For 17 years, Edmund Fitzgerald carried taconite iron ore from mines near Duluth, Minnesota, to iron works in Detroit, Toledo, and other Great Lakes ports. It was the biggest ship on the Great Lakes.
It was also remains the largest to sink on the Great Lakes.
On November 9th, 1975, loaded with taconite, Edmund Fitzgerald set off from Duluth. However, she ran into those famous “gales of November” Gordon Lightfoot sang of in his song memorializing the ship.
On November 10th, 46 years ago today, a major storm on Lake Superior with hurricane force winds and 35 foot waves overtook the Edmund Fitzgerald about 17 miles from Whitefish Bay near Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
Five days later, a U.S. Navy aircraft found the freighter in two large pieces at the bottom of the lake. 29 crew members were lost in the sinking.
On this 46th year since the the sinking of the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald, Split Rock Lighthouse is commemorating that event with a beacon lighting and ceremony. They say it is also a time to reflect on the memory of all lives lost in Great Lakes shipwrecks.
The famous Minnesota lighthouse, fog signal building, and visitor center will be open to the public for the ceremony where costumed interpreters will greet visitors and provide historic site and shipwreck information. Throughout the afternoon, visitors will be able to view a film about the Edmund Fitzgerald in the visitor center.
At 4:30 pm, the lighthouse will close temporarily while the names of the crew members are read to the tolling of a ship's bell. Following the ceremony, the beacon will be lit, and the tower will be open again to tour.
For those unable to make the trip to Split Rock, about an hour north of Duluth and three hours north of the Twin Cities, you can watch a portion of the beacon lighting live on YouTube.
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