SS Edmund Fitzgerald 1975
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Marker: recorded wreck position (Modern).
Key facts
| Name | SS Edmund Fitzgerald | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1975 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | Modern | derived from year |
| Ship type | lake freighter | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Nationality / flag | United States | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Lives lost | 29 | Wikidata P1120 number of deaths |
| Nearest coast | Canada | Natural Earth (public domain) |
| Position | 46.9983, -85.1100 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in Lake Superior during a storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29 men. When launched on June 7, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes and remains the largest to have sunk there. Her wreck was located in deep water on November 14, 1975, by a U.S. Navy aircraft detecting magnetic anomalies, and soon afterwards found to be in two large pieces.
For 17 years, Edmund Fitzgerald carried taconite (a variety of iron ore) from mines along the Minnesota Iron Range near Duluth, Minnesota, to iron works in Detroit, Michigan; Toledo, Ohio; and other Great Lakes ports. As a workhorse, she set seasonal haul records six times, often breaking her own record. Captain Peter Pulcer was known for piping music day or night over the ship's intercom while passing through the St. Clair and Detroit rivers (between Lake Huron and Lake Erie), and entertaining spectators at the Soo Locks (between Lakes Superior and Huron) with a running commentary about the ship. Her size, record-breaking performance, and "DJ captain" endeared Edmund Fitzgerald to boat watchers.
On the afternoon of November 9, 1975, she embarked on her final voyage from Superior, Wisconsin, near Duluth, carrying a full cargo of taconite ore pellets with Master Captain Ernest M.
Diving & visiting
Ernest M. McSorley (September 29, 1912 – November 10, 1975) was the last captain of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, perishing along with the other 28 members of his crew on November 10, 1975.
Edmund Fitzgerald left Superior, Wisconsin, at 2:15 p.m. on November 9, 1975, under the command of Master Captain McSorley. She was en route to the steel mill on Zug Island, near Detroit with a cargo of 26,116 long tons (29,250 short tons; 26,535 t) of taconite ore pellets and soon reached her full speed of 16.3 miles per hour (14.2 kn; 26.2 km/h). Around 5 p.m., Edmund Fitzgerald joined a second freighter under the command of Captain Jesse B. "Bernie" Cooper, Arthur M.
A U.S. Navy Lockheed P-3 Orion aircraft, piloted by Lt. George Conner, found the wreck using its magnetic anomaly detector on November 14, 1975, in Canadian waters close to the international boundary at a depth of 530 feet (160 m). Edmund Fitzgerald lies about 15 miles (13 nmi; 24 km) west of Deadman's Cove, Ontario; about 8 miles (7.0 nmi; 13 km) northwest of Pancake Bay Provincial Park; and 17 miles (15 nmi; 27 km) from the entrance to Whitefish Bay to the southeast. A further November 14–16 survey by the USCG using a side scan sonar revealed two large objects lying close together on the lake floor. The U.S.
Location
- Recorded position: 46.9983, -85.1100 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Nearest coast: Canada
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article SS Edmund Fitzgerald (revision 1380844901), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Final voyage and wreck”, “Wreck discovery”; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- SS Cedarville 1965 · 139 km
- SS Cayuga 1895 · 142 km
- SS Etruria 167 km
- F. T. Barney 1868 · 194 km
Browse more: North America wrecks · wrecks off Canada · Modern