SS Edmund Fitzgerald – The Pride Of The American Flag

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SS Edmund Fitzgerald

Accident type   : Wrecked
Vessel involved  : SS Edmund Fitzgerald
Date   : November 10, 1975
Location : Lake Superior
Casualties   : 29 crew members died

VESSEL INFO:

 Name: SS Edmund Fitzgerald
 Built in: 1957
 Type: Lake freighter
 Tonnage: 13,632 GRT
 Length  : 729 ft (222 m)
 Beam: 75 ft (23 m)

SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in a Lake Superior storm.  When it was first launched on June 7, 1958, it was the largest carrier on North America’s Great Lakes and it remains the largest to have sunk there.

SS Edmund Fitzgerald became the first ship to carry more than a million tons of iron ore through the Soo Locks.  The Fitzgerald was labeled “The Pride of the American Flag”.

On November 10, 1975, the ship was caught in a severe storm on Lake Superior, with near hurricane-force winds and waves up to 35 feet high.  The Fitzgerald suddenly sank in Canadian (Ontario) waters, 530 feet below the surface, 17 miles from Whitefish Bay, at the northeastern tip of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  The ship had broken into two parts that were found approximately 150 feet apart.  Also there were no survivors among the 29 crew members.

Source: Wikipedia