News, Culture and NPR for Central & Northern Michigan

Today marks 45th anniversary of Edmund Fitzgerald sinking

"Edmund Fitzgerald in MacArthur Lock" by Detroit District is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

The Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior during a storm 45 years ago today (Tues.).

The 729 foot freighter sank northwest of Whitefish Point in the Upper Peninsula.

All 29 crew members were lost.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, of the more than six-thousand ships which have sunk in the Great Lakes the Fitzgerald is still the largest to ever go down.

The freighter was carrying iron ore from Superior, Wisconsin to Detroit when it sank.

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum will hold a virtual memorial tonight at 7pm.

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