The Great Lakes region will forever serve as a final resting place for countless crew members and passengers who lost their lives in the estimated 6,000+ shipwrecks that have been seized by Mother Nature. Perhaps one of the most famous of these shipwrecks is the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, which was named for the newly appointed president of North Western Mutual Life Insurance Company, Mr. Edmund Fitzgerald. Unfortunately, little is known about the life of Mr. Edmund Fitzgerald himself – as it would be curious to know if the ship and the man suffered “similar” fates.
The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was first commissioned on February 1st, 1957 and was to be built as one of the largest ships ever to grace the Great Lakes region. It took a little over a year for the completion of the ship; and it was christened on June 8th, 1958 by Mrs. Edmund Fitzgerald with a bottle of champagne. The ship measured in at 729 feet long and weighed 13,632 tons when empty.
The SS Edmund Fitzgerald would set sail on its maiden voyage on September 24th of that very same year under the command of Captain Bert Lambert. It would also set the record for the largest cargo ship ever to use the Soo Locks of Sault St. Marie.
Over the course of the next several years, the Fitzgerald would go through multiple captain changes. It would also collide with the walls of the Soo Locks several times, as well as collide with another ship – the SS Hochelaga on April 30th, 1970.
During the years of 1971 and 1972, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald would be converted to run on oil instead of coal. It would take 72,000 US gallons to run the doomed ship. That same year, in 1972 – Ernest M. McSorely would become the last captain the Fitzgerald would ever see.
It is estimated that the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank at approximately 7:30 p.m. on November 10th, 1975. The shipwreck is located 530 feet below the surface of Lake Superior, just 17 miles off the shore.
on July 4th, 1995 – the 200 pound bell from the Fitzgerald was raised to the surface and brought to Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan for restoration. It is currently on permanent display at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Paradise, Michigan – and it is run every year in honor of those who lost their lives aboard the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, as well as those who have lost their lives in the past to the furious, unforgiving waters of the Great Lakes.
There will be no more legal dives to the SS Edmund Fitzgerald – so that the ship and crew may forever lay at rest in their watery grave in Lake Superior.
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– The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum;
– WikiPedia; “SS Edmund Fitzgerald;”
– http://www.corfid.com/gl/wreck.htm
– http://www.ssefo.com
