35th Anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Just like most of us, I love a good Gordon Lightfoot song and like most of us, when you think of Gordon Lighfoot’s songs, the first one that comes to mind is "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald". Well Wednesday November 10th was the 35th anniversary of the day the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in Lake Superior. To hear one of the best story songs ever, click here. I stumbled upon an article that recaps the fatal voyage, to read it all please click here. It is an interesting read and I wasn’t aware that the Captain was set to retire as soon as the huge cargo ship docked in Detroit. But Captain Ernest McSorely and his 28 man crew never made it to Detroit.

The wreck shook the Great Lakes shipping industry to its core. To this day, 35 years later, freighters won't get underway on Lake Superior if there's a storm in the forecast. No one truly knows what happened to the ship, but The Fitzgerald's remains still lie in Canadian waters just off Whitefish Point. Canadian law regards the wreck as a grave site and prohibits pleasure dives to it, and scientific dives require a legitimate forensic purpose and permission from the families. So the mystery continues to grow. On November 10th every year, a memorial service is held at Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point not to far from where the wreckage lies. In honor of the men who were lost, the original bell is rung once on this day. The bell was the only thing salvaged from the ship and was replaced with a replica bell that had each crew member’s name engraved on it.

RIP Edmund Fitzgerald