Pirates & Shipwrecks · Lake freighter, 1975
SS Edmund Fitzgerald
Lake Superior
What happened
The Edmund Fitzgerald was a huge cargo ship on the Great Lakes. In November 1975 it left Superior, Wisconsin, carrying iron ore pellets. During a fierce storm on Lake Superior it suddenly sank on 10 November 1975, in Canadian waters about 530 feet deep.
Why it matters
When launched in June 1958 it was the largest ship on the Great Lakes, and it remains the largest to have sunk there. The cause of the sinking is still discussed.
What came next
A U.S. Navy aircraft located the wreck on 14 November 1975. Gordon Lightfoot's 1976 song about the ship made the story famous.
Did you know?
The ship's bell was salvaged in 1995.
Timeline
- June 1958The Edmund Fitzgerald is launched.
- 10 November 1975It sinks in a storm on Lake Superior.
- 14 November 1975A U.S. Navy aircraft locates the wreck.
- 1976Gordon Lightfoot's song is released.
- 1995The ship's bell is salvaged.