The Edmund Fitzgerald

Today was the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. The ship was an iron ore carrier, 222m long. At the time it was the largest ship on the Great Lakes, and the flagship of the Columbia Transportation fleet. One of its nicknames is the Titanic of the Great Lakes.

Sailors who have worked on both the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean say that Lake Superior is more deadly than the oceans. Storms can appear rapidly, and can be extremely intense. On November 10th 1975, the Edmund Fitzgerald was battered by 10m waves and winds over 100km/h. It was fully laden with taconite, on the way to Detroit.

The Fitzgerald headed towards Whitefish Bay, between Michigan and Ontario, to take shelter. Both the short range and long range radar had been lost to the storm, and to make things worse the lighthouse at Whitefish Point was out, as was its radio beacon.

It’s not known exactly what happened, but the ship sank. The average temperature of the surface water of Lake Superior in November is around 8°C; survival time in water that cold is a little over 2 hours in good conditions. The entire 29 member crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald perished.

So each year on November 10th, locations around the Great Lakes mark the anniversary with a solemn ceremony. Locally this takes place at Split Rock Lighthouse; the lamp is lit, the Mariners’ Hymn is sung, and the Muster of the Last Watch is called — each crew member’s name is read out, and a bell is tolled to indicate their absence.

You can watch the ceremony on YouTube. There’s also a documentary about the Edmund Fitzgerald from WDIV Detroit.