THIS DAY IN HISTORY-NOVEMBER 10, 1975

A Modern Great Lakes Ship Vanishes Without A Trace

The S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald-A Great Lakes Mystery and Tragedy

Photo is of one of the mangled lifeboats from the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald. Photo by author

Perhaps it was the haunting melody of the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot starting my fascination with the shipwreck of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald. On November 10, 1975, the 13-year-old ship was on her last trip of the season when she hit the “gales of November” and sank with a loss of 29 souls into the darkness of Lake Superior.

Growing up in Toledo, I remember the shock of the community when the mighty “Fitz” went down. Several of her crew were from Toledo. The freighter was one of the largest and fastest on the Great Lakes. At 13 years, she was considered in her prime, and radar and weather technology reliably prevented maritime tragedies of this sort. The Great Lakes shipping industry was devastated by the loss of the crew and the Fitzgerald.

Her normal runs were between Silver Bay, Minnesota to steel mills in the Detroit and Toledo area. She left on November 9, 1975 to transport a load of taconite pellets (iron ore) to the Detroit area. She was “fully loaded” which kept her deeper in the water with a smoother ride.