Fitzgerald sank on the evening of Nov. 10, 1975
Why was the Edmund Fitzgerald so significant?
The S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was considered the largest and fastest Great Lakes ship. It set multiple records for the largest season-hauls. Built by the Great Lakes Engineering Works in River Rouge, Mich., the ship launched in 1958.
It was the first lake freighter built to the maximum St. Lawrence Seaway size. The Fitzgerald carried ore between mills in Minnesota and iron works in Detroit, Toledo, and Cleveland. It had a capacity of 26,000 tons.
Why was it named Edmund Fitzgerald?
The ship was named after the President and CEO of its owner, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. According to a Los Angeles Times obituary, Edmund Fitzgerald, who died in 1986, was a civic leader in his hometown of Milwaukee. He was credited with helping to establish the city’s Performing Arts Center, port facility, and Amtrak station. He was also the grandson of a Great Lakes boat captain.
Few people know that commercial shipping on the Great Lakes can be as dangerous as in the North Atlantic, minus only the icebergs and giant squid.
300 to 400 feet down on the Bottom !!!