It’s hard to believe it’s been that long since the Edmund Fitzgerald, a 729-foot ore carrier, vanished in a furious storm on 10 November 1975, taking 29 souls with her.
The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned
When launched on June 7, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America’s Great Lakes, and a sensation when she was passing through.
The Fitzgerald’s legacy endures for many reasons.
Launched in 1958, it was the largest ship on the Great Lakes for its first 13 years. When it passed through the Soo Locks in northern Michigan, crowds gathered to watch and cheer.
Ernest McSorley was the Edmund Fitzgerald’s well-respected captain, who was looking forward to finally retiring at the end of the year.
Captain of the Fitzgerald, McSorley, 63, was born in Canada, but lived in Toledo. He was highly regarded for his skills, especially in heavy weather. He intended to retire after the 1975 shipping season and was survived by his wife, Nellie Pollock.
Eugene O’Brien was a Fitzgerald wheelman, and George Holl was the Edmund Fitzgerald’s chief engineer.
O’Brien, 50, was born in Minnesota and lived in Toledo. Nicknamed the “Great Lakes Gambler” O’Brien was a wheelman for the Fitzgerald. He was survived by his wife Nancy Ann Minarcin and son John.
…Holl, 60, of Cabot, Pennsylvania, about 35 miles from Pittsburgh, was the chief engineer. He was responsible for the proper operation and maintenance of all the Fitzgerald’s systems.
All of the crew’s names and a little bit about each of them can be found here.
The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too
‘Twas the witch of November come stealing
The dawn came late, and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashin’
When afternoon came, it was freezin’ rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind
…By late in the afternoon of November 10, sustained winds of over 58 mph were recorded by ships and observation points across eastern Lake Superior. The ship Arthur M. Anderson logged sustained winds as high as 67 mph at 4:52 p.m., while waves increased to as high as 25 feet by 6:00 p.m. Arthur M. Anderson was also struck by 81 to 86 mph gusts and rogue waves as high as 35 feet.
At approximately 7:10 p.m., when Arthur M. Anderson notified Edmund Fitzgerald of an upbound ship and asked how she was doing, Captain Ernest McSorley reported, “We are holding our own.” She was never heard from again. No distress signal was received, and ten minutes later, Arthur M. Anderson lost the ability either to reach Edmund Fitzgerald by radio or to detect her on radar…
The Arthur M. Anderson captain, while battling his own life or death situation, was frantic to hear from the Edmund Fitzgerald again.
…The storm that day, by any measure, was horrible. But despite boasting 90 mph winds and waves measuring 25 feet, the vessel, laden with taconite pellets and headed from Superior, Wis., to Detroit (and not Cleveland, as Lightfoot sang), should have been able to survive, according to many historians. Its captain was the experienced E.R. McSorley and it was being followed by another ship, the Arthur M. Anderson, which never heard a distress call.
When they got to port safely, and the Edmund Fitzgerald was not there, the Coast Guard asked the captain to turn the Arthur M. Anderson around and go looking for her, into the teeth of that horrific storm. The captain did so, thinking that they’d want someone to look for them, God forbid something had happened.
…The Coast Guard requested that the Anderson turn around after safely reaching port and search for the Fitzgerald, recalled Ed Belanger, 60, who was on board the ship. The storm was at its worst, he said, but the captain and crew all decided that if they were missing, they would hope another ship would do the same. The Anderson spent the next day and a half searching for the Fitzgerald.
“It was a complete white-out,” he told FoxNews.com. “Imagine being on a boat, and looking up and seeing water; that’s what it was like.”
The search for the Fitzgerald continued the following day on eastern Lake Superior about 17 miles from Whitefish Bay included two freighters, a pair of Coast Guard helicopters and two planes. As searches go, the weather was idyllic: the largest of all Great Lakes was mirror-flat and the gunmetal gray sky meant that there’d be little reflections off the lake named by French explorers “le lec superieur,” or “Upper Lake.”
Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they’d have made Whitefish Bay
If they’d put 15 more miles behind her
The Coast Guard believes one or more topside hatches may have blown off, causing the ship to take on water in the massive waves. The additional weight of the water on top of the tremendous cargo load then caused the ship to break in two.
The Visit Sault Ste. Marie media account has been Xweeting the Edmund Fitzgerald’s last radio transmissions as they happened on that ghastly night.
When you know how it ended, they are terrifying and heartbreaking to read, all at the same time.
Avafors: “What’s that, Fitzgerald? Unclear. Over.”
Fitzgerald: “I have a bad list, lost both radars. And am taking heavy seas over the deck. One of the worst seas I’ve ever been in.”
Avafors: “If I’m correct, you have two radars.”
Fitzgerald: “They’re both gone.”— Visit Sault Ste. Marie (@VisitTheSault) November 10, 2025
ONE OF THE WORST SEAS I’VE EVER BEEN IN
The Arthur M. Anderson had received a call from the Edmund Fitzgerald reporting they were taking on water, but that the vessel’s pumps were working and they didn’t feel there was any immediate danger.
THEY’RE BOTH GONE
The final transmission from the Edmund Fitzgerald will forever be a haunting reminder of what Lake Superior is capable of. pic.twitter.com/anQYyLlVII
— Visit Sault Ste. Marie (@VisitTheSault) November 9, 2025
The Coast Guard does not believe the crew had time to put on life jackets or board rafts.
The end came so violently, so quickly.
…The ship rests under 535 feet of cold Lake Superior water. Stonehouse said the wreck is on the Canadian side of the lake and the Canadian government has closed off all diving to preserve the ship and honor the crew members who rest there. In 1995, crews were able to retrieve the ship’s bronze bell.
And there the Edmund Fitzgerald rests to this day, in twisted pieces on the bottom.
For half a century the Fitz has laid on the bottom of Lake Superior just off Whitefish Point. pic.twitter.com/xW1BWIIJep
— Visit Sault Ste. Marie (@VisitTheSault) November 9, 2025
The Edmund Fitzgerald remains the largest freighter ever lost on the ‘inland seas.’
Yesterday, family members gathered at the Mariner’s Church of Detroit, the ‘Maritime Sailors Cathedral’ of Lightfoot’s ode. The church bells again chimed 29 times, and an extra one, for all the 30,000 plus lives lost in shipwrecks on the Great Lakes.
…The gales of November felt as though they came early again on the day prior to the anniversary of the sinking, as snow fell on Detroit early Sunday — but that did not stop families of the deceased sailors and community members from showing up to remember the lives lost.
In a memorial service hosted at the Mariners’ Church of Detroit, the church’s Octorara and Brotherhood Bells tolled 30 times — 29 for each member of the crew who died, and one final toll for all sailors who have died on the Great Lakes.
Many of the bell-ringers were family members of the crew members of the ship, and pastor of the Mariners’ Church Rev. Todd A. Meyer noted that many of the families are passing the practice of ringing the bell onto the next generation — families in attendance ranged from older adults to toddlers.
It’s a special breed that passes over those deceptive, often so treacherous waters for a living.
…And while Lightfoot’s song has certainly contributed to the staying power of the Edmund Fitzgerald in American culture, the story also holds significance to the identity of many in the Great Lakes region, especially those with ties to the shipping industry.
“They have this pride in the toughness that those folks had, and in the fact that our region has to be so tough in order to contribute to the rest of the world,” Stewart said.
And when Lightfoot died in 2023, the 30th chime was to honor him.
For the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Superior never did give up her dead.
And for the big lake they call Gitche Gumee, the legend lives on.
Even fifty years later.
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