Divers retrieved the bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald and it is a centerpiece of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. A replica, engraved with the names of the 29 lost crew members, rests with the freighter in Lake Superior

On a stormy November evening half a century ago, the crew of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, 29 men who thought they were on the last run of the season, made the last run of their lives.

Wheelsmen. Deckhands. Oilers. Engineers. Porters. Maintenance men. Cooks. Mates. Watchmen. Wiper. Cadet. Captain. Fathers. Brothers. Husbands. Grandfathers. Sons. Uncles. Friends.

All hands were lost when the 729-foot freighter, loaded with iron ore pellets called taconite, was swallowed by Lake Superior on November 10, 1975 en route from Superior, Wisconsin (twin port city to Duluth, Minnesota), to Detroit.

After hours of sailing through the storm, at 7:10 p.m. the Fitzerald’s veteran Captain Ernest M. McSorley radioed the captain of the Arthur M. Anderson, an ore carrier trailing the Fitz by about 10 miles and said, “We are holding our own.”

There was no further communication from, and no other sighting of, the lake boat, the largest of its kind when it launched on the Detroit River in 1958.

S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald on the Detroit River in 1960 (Detroit Historical Society photo)

Officially the reason for the sinking of the Fitzgerald in Canadian waters about 17 miles off the Upper Peninsula “remains a mystery,” according to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point, where her bell is displayed.

In his 1976 ballad “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot referenced speculation that the crew had been at fault for not correctly battening down the hatches. But Lightfoot later changed that line of his lyrics because a Canadian documentary claims to have proven that the sinking was not the crew’s doing.

Just know that there are other criticisms of the lyrics and Lightfoot taking poetic license with facts now known about the tragic event.

There are countless versions of the song available online; for the official audio of “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” CLICK HERE

BoatNerd, a website about Great Lakes freighters and shipping, has more information about the Fitzgerald as well as the story behind Lightfoot’s ballad.  CLICK HERE

Books, videos, articles and additional websites about “Big Fitz” reflect the continuing fascination with the greatest modern shipwreck in U.S. waters; this website is an excellent resource.

NEW FOR THE 50th ANNIVERSARY

Several new documentaries explore different aspects of the tragic loss of 1975, including the importance of shipping on the Great Lakes.

The Edmund Fitzgerald, a 70-minute documentary from Detroit’s WDIV TV, aka Click on Detroit, is available to watch on the station’s YouTube channel. CLICK HERE 

Fox6 Milwaukee‘s Gales of November: The Final Voyage of the Edmund Fitzgerald, is on YouTube; CLICK HERE

Discover Wisconsin, a travel and tourism television series from Dairyland, has produced The 50-Year Mystery of The Edmund Fitzgerald, an hour-long documentary that premieres on the show’s YouTube channel at 8 p.m. (Central Time) on Monday, November 10. CLICK HERE for the trailer

An accompanying half-hour Discover Wisconsin episode airs on Monday evening across Wisconsin as well as in Superior/Duluth, Minnesota and Marquette, Michigan. CLICK HERE for this special programming info

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald: The Full Story, is a nearly two-hour program from Part-Time Explorer on YouTube; CLICK HERE

THE 20th ANNIVERSARY DOC

Available on YouTube shared by Worden Entertainment, you can find the Discovery Channel’s 1995 Shipwreck: The Mystery of the Edmund Fitzgerald CLICK HERE

CEREMONY FOR FAMILY MEMBERS LIVESTREAMED FOR PUBLIC

The Edmund Fitzgerald went down in Superior’s waters about 17 miles from Whitefish Point. The lighthouse is on the grounds of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum

In November of each year Great Lakers attend ceremonies that recognize not only the Edmund Fitzgerald but all mariners lost on Lakes Superior, Huron, Ontario, Erie and Michigan.

Several years ago, following an Edmund Fitzgerald ceremony along the Detroit River, I was able to chat at the (now closed) River Rouge Bar & Grill with Fred Shannon (since deceased), a scuba diver who explored the Fitzgerald site, and Pam Johnson, daughter of Robert Rafferty, the cook on the ill-fated voyage.

One ceremony reserved for Fitzgerald family members only will be held at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Lake Superior’s Whitefish Point near Paradise.

It begins at 7 p.m. on the 10th, and the public may view it live; CLICK HERE for the 7 p.m. Livestream Link

Mariners’ Memorial Lighthouse on the Detroit Riverfront in River Rouge is near the Edmund Fitzgerald launch site, which happened in 1958. Click here for a brief film clip of the Detroit River launch of the Fitzgerald on June 7, 1958.

But wait, there’s more:

Read the article commemorating the 50th anniversary in “For the Twenty-Nine” by Heather Steinberger in Lakeland Boating magazine’s November/December issue.

Read “The Legend Lives On,” Susan R. Pollack’s story in Experience Michigan magazine about the Edmund Fitzgerald and her encounter at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum with Fran Gabor, niece of one of the lost sailors. (Found at pages 46-47.)

For more about the Fitzgerald, spend time exploring the extensive information at S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald Online, the website maintained by Timothy McCall.

50 years after the Fitzgerald was lost, interest in the tragedy remains high at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum

Story and photos (unless otherwise noted) copyright Kath Usitalo.