The 29 Men of the Edmund Fitzgerald & The Full Story Timeline
Honor all 29 crewmen lost on November 10, 1975 by tolling the ship's bronze bell, and read the chronological story from her 1958 launch to the 1995 bell recovery.
Memorial Roll Call of the 29 Crew Members
“The church bell chimed 'til it rang 29 times for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.” — Click any crewman below or toll the bronze bell.
The Complete Story Timeline of the “Mighty Fitz”
From her record-setting launch on the Rouge River in 1958 through 17 seasons on the Great Lakes, the catastrophic gale of November 10, 1975, and the deep-water expeditions that recovered her bell.
Commissioned in 1957 by the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee as the first major American bulk freighter built to the maximum Saint Lawrence Seaway lock dimensions (729 ft long, 75 ft beam), Hull #301 was christened the SS Edmund Fitzgerald and operated under charter by the Columbia Transportation Division of the Oglebay Norton Company. Over 17 seasons, she hauled processed taconite iron ore pellets from Silver Bay and Superior to lower-lake steel mills in Detroit and Toledo, breaking seasonal tonnage records six times and logging over one million miles.
Contract Signed & Keel Laid (Hull #301)
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company commissions Great Lakes Engineering Works in River Rouge, Michigan, to build the largest freighter on the Great Lakes, named for company president and board chairman Edmund Fitzgerald.
Launch, Sea Trials & Maiden Voyage
Launched before more than 15,000 spectators on June 8, 1958. Completes sea trials on September 13 and embarks on her maiden voyage on September 24, 1958, holding the title of Queen of the Lakes until 1971.
Only Visit to Home Port of Milwaukee
During a nationwide steelworkers’ strike, the Fitzgerald docks at Jones Island in Milwaukee, Wisconsin—her official port of registry—where more than 11,500 visitors tour her decks.
Seasonal Tonnage Records & "The DJ Captain"
Hauled taconite from Silver Bay, MN, to Detroit and Toledo, breaking seasonal cargo records six times. Under Captain Peter Pulcer, she becomes a tourist favorite at the Soo Locks as Pulcer pipes music over the ship intercom and narrates passages for shore crowds.
Routine Service Groundings, Collisions & Winter Conversion
Grounded near the Soo Locks (Sept 6, 1969); collided with SS Hochelaga (Apr 30, 1970); struck lock walls in Sept 1970, May 1973, and June 1974; converted from coal to oil burning in Duluth (winter 1971–72); lost original bow anchor in the Detroit River near Belle Isle (Jan 7, 1974).
Command of Captain Ernest M. McSorley
Veteran master mariner Ernest M. McSorley—universally respected across the Great Lakes with over 40 years of maritime experience—takes command of the Edmund Fitzgerald for her final four seasons.
1. Departure & The Northern Course (Nov 9, 2:20 PM – Nov 10 Morning)
On the afternoon of November 9, 1975, under the command of 63-year-old veteran Captain Ernest M. McSorley, the Fitzgerald finished loading 26,116 long tons of taconite pellets at Superior, Wisconsin, and departed for Zug Island in Detroit. Joining up with Captain Jesse “Bernie” Cooper's SS Arthur M. Anderson off Two Harbors, the two captains agreed by radio to take the longer northern course along the Canadian shore of Lake Superior to seek shelter from an intensifying Plains storm.
2. Topside Damage, Blinded Radars & Final Words (Nov 10, 1:00 PM – 7:15 PM)
On the afternoon of November 10, as the barometer plunged to 982 mb, the wind shifted violently to the northwest across a 150-mile open fetch. After passing closely north of Caribou Island and Six Fathom Shoal around 3:15 PM, McSorley reported at 3:30 PM that he had a fence rail down, two vents lost or damaged, and a bad list, with both pumps running. By 4:10 PM both radars had failed in heavy snow squalls. At 7:10 PM, asked by First Mate Morgan Clark on the Anderson how he was making out with his problems, McSorley transmitted his final words: “We are holding our own.” Minutes later, just 17 miles from Whitefish Bay, the ship vanished without a distress signal.
U.S. Navy CURV III & USCG Woodrush Survey
USCG Cutter Woodrush · Unmanned U.S. Navy CURV III ROVFollowing November 1975 magnetic anomaly and side-scan sonar contacts, CURV III dove to 530 feet and positively identified the nameplate "EDMUND FITZGERALD" on the upside-down stern and the upright bow buried in mud, recording 43,000 feet of videotape and 900 photographs.
Jean-Michel Cousteau Manned Submersible Dive
RV Calypso · Two-person submarine SoucoupeFirst manned submersible dive to the wreck, lasting 30 minutes at 530 feet. Documented twisted midships steel plating and hatch coamings, proposing that the vessel may have fractured on the surface.
3D Stereoscopic ROV Survey
RV Grayling (USFWS) · Chris Nicholson MiniROVER MIIRecorded high-resolution 3D stereoscopic video of the pilothouse and cargo deck, revealing intact pilothouse windows, the ship’s bell still mounted on the roof, and an open, undogged pilothouse door.
MacInnis "Great Lakes 94" & Shannon "DeepQuest" Dives
CCGS Griffin / Submersible Celia · Submersible Delta (7 dives)Conducted extensive manned submersible surveys across three days in Celia, followed by Frederick Shannon’s seven Delta dives, which discovered and photographed a crew member’s remains wearing a cork life jacket on the lakebed alongside the bow.
Recovery of the 200-lb Bronze Ship’s Bell
CCGS Samuel Risley · Canadian Navy Submersible SDL-1 · Sony HD Dive Suit (NEWTSUIT)At the request of surviving family members, the original 200-lb bronze bell was cut from the pilothouse roof and replaced with a replica bell engraved with the names of all 29 crewmen. Conserved at Michigan State University, the original bell rests on permanent display at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point.
Ontario Heritage Act Protected Grave Site Designation
500-Meter (1,640-Foot) Protected Exclusion ZoneFollowing a September 1, 1995 technical scuba dive, Ontario strengthened the Ontario Heritage Act (amended 2005, 2006, 2009) designating a 500-meter radius around the wreck as a consecrated watery grave where diving, ROVs, and side-scan sonar are prohibited without a license.
Inspired by a November 24, 1975 Newsweek article (“The Cruelest Month”), Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot recorded “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” in December 1975. In 2010, Lightfoot updated his live performance lyric following new findings to avoid implying negligence by the deck crew.
"With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more / Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty"
Remarkably accurate: the Fitzgerald’s unloaded lightweight was approximately 13,632 gross tons, and she departed Superior on November 9, 1975 loaded with 26,116 long tons of taconite iron ore pellets.
"Fully loaded for Cleveland..."
While Cleveland, Ohio was the headquarters of her operator (Columbia Transportation Division of Oglebay Norton Co.), her final cargo of taconite was actually bound for the Great Lakes Steel Corporation mills on Zug Island in Detroit, Michigan.
"At 7 PM a main hatchway caved in, he said, 'Fellas, it’s been good to know ya'"
Since there were no survivors and McSorley’s final 7:10 PM transmission was simply "We are holding our own," no final cabin words are known. After the 1994/1995 dives and conversations with families of the deck crew who maintained the hatches, Gordon Lightfoot changed the live lyric to: "At 7 PM it grew dark, it was then he said, 'Fellas, it’s been good to know ya.'"
"In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed, in the Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral / The church bell chimed 'til it rang 29 times for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald"
On November 11, 1975, Rev. Richard Ingalls at Mariners’ Church in downtown Detroit rang the church bell 29 times—once for each crewman lost. Every November 10, the ceremony tolls the bell 29 times (and since Lightfoot’s passing in 2023, a 30th chime honors all mariners and Lightfoot himself).