Edmund Fitzgerald: The Shipwreck that Never Gave Up Its Dead
It has been 40 years since the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald sank under mysterious conditions into the depths of Lake Superior. The remains of the crew have never been recovered.
40 years ago today, in her 17th year and 40th voyage, the ore freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior, taking with her all 29 members of the crew. Once the longest freighter on the Great Lakes at 729 feet, the ship was torn in half during a storm on November 10, 1975 and plunged into the black depths before the crew could escape or send out a distress signal.
What sank the Fitzgerald? One of the prevailing theories is that it was hit by a series of three consecutive rogue waves, a phenomenon called “three sisters,” which was reported by another nearby ship.
It sank 17 miles from Whitefish Point on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, an area that has claimed at least 240 ships.
The wreck was discovered using a side scan sonar and other equipment four days later at a depth of 530 feet. The remains of the crew were never recovered.
More than 15,000 people attended the June 7, 1958 christening and launch of the Fitzgerald. The sight of the massive ship crashing into the water was so harrowing that one man died of a heart attack on the spot.
Lake Superior Never Gives Up Her Dead
Legend says that Lake Superior seldom gives up her dead. The average temperature of the lake is about 36 °F, cold enough to inhibit bacterial growth. Usually, bacteria will feed on a decaying body underwater and create gas, which causes the body to float back to the surface. In Lake Superior’s frigid temperatures, however, bodies tend to sink and never resurface.
One of the men was found for the first time in a landmark 1994 expedition. The remains were discovered outside the wreck, near the bow, “fully clothed, wearing an orange life jacket, and lying face down in the sediment.”
A number of memorials are held annually on November 10 to commemorate the lives lost on the Fitzgerald and the Great Lakes. Artifacts from the ship can be seen on display the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Whitefish Point near Paradise, Michigan, as well as the Dossin Great Lakes Museum in Detroit, and the Steamship Valley Camp museum in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
Is the video supposed to show a body in the bridge? I see nothing. Even searched for a photo of it, see nothing. I read the family was upset because the video showed their dead family member.
This song has always fascinated me. Don’t know if he wrote the lyrics and composed the music but it is fantastic. But for some reason I always thought it was just made up. Never thought it was a real occurrence. I guess the internet is good for something. That is some cold water. I have been on a lake with water temp at 40 deg. F. God rest the souls of the Captain and crew. Does anyone know how to find the ships manifest giving crew and captain names?
They left the body in it’s resting place, with his mates and his ship, so it was never ‘recovered’. What would be the point of hauling it back to the surface?
To identify who it is and give closure to his family.
Gordon Lightfoot wrote the lyrics and music, when he heard about the wreck and was moved to commemorate those who died.
I’m a bit confused. The article says no remains of the crew were ever recovered but then in 1994 a body was discovered.
The remains are not recovered. The wreck and the bodies were discovered but they were never brought up. The site is their grave.
1975 side scan sonar was not a common item for coast guard or anyone else to have. It was pretty new technology back then. I lived in that area at the time. Not much money went into water transportation safety.
The wreck was later “surveyed” (limited though it was by the technology of the day) by the CURV3 unit, on loan from the US Navy. Still, there was no comparison with the later quality of video and the ability to maneuver with modern mini-submarines. I remember hearing the Gordon Lightfoot ballad as a kid in the car , riding with my dad and it basically scaring the $@it out of me for some reason. In retrospect, the slide-guitar part probably did it.
why did take almost 4 days to set up the side scan sonar?
Did you read the part about there being a monster storm going on?
And it wasn’t a rescue mission at that point so why the rush. At that point it’s an investigation and you don’t rush an investigation( of course unless there is pressure to save lives) .And the ship, unfortunately, wasn’t going anywhere at that point. That storm still raged for days.