When did the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald sink?
The S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald departed from Superior Wisconsin on November 9, 1975 destined for Detroit, Michigan with Ernest McSorley as captain. The ship went down November 10, 1975 17 miles north northwest of Whitefish Point with a crew of 29. The depth of Lake Superior at the spot it sank is 535 feet. There were no survivors, no “mayday” calls. The ship was 729 feet long and weighed 13,632 tons. It carried a cargo of 26,116 tons of taconite (iron ore) pellets. It was launched at River Rouge Michigan on June 8, 1958. Earlier that year, the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company issued a press release. The company would “name its new Great Lakes bulk freighter the ‘Edmund Fitzgerald,’ for its newly-elected board chairman.” Edmund Fitzgerald’s grandfather John was one of six Fitzgerald brothers who were Great Lakes captains. The bell from the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was recovered on July 4, 1995. SOURCE: Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivors 910.453 R Detroit News October 29, 2000 p.1A
