As the chill of November sweeps over Lake Superior, the annual remembrance of Edmund Fitzgerald's tragic demise reaches a significant marker – it has been 49 years since the stormy lake swallowed the freighter and its 29 crewmen. This haunting anniversary, a stark reminder of the perils mariners face, will be solemnly observed with a closed ceremony hosted by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. Albeit not open to the public, those wishing to partake in the memorial can do so virtually as the evening event streams live on Facebook and YouTube, starting sharply at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, as Upper Michigan's Source reported.
A tribute to those lost, the bell of the Edmund Fitzgerald will ring 29 times—one for each life lost on November 10, 1975. The massive 729-foot freighter once ruled the Great Lakes but sank just 17 miles from Whitefish Point, where the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum now stands. Built in 1958, its tragic end became one of Lake Superior's most memorable maritime events. Gordon Lightfoot's famous song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" helped keep its story alive, according to a post by UpNorthLive.
According to Manistee News, the ceremony serves as a historical reflection and a beacon of legacy for the families that weathered the loss. Navigating Lake Superior's mesmerizing but treacherous waters, the Edmund Fitzgerald – characterized by its monumental size of 75 feet in width and a height of 39 feet – is remembered as the largest vessel to have capitulated to the Great Lakes. As Manistee News documented, the Fitzgerald's last bid for survival was signaled through a transmission where Captain Ernest McSorley assured, "We are holding our own," moments before the radar lost its signal and the ship succumbed to the depths.