The Edmund Fitzgerald - 10 November 1975

...the big lake they called "Gitche Gumee."

Today marks the 38th anniversary of the most famous shipwreck in the Great Lakes. 

On the evening of 10 November 1975, the freighter S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was approaching Whitefish Point, MI with a full load of taconite (iron ore) in a Lake Superior storm.   Despite the hurricane force winds, the ship did not appear to be under distress before it sank suddenly at 7:10 PM.  All twenty-nine men aboard the Edmund Fitzgerald perished aboard the ship.  To this day, the exact cause of the ship's sinking is unknown.

The ship was commemorated by Canadian singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot in his 1976 song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fizgerald".

The wreck site was visited by dive teams in 1989, 1995, and 1995 to survey the site and collect artifacts.  The ship's bell was recovered during the 1995 dive.  The bell was restored and now rests at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point, MI.

For more information on the Edmund Fitzgerald visit the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum website.