For the 40th, there was a ”live” feed of the messages coming in from the ships on the lake that day. It was really powerful.

Many times I saw the Edmond Fitzgerald on the Detroit River and we heard the church bells from the Mariners Church ring out for those who were lost, It was a sad time

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu1GpQeYh5g

Gordon Lightfoot song.

There are some wonderful photos in this video.

” The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times

For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald”

roxsol, I thought of that song, too.

I certainly knew that song when I was a teen, but I always thought that it was a shipwreck from 100 years earlier or something. My husband grew up in Michigan at the time, and he knew all about it. I was really surprised when he told me it had just happened.

Lives lost at sea (even inland seas like the Great Lakes) always seem so sad to me, sadder than many others. Not sure exactly why, although I do have some thoughts about it. I have in the past read about the loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald and seeing the faces of the crew and captain is heartbreaking. Lightfoot's song is so haunting.

I'm a longtime Gordon Lightfoot fan and know of the story only from the song. The lyrics put the genius of his songwriting prowess on full display. To be able to tell such a story with an economy of words (as song lyrics demand) was an awesome accomplishment.

I will have that song in my head all day. I don't mean to make light of the tragedy.

While the sinking of a ship is somewhat exotic and certainly terrible, the magnitude of this tragedy should be seen in a proper relative context.

As one simple comparison, in your province and in my state, more people are killed EVERY MONTH in traffic accidents than were lost in this incident. Every single month, month after month.

No lost life is more or less important or more or less tragic than any other.

I’ll keep that in mind tomorrow.

aok, me too about thinking this was a much older story that Gordon Lightfoot sang about. At the time, 6+ minutes was long for a pop song, so maybe I thought it must have been an old song, about an old shipwreck. Regardless, a well-crafted song about a sad event.

I live on lake Michigan, our great Lakes can be wicked for sure.

Judy, I’ve heard that some first-timers on the Race to Mackinac don’t expect the ferocity of the storms. They think oh, it’s just a lake, but it’s really a sea.

In 1975, my roommate worked for Canada's largest shipping company, and knew all the American freighters we share shipping lanes with, on the Great Lakes. I recall her shock when she got the news that the Edmund Fitzgerald had sunk in a storm on Lake Superior. It was hauntingly memorialized by Gordon Lightfoot, in his song.

I think the 2 deadliest maritime losses in North America, occurred not out on open water, but in port. A strikingly similar number of lives were lost at Pearl Harbor during WWII and in Halifax Harbour, during WWI, although the former was obviously an intentional attack and the latter was an accident, although it was initially thought to have been a German attack.

The Halifax Harbour tragedy involved a minor collision between a Norwegian ship and a French ship in the harbour, but because the French ship was carrying munitions, sparks set off a massive explosion, tsunami and fire, that collectively killed around 2,000, injured 9,000 and blinded 41 people. I'm sure people living in Halifax must still talk about that on its anniversary, as we in Ontario usually recall the misfortune of the Edmund Fitzgerald and her crew.

I read a book on the Halifax incident that was very interesting. I can recommend it - it's Bacon's The Great Halifax Explosion.

As I recalled, and just checked to be sure, almost all the fatalities were on dry land because the collision triggered an explosion that was the largest man-made explosion that to date had every occurred. So in a way it was a hybrid accident - a maritime collision that caused a horrendous number of deaths on land, people in their homes and places of work.

Great lakes have a mind of their own. Many people EVERY year die from the "undertow" this year was very bad. We have had many bodies washed up on shore. Many drownings this year. So sad. Most are from inner state and do understand Lake Michigan danger's. But also locals.

The Northwestern Mutual Insurance company of Milwaukee was the owner of the Ship, Edmund Fitzgerald. Edmund Fitzgerald, Sr. was Chairman of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance and his son, Edmund Fitzgerald Jr. was CEO of Cutler-Hammer, Inc of Milwaukee. I was employed by Cutler-Hammer at the time of this sinking. The news of its loss was not paraded in CH. It was made known that Ed Fitzgerald, Sr. was devastated by this loss, and especially the loss of the crew. This ship was his pride and joy. It was a very somber time.

HistoryUnited States
Name:
Edmund FitzgeraldOwner:
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance CompanyOperator:
Columbia Transportation Division, Oglebay Norton Company of Cleveland, OhioPort of registry:
Milwaukee, United StatesOrdered:
February 1, 1957Builder:
Great Lakes Engineering Works of River Rouge, MichiganYard number:
301Laid down:
August 7, 1957Launched:
June 7, 1958Maiden voyage:
September 24, 1958In service:
June 8, 1958Out of service:
November 10, 1975Identification:
Registry number US 277437Nickname(s):
Fitz, Mighty Fitz, Big Fitz, Pride of the American Side, Toledo Express, Titanic of the Great LakesFate:
Lost in a storm on November 10, 1975, with all 29 crew membersStatus:
WreckNotes:
Location: 46°59.91′N 85°06.61′WCoordinates: 46°59.91′N 85°06.61′W[1]General characteristics Type:
Lake freighterTonnage:

• 13,632 GRT[2]
• 8,713 NRT (from 1969: 8,686 NRT)[2]
• 26,000 DWT

Length:

• 729 ft (222 m) overall[3]
• 711 ft (217 m) between perpendiculars[3]

Beam:
75 ft (23 m)[3]Draft:
25 ft (7.6 m) typicalDepth:
39 ft (12 m) (moulded)[4]Depth of hold:
33 ft 4 in (10.16 m)[4][5]Installed power:

• As built:
• Coal fired Westinghouse Electric Corporation steam turbine at 7,500 shp (5,600 kW)
• After refit:
• Conversion to oil fuel and the fitting of automated boiler controls over the winter of 1971–72.
• Carried 72,000 U.S. gal (270,000 L; 60,000 imp gal) fuel oil

Propulsion:
Single fixed pitch 19.5 ft (5.9 m) propellerSpeed:
14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph)Capacity:
25,400 tons of cargoCrew:
29