Half a century after the SS Edmund Fitzgerald vanished beneath the violent waves of Lake Superior, memorial services across the Great Lakes region honored the 29 crew members lost in one of maritime history's most enduring mysteries.
The Final Voyage
On November 10, 1975, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald succumbed to a ferocious storm off Whitefish Point in northern Michigan. The massive freighter faced unimaginable conditions with winds reaching 160 km/h and waves towering 11 metres high. All 29 crew members perished when the vessel went down, and no bodies were ever recovered.
The Big Fitz had departed Superior, Wisconsin, on November 9, 1975, carrying 23.5 tonnes of taconite pellets destined for Zug Island near Detroit. Monday marked the 50th anniversary of the tragedy that continues to haunt the Great Lakes community.
Family Legacies and Memorial Services
John O'Brien of Fort Lauderdale attended memorial services with his three daughters and granddaughter to honor his father, Eugene W. O'Brien, who served as wheelsman aboard the Fitzgerald. My father was in the wheelhouse when the boat sank, O'Brien told The Detroit News. How do I know that? Because he worked from 6 to 10 and it sank around 7.
The O'Brien family participated in multiple commemorative events, including a planned boat trip over the wreckage site where they intended to scatter the ashes of John's grandmother. Memorials were held at both the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point, Michigan, and Detroit's Old Mariners' Church, where a replica bell rang 29 times for the lost sailors and a 30th time for all lives lost on the Great Lakes.
Gordon Lightfoot's Enduring Tribute
The tragedy gained cultural immortality through Canadian folk legend Gordon Lightfoot's 1976 hit The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. The song specifically references the Old Mariners' Church as a dusty old hall where the church bell chimed 'til it rang 29 times for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Scott Kuzma, 55, among those attending the Detroit service, expressed hope that the memorial traditions would continue. It's worthwhile and I hope it continues, Kuzma said. A lot of times, these anniversary events fade after 50 years.
The Fitzgerald Legacy
Launched in 1958 from Great Lakes Engineering Works in River Rouge, Michigan, the Edmund Fitzgerald measured 729 feet long with a 75-foot beam. Known by nicknames including Mighty Fitz and Toledo Express, the vessel was considered one of the most impressive on the Great Lakes until its tragic end.
The crew included Captain Ernest McSorley, 63, of Toledo, Ohio, who had planned to retire after the 1975 shipping season. The youngest crew member was 20-year-old Karl A. Peckol of Ashtabula, Ohio, while several others, including steward Robert C. Rafferty, 62, also anticipated retirement.
Five decades later, the Fitzgerald's story continues to resonate through memorial services, family remembrances, and the powerful folk ballad that ensured the tragedy would never be forgotten.
