November 10, 1975 · the largest freighter ever lost on the Great Lakes · 29 men, all hands
The Edmund Fitzgerald sank in a Lake Superior gale on the night of November 10, 1975, taking all 29 of her crew with her. She lies in 530 feet of water in Canadian territory, roughly 17 miles north-northwest of Whitefish Point, Michigan. No bodies were recovered. The wreck is still there. The bell, raised on July 4, 1995, is at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point. A replica bell engraved with all 29 names sits in its place on the hull.
This page is the full record of the ship, the storm, the crew, the recovery operations, the song that kept the story alive, and what you can still see today if you stand at the point and look northwest across the water she went down in. I write about the Great Lakes from Bay City, Michigan, where the freighters still pass our shoreline on their way to the same Soo Locks the Fitzgerald was running for that November night.
The Fitzgerald was launched June 7, 1958, at Great Lakes Engineering Works in River Rouge, Michigan. At her launch she was the largest ship on the Great Lakes, holding the title "Queen of the Lakes" for over a decade. She was owned by the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company and operated under charter by the Columbia Transportation Division of the Oglebay Norton Company of Cleveland. Her primary route ran iron ore from the Minnesota and Wisconsin head-of-lakes ports to the steel mills of Toledo, Detroit, and other Lower Great Lakes destinations.
Sailors in the trade called her "The Toledo Express." She set multiple cargo records during her seventeen seasons and was, by any measure, the prestige boat of the American Great Lakes fleet at the time of her loss.
The Fitzgerald departed Burlington Northern Dock No. 1 at Superior, Wisconsin, at 2:15 p.m. on November 9, 1975, under the command of Captain Ernest M. McSorley. She carried 26,116 long tons of taconite pellets bound for the steel mill on Zug Island near Detroit. The taconite came from mines on the Mesabi Range in Minnesota, processed into hardened iron ore pellets at the Burlington Northern facility for water transport.
Around 5:00 p.m. she joined a second freighter, the Arthur M. Anderson, captained by Jesse B. "Bernie" Cooper. The Anderson was bound for Gary, Indiana, out of Two Harbors, Minnesota, with a similar cargo. The two ships planned to run together across Lake Superior to the Soo Locks, an informal but standard practice when the lake was running rough.
The National Weather Service forecast that day called for a storm to pass just south of Lake Superior by morning. Both captains were experienced and the forecast was, for November on Lake Superior, not unusual. November is the most dangerous month on the Great Lakes; the lakes are still warm enough to hold heat and contribute to atmospheric instability, but Arctic air masses are moving south, and the combination produces the seasonal storms sailors call "the witch of November."
The storm exceeded forecast. By the afternoon of November 10, winds were running 50 to 65 knots with gusts higher. Wave heights reached 25 to 35 feet. Both ships had altered course northward, then eastward, working a route in the lee of the Canadian shore that historically offered some protection.
By late afternoon, the Fitzgerald began reporting problems. McSorley radioed the Anderson that he had taken on a list and lost two vent covers and a fence rail. Both ship radars had failed. McSorley asked the Anderson to stay in radio contact and provide navigational assistance. The two ships continued east toward Whitefish Bay, which would have offered shelter once reached.
At 7:10 p.m. the Anderson asked the Fitzgerald how she was making out. McSorley replied: "We are holding our own." It was the last transmission. Sometime in the next twenty minutes, in conditions one investigator later described as the worst he had seen on Lake Superior in thirty years, the Edmund Fitzgerald went down. The Anderson, ten miles behind, watched her disappear from the radar at approximately 7:30 p.m. There was no distress call. There were no survivors.
All 29 men aboard perished. Most were from the Great Lakes port towns of Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota, with several from farther afield. Their ages ranged from 20 (watchman Karl A. Peckol) to 63 (Captain Ernest M. McSorley). The list below is the official record maintained by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point.
| # | Name | Age | Role | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael E. Armagost | 37 | Third Mate | Iron River, WI |
| 2 | Fred J. Beetcher | 56 | Porter | Superior, WI |
| 3 | Thomas D. Bentsen | 23 | Oiler | St. Joseph, MI |
| 4 | Edward F. Bindon | 47 | First Assistant Engineer | Fairport Harbor, OH |
| 5 | Thomas D. Borgeson | 41 | Maintenance Man | Duluth, MN |
| 6 | Oliver J. Champeau | 41 | Third Assistant Engineer | Sturgeon Bay, WI |
| 7 | Nolan S. Church | 55 | Porter | Silver Bay, MN |
| 8 | Ransom E. Cundy | 53 | Watchman | Superior, WI |
| 9 | Thomas E. Edwards | 50 | Second Assistant Engineer | Oregon, OH |
| 10 | Russell G. Haskell | 40 | Second Assistant Engineer | Millbury, OH |
| 11 | George J. Holl | 60 | Chief Engineer | Cabot, PA |
| 12 | Bruce L. Hudson | 22 | Deck Hand | North Olmsted, OH |
| 13 | Allen G. Kalmon | 43 | Second Cook | Washburn, WI |
| 14 | Gordon F. MacLellan | 30 | Wiper | Clearwater, FL |
| 15 | Joseph W. Mazes | 59 | Special Maintenance Man | Ashland, WI |
| 16 | John H. McCarthy | 62 | First Mate | Bay Village, OH |
| 17 | Ernest M. McSorley | 63 | Captain | Toledo, OH |
| 18 | Eugene W. O'Brien | 50 | Wheelsman | Toledo, OH |
| 19 | Karl A. Peckol | 20 | Watchman | Ashtabula, OH |
| 20 | John J. Poviach | 59 | Wheelsman | Bradenton, FL |
| 21 | James A. Pratt | 44 | Second Mate | Lakewood, OH |
| 22 | Robert C. Rafferty | 62 | Steward | Toledo, OH |
| 23 | Paul M. Riippa | 22 | Deck Hand | Ashtabula, OH |
| 24 | John D. Simmons | 63 | Wheelsman | Ashland, WI |
| 25 | William J. Spengler | 59 | Watchman | Toledo, OH |
| 26 | Mark A. Thomas | 21 | Deck Hand | Richmond Heights, OH |
| 27 | Ralph G. Walton | 58 | Oiler | Fremont, OH |
| 28 | David E. Weiss | 22 | Cadet | Agoura, CA |
| 29 | Blaine H. Wilhelm | 52 | Oiler | Moquah, WI |
Captain McSorley had taken command in 1972 and was preparing to retire after the 1975 season. First Mate John H. McCarthy was sixty-two. Cadet David E. Weiss, twenty-two, was on his first long-haul voyage. None of the bodies were ever recovered. Sonar imagery of the wreck shows clothing and personal effects among the debris field, but the cold fresh water of Lake Superior at 530 feet preserves what it holds; recovery was never attempted and, by the agreement that governs the wreck, never will be.
A U.S. Navy Lockheed P-3 Orion piloted by Lt. George Conner located the wreck using magnetic anomaly detection on November 14, 1975, four days after the loss. The Fitzgerald lies in two pieces on the lake bed. The bow section, 276 feet long, sits upright. The stern section, 253 feet long, is inverted approximately 170 feet from the bow. A debris field of taconite pellets and structural fragments fills the gap between them. The breaking of the hull is consistent with a midship structural failure, though investigations have produced multiple theories about the proximate cause.
The Coast Guard's official investigation, completed in 1977, concluded that the most likely cause was ineffective hatch closures that allowed water into the cargo hold, progressively reducing freeboard and reserve buoyancy until a wave overcame the ship. The National Transportation Safety Board's separate report reached a different conclusion: that the Fitzgerald may have grounded on the Six Fathom Shoal northeast of Caribou Island, causing hull damage that led to flooding. Other investigators have argued for a rogue wave or a series of large waves overwhelming the deck. The exact sequence will never be settled.
The wreck has been visited by manned submersibles and ROVs multiple times: 1976 (Coast Guard CURV-III), 1980 (Cousteau Society), 1989 (Frederick Shannon's expedition), 1994 (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe with ROVs), and 1995 (the bell-recovery expedition). Since 2006, by agreement among the families, the Province of Ontario, the U.S. government, and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, the wreck is protected and no diving or further recovery is permitted. It is a war grave in all but name.
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society organized an expedition in 1995 to recover the ship's bell, with the consent of the families and the cooperation of the Canadian government and the National Geographic Society. The mission used the Newt Suit, a one-atmosphere diving suit, with Frederick Shannon as the principal investigator and Bruce Fuoco as the diver.
On July 4, 1995, the 200-pound bronze bell was raised from the pilothouse. A replica bell engraved with the names of all 29 crew members was lowered in its place and remains on the wreck today. The recovery agreement included language stipulating that the original bell would be displayed as a permanent memorial at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point and would never be sold, moved, or used for commercial purposes. It would be rung in the crew's memory.
The bell is now the centerpiece of the museum. Each November 10, on the anniversary of the loss, the bell is rung 29 times. After the death of Gordon Lightfoot on May 1, 2023, the bell was rung 29 times for the crew plus one additional ring for Lightfoot.
The Canadian songwriter Gordon Lightfoot wrote "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" in the spring of 1976, six months after the sinking. He had read a Newsweek article about the loss titled "The Cruelest Month" and was struck by the details of the storm and the silence of the families. The song appeared on his album Summertime Dream that year and reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100.
The song is more responsible than any single factor for keeping the names of the Fitzgerald and her crew in public memory. Lightfoot consulted with the families of the lost crew and adjusted some lyrics over the years as new information about the loss emerged. He performed it at memorial events, attended the 25th anniversary observance at Whitefish Point in 2000, and donated proceeds in support of the families and the museum. After his death in 2023, the Edmund Fitzgerald Memorial Service at Whitefish Point added a 30th ringing of the bell in his honor, recognizing his role in carrying the story.
The primary memorial. Houses the recovered bell, exhibits documenting the loss, and the broader Shipwreck Coast history of more than 240 vessels lost in the waters off Whitefish Point. Open May 1 through October 31. Annual memorial ceremony every November 10. shipwreckmuseum.com
The Episcopal church near the Detroit River where the Fitzgerald would have ended her voyage. The original 1957 Anchor Bell at the Mariners' Church was rung 29 times for the Fitzgerald crew on the day after the loss in 1975, and the church has continued an annual ceremony ever since. Lightfoot's song specifically references "the maritime sailors' cathedral / the church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times."
The lighthouse beacon is lit once a year, on the evening of November 10, in memory of the Fitzgerald crew. The ceremony at Split Rock is among the most visited maritime memorials on the U.S. side of Lake Superior.
The annual Great Lakes Memorial Service at Mariners' Church of Detroit remembers all sailors lost on the lakes that year, with the Fitzgerald crew at the center of the observance.
If you make one stop on Lake Superior connected to the Fitzgerald, it is Whitefish Point. The site combines the 1849 Whitefish Point Light Station (the oldest active lighthouse on Lake Superior), the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum (which holds the bell), and the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory. From the museum grounds you can walk a few hundred yards north to the beach and the Edmund Fitzgerald memorial. The wreck site is seventeen miles to the northwest, invisible from shore but in the right direction. On a clear day, looking out across the water, you are looking at where she went down.
The point is 71 miles northeast of the Tahquamenon Falls and 75 miles northwest of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. It is included as a major stop on the Lake Superior Circle Tour guide, where it has its own card and visitor notes alongside the rest of the circuit.
Where exactly is the wreck?
Position 46°59'N, 85°06'W, in 530 feet of water, in Canadian (Ontario) waters approximately 17 miles north-northwest of Whitefish Point, Michigan. The position is roughly 15 nautical miles from the international boundary.
Can the wreck be dived?
No. Since 2006 the site has been protected by formal agreement among the families, the Ontario provincial government, the U.S. government, and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society. No diving, no salvage, and no further recovery is permitted. It is treated as a maritime grave.
Why didn't the Fitzgerald send a distress call?
The loss appears to have happened in a matter of seconds or at most a minute or two. The bridge crew likely had no time to recognize a fatal condition. The last transmission from Captain McSorley at 7:10 p.m. was "We are holding our own," which the Coast Guard's report interpreted as a sailor's understatement consistent with someone who did not yet recognize that the ship was about to be lost. There was no time for a Mayday.
What caused her to sink?
Officially undetermined. The Coast Guard report identified hatch closure failures and progressive flooding. The NTSB report identified probable grounding on the Six Fathom Shoal causing hull damage. Other theories include rogue waves, structural failure of the hull girder under flexing stress, and combinations of factors. The wreck itself, broken into two pieces with a debris field between them, is consistent with any of these scenarios depending on the sequence assumed. The exact cause will never be known.
Is the Edmund Fitzgerald the largest ship ever lost on the Great Lakes?
Yes. At 729 feet she remains the largest single vessel lost on the Great Lakes by any measure. Whitefish Point alone has claimed at least 240 ships in recorded history; she is the largest of them.
Were any bodies recovered?
No. The Coast Guard search recovered debris, including life rafts (both empty) and a lifeboat (broken in two and empty), but no human remains. The cold deep water of Lake Superior preserves what it holds, and recovery from 530 feet was never attempted.
What is the meaning of "the witch of November"?
A sailor's phrase for the seasonal storm pattern that develops on the Great Lakes from late October through mid-December. Warm lake water still holding summer heat meets cold continental air masses moving south, producing rapid storm intensification, hurricane-force winds, and waves of 20 to 35 feet on Lake Superior. November is the deadliest month in Great Lakes shipping history. The Fitzgerald was lost in one such storm; so were the eleven vessels lost on November 7 to 10, 1913, in the Great Lakes Storm that killed at least 250 sailors.
How can I attend the annual memorial?
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society holds a public ceremony at Whitefish Point each November 10 at 2 p.m., open to the public. A separate family-only ceremony is held at 7 p.m. and is livestreamed for the public. The Mariners' Church of Detroit holds its Great Lakes Memorial Service annually as well. Split Rock Lighthouse in Minnesota holds an evening beacon-lighting on November 10. Details, dates, and any year-specific changes are published at shipwreckmuseum.com.