50th Anniversary of SS Edmund Fitzgerald Sinking

On November 10, 1975, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, a massive freighter known as the Mighty Fitz, sank during a ferocious storm on Lake Superior, claiming the lives of all 29 crew members aboard. The tragedy, which occurred about 17 miles from the safety of Whitefish Bay near Michigan's Upper Peninsula, marked one of the worst maritime disasters in Great Lakes history and remains a poignant reminder of the lakes' unforgiving power 50 years later.

The 729-foot vessel, launched in 1958 as the largest freighter on the Great Lakes at the time, had departed Superior, Wisconsin, the previous afternoon carrying more than 26,000 tons of taconite pellets, a form of iron ore concentrate, bound for a steel mill on Zug Island in Detroit. Captain Ernest McSorley, a seasoned mariner in his final voyage before retirement, commanded the ship alongside a crew mostly from the Great Lakes region, ranging in age from 20 to 63. The Fitzgerald joined the SS Arthur M. Anderson early in the journey, with the two vessels navigating a route hugging Lake Superior's northern shore to avoid the worst of the approaching weather.

Initial gale warnings from the National Weather Service had predicted winds of 39 to...