On this day 46yrs ago 11/10/1975 the SS Edmund Fitzgerald would falter and sink whilst batting a strong November storm on Lake Superior carrying a load of ore...She went down with all hands lost with her entire crew of 29 men...
On November 9, 1975, the Fitzgerald departed Superior, Wisconsin bound for Detroit’s Zug Island. Within 24 hours, the ship was battling hurricane force winds and waves up to 25 feet. The U.S. Coast Guard told ships out on the Great Lakes to seek safe harbor as the storm strengthened.
Captain Ernest McSorley’s last radio transmission stated he and his crew were “holding our own.” It was just a short time later the Fitzgerald vanished from radar only 17 miles from shore.
There has been speculation that the Edmund Fitzgerald broke in half on the surface as the bow and stern rode the crests of two large waves. However, the Coast Guard’s final report suggests the Fitzgerald instead nosedived into a large wave and was not able to recover and plunged to the bottom of Lake Superior in only seconds.
May the Crew Rest in Eternal Peace