On this date 35 years ago in 1975, the Great Lakes freighter Edmund Fitzgerald, once the largest ship operating, sank in a huge storm that swept across Lake Superior, taking all 29 aboard to their deaths.
It had been launched in 1958.
The wreck was located that same year by US Navy planes using detectors that usually searched out submarines. The ship was lying in two pieces. Quite a few dives have been made on the Fitzgerald since then.
In 1976, singer Gordon Lightfoot had a big hit with his account of the sinking called "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."
The last ten years I taught, my students had a two day unit on the sinking of the ship, partly using the song. They also had the opportunity to draw the ship.
One of the Last Great Lakes Shipping Disasters. --Cooter
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