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The S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in a Lake Superior storm on 10 November, 1975 with the loss of the entire crew of 29. The Fitzgerald was named after Edmund Fitzgerald, the president of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.
The Tragedy
The S.S. Fitzgerald was a workhorse that carried taconite iron ore from mines near Duluth, Minnesota to iron works in Detroit, Toledo, and other Great Lakes ports. Her final voyage was from Superior, Wisconsin on 9 November, 1975 carrying a full cargo of ore pellets. The Fitzgerald joined a second freigher, the S.S. Arthur M. Anderson. On 10 November, the two ships were caught in a severe Lake Superior storm. The Fitzgerald suddenly sank in Canadian (Ontario) waters shortly after 7:10 pm.
The cause of the sinking of the Fitzgerald is still under debate. Numerous studies and expeditions have led to several theories for the cause of the sinking, including the very high waves generated by the storm, water swamping her cargo hatches or deck, topside damage, or shoaling in a shallow part of Lake Superior. The sinking of the Fitzgerald led to changes in Great Lakes shipping regulations and practices.
Memorials
The Mariners' Church in Detroit, Michigan rang its bell 29 times, one for each life lost, the day after the wreck. The church continued to hold a memorial annually, reading the names of the crewmen and ringing the bell 29 times until 2006, when the church broadened the memorial to commemorate all lives lost on the Great Lakes.
Tributes
After reading an article about the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Gordon Lightfoot created a hit song about the tragedy "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald".
In 1986, writer Steven Dietz and songwriter/lyricist Eric Peltoneimi wrote a musical "Ten November" in memory of the Fitzgerald's sinking.
In 2002 American composer Geoffrey Peterson composed a piano concerto titled "The Edmund Fitzgerald" that premiered by the Sault Symphony Orchestra in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
Freighter Crew
Captain Ernest Michael McSorley (1912-1975), Leeds and Grenville United Counties, Ontario
Michael Eugene Armagost, third mate, (1938-1975), Iron River, Bayfield, Wisconsin
Frederick J. Beetcher, porter, (1919-1975), Superior, Douglas, Wisconsin
Thomas Bentsen, oiler, (1952-1975), Saint Joseph, Berrien, Michigan
Edward Francis Bindon, first engineer, (1928-1975), Fairport Harbor, Lake, Ohio
Thomas Dale Borgeson, maintenance man, (1934-1975), Duluth, St. Louis, Minnesota
Oliver Joseph "Buck" Champeau, third engineer, (1934-1975), Sturgeon Bay, Door, Wisconsin
Nolan Franklin Church, porter, (1920-1975), Cass Lake, Cass, Minnesota
Ransom Edward Cundy, watchman, (1922-1975), Superior, Douglas, Wisconsin
Thomas Edger Edwards, second assistant engineer, (1925-1975), Oregon, Lucas, Ohio
Russell George Haskell, second assistant engineer, (1935-1975), Milbury, Wood, Ohio
George John Holl, chief engineer, (1915-1975), Cabot, Butler, Pennsylvania
Bruce Lee Hudson, deckhand, (1953-1975), North Olmsted, Cuyahoga, Ohio
Allen George Kalmon, second cook, (1932-1975), Washburn, Bayfield, Wisconsin
Gordon F. MacLellan, wiper, (1945-1975), Clearwater, Panelas, Florida
Joseph William Mazes, special maintenance mane, (1916-1975), Ashland, Ashland, Wisconsin
John Henkle McCarthy, mate, (1913-1975), Bay Village, Cuyahoga, Ohio
Eugene William O'Brien, wheelsman, (1925-1975), Toledo, Lucas, Ohio
Karl Anthony Peckol, watchman, (1955-1975), Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Ohio
John Joseph Poviach, wheelsman, (1916-1975), Bradenton, Manatee, Florida
James A. Pratt, second mate, (1931-1975), Lakewood, Cuyahoga, Ohio
Robert Charles Rafferty, steward (first cook), (1913-1975), Toledo, Lucas, Ohio
Paul Michael Riipa, deckhand, (1953-1975), Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Ohio
John David Simmons, wheelsman, (1913-1975), Ashland, Ashland, Wisconsin
William J. Spengler, watchman, (1916-1975), Toledo, Lucas, Ohio
Mark Andrew Thomas, deckhand, (1954-1975), Richmond Heights, Cuyahoga, Ohio
Blaine Howard Wilhelm, oiler, (1923-1975), Moquah, Bayfield, Wisconsin
Ralph Grant Walton, oiler, (1917-1975), Sycamore, Wyandot, Ohio
David Eliot "Cowboy" Weiss, cadet, (1953-1975), Agoura, Los Angeles, California
Unidentified Crewmen
If you can identify these individuals, please let us know (Noelle,morel)
Memorial Bell
Bronze bell created as a replicate of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald's bell, with the names of the missing crew engraved. This bell was installed on the shipwreck in replacement of the original, which has been recovered and now sits in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.
Sources