the Lake Superior that day, one was several miles behind the Edmund Fitzgerald and following its path.

The Lake Superior waves that way were up to 12 feet over the ships main deck, and while the direct cause of the loss of the ship is still not known, the wreckage has been declared a National Memorial site. 

The bell of the Edmund Fitzgerald was raised and is part of a memorial to the brave 29 crewmembers that lost their lives that tragic November day in 1975.