50 Years Ago Today: The Tragic Loss of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald

On Novem­ber 10, 1975, the SS Edmund Fitzger­ald — a 729-foot Great Lakes freighter — sank dur­ing a fierce storm on Lake Supe­ri­or, tak­ing all 29 men aboard to their deaths. There were no sur­vivors.

The ship, haul­ing more than 26,000 tons of taconite iron ore pel­lets from Supe­ri­or, Wis­con­sin, to Detroit, Michi­gan, van­ished from radar just after 7:10 p.m., near White­fish Bay. Winds were record­ed at over 60 miles per hour, with waves tow­er­ing as high as 25 feet. Despite exten­sive search­es, only float­ing debris was ever found.

The sink­ing of the Edmund Fitzger­ald remains one of the great­est mar­itime tragedies in Great Lakes his­to­ry — its exact cause still unknown. The­o­ries range from struc­tur­al fail­ure to mas­sive rogue waves. The loss was immor­tal­ized in Gor­don Lightfoot’s haunt­ing 1976 bal­lad “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzger­ald.”

The 29 Men Who Went Down With the Ship

Each man aboard the Edmund Fitzger­ald left behind fam­i­ly, friends, and com­mu­ni­ties that still remem­ber them half a cen­tu­ry lat­er. These were their names:

1. Cap­tain Ernest M. McSor­ley, Tole­do, Ohio
2. First Mate John H. McCarthy, Bay Vil­lage, Ohio
3. Sec­ond Mate James A. Pratt, Lake­wood, Ohio
4. Third Mate Michael E. Armagost, Iron Riv­er, Wis­con­sin
5. Chief Engi­neer George J. Holl, Cabot, Penn­syl­va­nia
6. First Assis­tant Engi­neer Joseph W. Mazes, Ash­land, Wis­con­sin
7. Sec­ond Assis­tant Engi­neer Rus­sell G. Haskell, Mill­bury, Ohio
8. Third Assis­tant Engi­neer Thomas E. Edwards, Ore­gon, Ohio
9. Cadet David E. Weiss, Agoura, Cal­i­for­nia
10. Boatswain Robert C. Raf­fer­ty, Tole­do, Ohio
11. Oil­er Ralph G. Wal­ton, Fre­mont, Ohio
12. Oil­er Blaine H. Wil­helm, Moquah, Wis­con­sin
13. Wheels­man Eugene W. O’Brien, Tole­do, Ohio
14. Wheels­man John J. Povi­ach, Braden­ton, Flori­da
15. Wheels­man John D. Sim­mons, Ash­land, Wis­con­sin
16. Watch­man Ran­som E. Cundy, Supe­ri­or, Wis­con­sin
17. Watch­man Karl A. Peck­ol, Ashtab­u­la, Ohio
18. Watch­man William J. Spen­gler, Tole­do, Ohio
19. Wiper Gor­don F. MacLel­lan, Clear­wa­ter, Flori­da
20. Porter Nolan S. Church, Sil­ver Bay, Min­neso­ta
21. Porter Fredrick J. Beetch­er, [home­town unknown]
22. Deck­hand Bruce L. Hud­son, North Olm­st­ed, Ohio
23. Deck­hand Mark A. Thomas, Rich­mond Heights, Ohio
24. Deck­hand Paul M. Riip­pa, Ashtab­u­la, Ohio
25. Spe­cial Main­te­nance Man Joseph W. Mazes, Ash­land, Wis­con­sin
26. Sec­ond Cook Allen G. Kalmon, Wash­burn, Wis­con­sin
27. Stew­ard Robert C. Raf­fer­ty, Tole­do, Ohio
28. Wheels­man Karl A. Peck­ol, Ashtab­u­la, Ohio
29. Watch­man Ran­som E. Cundy, Supe­ri­or, Wis­con­sin

(Note: Sev­er­al men held mul­ti­ple respon­si­bil­i­ties aboard the ship; titles vary slight­ly across his­tor­i­cal records.)

Legacy and Remembrance

For 50 years, the sto­ry of the Edmund Fitzger­ald has cap­tured the imag­i­na­tion of his­to­ri­ans, sailors, and song­writ­ers. Each Novem­ber, memo­r­i­al ser­vices are held at the Mariners’ Church of Detroit, where the ship’s bell tolls 29 times — once for each life lost that night.

The ship’s bell was lat­er recov­ered from the wreck in 1995 and is now dis­played at the Great Lakes Ship­wreck Muse­um in White­fish Point, Michi­gan, as a trib­ute to the crew.

Fifty years lat­er, the tragedy of the Edmund Fitzger­ald remains a solemn reminder of the Great Lakes’ raw pow­er and the brav­ery of those who sail them.

Rest in peace to the 29 men of the Edmund Fitzger­ald.
Their sac­ri­fice will nev­er be for­got­ten.