SS Edmund Fitzgerald, an American Great Lakes freighter, sank in Lake Superior November 10, 1975, during a storm, losing the entire crew of 29 men.
Launched in 1958, she was the largest ship on North America’s Great Lakes and is still the largest to have sunk there.
The story of the wreck became widely known because of the poignant song by Gordon Lightfoot.
You might like to hear it sung by Home Free.
When we visited Duluth, Minnesota, years ago, we enjoyed watching the big lakers come in at the Lift Bridge. A museum there also shows a film about what happened to the Fitzgerald. She was located in deep water on November 14, 1975, by a U.S. Navy aircraft and found soon afterwards to be in two large pieces.
Our American Stories also has a compelling twenty-minute audio about the doomed freighter, told by Ric Mixter of Lake Fury.
There’s a new book out called the Gales of November by John Bacon https://www.amazon.com/Gales-November-Untold-Edmund-Fitzgerald/dp/1324094648
Thank you, Darlene. Also a new documentary aby the same name.
Oh my goodness, Joy. I know Gordon Lightfoot’s song but always assumed the event happened long, long ago. Thanks for sharing and for the tune to start my day! 🥰
Vicki, it ran in my head much of the night!
I bet! And now I’m joining you! 😜❤️😜
My husband and I spent many a vacation riding our bicycles around northern Michigan and I can tell you that the energy where the Fitzgerald sank is positively eerie.
Annette, how fascinating!
Incredible story
Yes, haunting.
Thank you, Joy, for spotlighting the upcoming anniversary of this tragedy in rememberance of the 29 lost souls.
Haunting. And there have been so many of them.
As a person born in Michigan, the Edmund Fitzgerald story has always been a fascination. Thanks for the post.
Thanks, John. After we got back from our Duluth trip, I learned you can even track those big lakers on the internet.
A sad event in maritime history.
There are hundreds of them on the Great Lakes, Alan, but the song made this one famous.
The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald has definitely been interesting to me, Joy. I have been a big fan of Gordon Lightfoot. My wife and I saw him in concert three times. We also had tickets for another concert in 2020, but it was cancelled because of the COVID pandemic. My daughter bought me a hat with Edmund Fitzgerald on it.
No wonder you’re a fan!
As soon as I read the title of your post, Gordon Lightfoot’s song started playing in my head.
Probably for us all.