ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY: 50 Years Ago, the Edmund Fitzgerald Sank in Lake Superior Taking Her Entire Crew With Her

On November 10, 1975, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, a freighter carrying iron ore sank in Lake Superior during a terrible storm that conjured massive waves.

The ship was being followed by another ship named the Arthur M. Anderson which was tracking her movements with radar. The Anderson had its last communication with the Fitzgerald at approximately 7:10 PM when it simply vanished from radar.

All 29 members of the crew aboard the Edmund Fitzgerald perished with her and no distress signal was sent, suggesting that the ship met its demise shockingly fast.

ABC News reports:

‘The legend lives on’: Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald still resonates 50 years later

Spend enough time along the shores of Lake Superior and it won’t be long before there’s some reminder of what happened “when the gales of November came early.”

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, the largest and most famous of the estimated 6,500 ships that have gone down in the Great Lakes. But the Fitzgerald is remembered while the others are forgotten, thanks in large part to Gordon Lightfoot’s 1976 haunting folk ballad that became a surprise hit.

The Fitzgerald, a 730-foot long freighter named after a Milwaukee insurance company executive, went down in Lake Superior on Nov. 10, 1975. All 29 men on board died.

The Fitz, as it’s still affectionately called, was the largest ship on the Great Lakes when it launched in 1958 and kept that title until 1971.

On its final voyage, the Fitzgerald departed Superior, Wisconsin, on Nov. 9, 1975, carrying 26,000 tons of iron ore along a familiar route to Zug Island in Detroit.

Lots of people are remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald on Twitter/X.

— Coach Phil (@coachphilwest0n) November 10, 2025

— Visit Sault Ste. Marie (@VisitTheSault) November 8, 2025

— Midwest vs. The Rest (@midwestern_ope) November 10, 2025

Here’s a video report:

— Dane Wurmlinger (@DaneNC9) November 10, 2025

There are simulations on YouTube that speculate about how the ship sank. Here’s one:

Here’s another:

And of course, no remembrance of the Edmund Fitzgerald would be complete without the classic Gordon Lightfoot song, presented here with lyrics:

It is a tragic story, but an amazing part of American history.

The post ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY: 50 Years Ago, the Edmund Fitzgerald Sank in Lake Superior Taking Her Entire Crew With Her appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.