Forty years ago today, on November 10, 1975, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank under the waters of Lake Superior. All 29 of her crew perished the evening. The people of the Great Lakes area will never forget, and are holding their annual memorial service today. The wreck was enshrined in many minds because of the Gordon Lighfoot song about it. But there’s plenty more to learn about the Edmund Fitzgerald, like,
1. IT WAS THE LARGEST SHIP ON THE GREAT LAKES.
The large cargo vessels that roamed the five Great Lakes were known as lakers, and the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was, at the time, the biggest ever built. It was constructed as a “maximum sized” bulk carrier and spanned 729 feet—the first laker to reach that length—sat 39 feet high with a width of 75 feet, and weighed more than 13,000 tons without cargo. It was christened on June 8, 1958, and made its first voyage on September 24 the same year.
5. "THE FITZ" WAS WELL-KNOWN EVEN BEFORE IT SANK.
Its impressive size made the ship popular with boat-watchers, and over the years it garnered many nicknames, including “The Queen of the Great Lakes,” “The Toledo Express,” and the unfortunate “Titanic of the Great Lakes.” Crowds would watch as the massive freighter moved through the locks at Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The “Soo” Locks, which connect Lake Superior to Lake Huron, allowed the Fitz to reach ports on the lower Great Lakes.
Read what we know and what we don't know about the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald at mental_floss.
(Image credit: Greenmars)