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4h ago

50 Years On, Great Lakes Mark Edmund Fitzgerald Loss With Memorials and Renewed Scrutiny

Memorials highlight enduring uncertainty over why the freighter sank despite decades of investigation.

When the SS Edmund Fitzgerald left port on November 10, 1975, there was no way for the crew to know what they were sailing into.
The Edmund Fitzgerald measured 729 feet long and weighed 13,632 tons.
A life ring and life vest hang in an exhibit along with a painting of the Edmund Fitzgerald in rough Lake Superior waters in a display at the Lake Superior Maritime Museum Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2005, in Duluth, Minn. The Fitzgerald, an ore carrier, sank with its crew of 29 Nov. 10, 1975. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
FILE - The Fitzgerald in a 1959 file photo, with a crew of 28 to 30 men, was carrying a load of 26,216 tons of taconite pellets. (AP Photo, file)

Overview

  • Regionwide tributes included services at Detroit’s Mariners’ Church, public and private commemorations at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Whitefish Point, and a sold-out beacon lighting at Split Rock Lighthouse with livestreams for remote viewers.
  • The ship’s recovered 200‑pound bell, displayed at Whitefish Point, is rung 30 times each year—29 for the crew and one for all sailors lost on the Great Lakes.
  • Authorities still have no definitive cause; Coast Guard and NTSB reports in the late 1970s pointed to catastrophic flooding through failed hatch covers, while theories such as grounding damage, rogue waves, or structural failure continue to be debated.
  • The wreck lies in Canadian waters about 17 miles northwest of Whitefish Point at roughly 500–535 feet and has been a protected gravesite under Ontario’s Heritage Act since 2006, limiting dives without permits.
  • Experts note that improved forecasting, mapping and safety practices have reduced the risk of a similar tragedy, and new weather reanalyses reinforce that the 1975 storm’s winds and waves were exceptionally intense.