50 years ago, on November 9th, 1975, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald left Superior, Wisconsin on a beautiful and unseasonably warm autumn day carrying 29 men and 26,116 long tons of taconite. It was to be the Fitzgerald’s last run of the season before putting up for winter repairs, and it was to be Captain Ernest McSorley’s final run before retiring to spend time with his wife.
The crew was aware of an inbound storm due to roll in overnight, but no one had predicted how two storm fronts, one from the southwest and one down from Canada, would clash over Lake Superior, causing what would be remembered as one of the worst storms of the century. McSorley was respected as one of the best captains on the Great Lakes, a heavy weather sailor who knew how to handle storms. McSorley rarely opted for cautious leeward routes but as this storm began to unfold he chose to keep close to Isle Royale and the Ontario shore. Our last communication from them was a message from McSorley to fellow freighter Arthur M. Anderson at 7.10 pm.
“We are holding our own,” they said.
It’s haunting to know that at this very moment fifty years ago they were probably in great spirits in good water, bringing the ship back on the last run of the 1975 season, looking forward to spending the winter at home.
Tomorrow, on the 50th anniversary of the sinking, the Detroit Mariners’ Church bells will ring 30 times — once for each of the souls lost to the lake and once for Gordon Lightfoot, who brought a somber remembrance and immortality to them all.
