Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society holds memorial for SS Edmund Fitzgerald wreck

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. (WLUC) - Thursday marks the 47th anniversary of the wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior.

In honor of the 29-person crew that went down 15 miles off the coast of Whitefish Point in Chippewa County, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS) held a memorial service on Thursday evening.

Guests, many of them family members of those who died in the wreck, were called to ring a bell 30 times at the ceremony. They rang the bell 29 times in honor of the Edmund Fitzgerald’s fallen crew members. The 30th bell ring was meant to honor all sailors who have lost their lives on the Great Lakes.

GLSHS Executive Director Bruce Lynn said the Edmund Fitzgerald is one of potentially thousands of shipwrecks across the Great Lakes.

“If you research shipwrecks, some statistics are going to tell you there could be as many as 6,000 shipwrecks on the Great Lakes,” Lynn explained. “You might see other statistics that say that there have been 10,000 shipwrecks on the Great Lakes and as many as 35,000 lives lost on the Great Lakes.”

Lynn added that the Edmund Fitzgerald is the largest ship to ever sink in the great lakes.

Thursday’s memorial concluded with a cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s hit song, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”

Also, in honor of the 47th anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald’s wreck, author Ric Mixter has released a new book digging deeper into the ship’s mystery.

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