For the 50th memorial anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald 🐹 🖤 🎗️ 🚢 🔔 🔔 🔔

"The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call 'Gitche Gumee'
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early."

~ The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Gordon Lightfoot, 1976


Fifty years ago today, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald—a proud American Great Lakes freighter—was lost to a fierce November storm on Lake Superior, sinking on November 10, 1975, and taking all 29 crew members with her.

Since that tragic night, maritime historians and investigators have continued to study the mystery of her fate. The Fitzgerald lies in two great sections, 530 feet down on the lakebed, about 17 miles north of Whitefish Bay.

Though the lake has never revealed the full story, modern studies suggest the Fitzgerald likely succumbed to a perfect convergence of forces: hurricane-force winds, towering “three-sisters” rogue waves, and rapid flooding that stole her stability in moments. Some still consider the possibility of a shoal strike or structural failure under extreme stress, but today most experts believe the storm itself marked the fate of the ship.

Each year, Mariners' Church in Detroit holds a solemn service in remembrance. As the names of the crew are read, the chapel bell tolls—one ring for each life lost aboard the Fitzgerald. In recent years, a thirtieth ring has been added, honoring the thousands of other sailors who perished in the Great Lakes’ more than 6,000 wrecks.

“Fair winds and following seas.”

Once heard, never forgotten - listen to Gordon Lightfoot's haunting ballad in the comments.

Wheek! Wheek! 🖤