- - The Mystery of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald: What We Still Don’t Know 50 Years Later

Andrea ReiherNovember 9, 2025 at 9:25 PM

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On the night of November 10, 1975, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald disappeared in a brutal Lake Superior storm with all 29 crewmen aboard. The 730-foot freighter had departed Superior, Wisconsin, the day before with 26,000+ tons of taconite, bound for iron works in Detroit, Cleveland and other Great Lakes ports.

Captain Ernest McSorley’s final transmission — “We are holding our own” — was relayed to the nearby Arthur M. Anderson as waves built through the afternoon; the Anderson reported seas “as high as 25 feet,” ABC News reported. Minutes later, the Fitzgerald vanished from radar.

Families got word the next day. “I was banging on the church doors… wanting answers,” recalled Debbie Gomez-Felder to ABC News, daughter of crewmember Oliver “Buck” Champeau. “I didn’t understand it.” She added, “It was an honor to be on the Fitzgerald.”

Where Did the Edmund Fitzgerald Sink?

The freighter went down in eastern Lake Superior, about 17 miles north-northwest of Whitefish Point, Michigan. The site sits along the storm-torn stretch where November “gales” routinely lash the Great Lakes.

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Was the Edmund Fitzgerald Ever Found?

Yes. The wreck was located within days and later documented by remotely operated vehicles and submersibles; it rests in approximately 535 feet of water in two main sections. A series of sanctioned expeditions in the 1980s–90s captured the most detailed imagery.

A handful of people have seen the site firsthand. In 1994, documentarian Ric Mixter descended in the two-person sub Delta and told the Detroit Free Press, “I could read the giant letters, ‘Edmund Fitzgerald’ as we went by and it was captivating.”

He added: “Then you start seeing very human things… a coffee cup… and you start to realize this is where men worked… and it takes you from that happiness, down to the lowest of low, realizing this is a grave site, too.”

In 1995, technical divers Terrence Tysall and Mike Zlatopolsky completed what remain the only known scuba dives to the wreck. Tysall said that when he reached the site, “I just reached out with both of my gloved hands and I gripped the rim… it made it so real to me that, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m the first living hand to touch this rail since she sank.’… This is a grave, and this is a privilege to be here.”

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What Caused the Edmund Fitzgerald to Sink?

The official Coast Guard investigation in 1977 concluded that the Fitzgerald likely took on water through damaged hatches and lost buoyancy in the violent storm. But other researchers, divers, and historians have long debated alternative or compounding factors — from structural failure under stress to a phenomenon known as the Three Sisters.

According to Historic Mysteries, the “Three Sisters” are a repeating series of three rogue waves that strike in rapid succession. Each wave follows closely on the last, giving a vessel no time to recover. As the site explains, “The ships don’t get time to fully recover from the first wave’s hit by shedding out the water, and by that time, the other two waves hit the ships hard.” The results can be catastrophic, even for a 730-foot freighter.

This stretch of Lake Superior between Grand Marais, Whitefish Point and Michigan is notoriously treacherous, called “the graveyard of all the Great Lakes,” Historic Mysteries noted. Because the lake narrows and shallows along its eastern edge, storm waves reflect off the shoreline and collide with incoming swells — creating the perfect conditions for rogue waves. Researchers studying the area found that these “sister” waves are often caused by refraction on the shoals, reflection off the sandstone shorelines or diffraction around the islands, and that “under the right conditions, the waves could indeed be much larger.”

Captain McSorley himself reported that his ship had already been struck by at least two massive waves before radio contact was lost. According to Historic Mysteries, “The Captain of the Edmund Fitzgerald shared a report before the loss that his ship was hit by two big waves of around 30 to 35 feet… A third wave was said to follow the path of the other two, and it hit the Edmund Fitzgerald right at the time when it was sinking.”

Some divers and meteorologists believe that this “third sister” wave may have been the final blow — slamming the already-damaged vessel just as she neared safety.

Expedition leader Mixter — who descended to the wreck in a submersible in 1994 — has said that physical evidence points to structural failure rather than a shoal strike, telling the Detroit Free Press, “There’s no way it nosedived… You can’t lose all of your taconite pellets behind the shipwreck if you nosedive.” Others, however, note that a rogue wave system of this kind could have easily overwhelmed even a well-built ore carrier.

What’s certain is that the storm was extraordinary, with 100-mile-per-hour winds and waves up to 50 feet, and that the ship sank so quickly that no distress call was ever sent. Whether the “Three Sisters” truly delivered the fatal blow or simply worsened an already doomed situation, their legend remains inseparable from the tragedy of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

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What Happened to the Crew — and How Are They Honored?

None of the 29 men were recovered; family members later pushed for the site to be protected as a grave under Canadian law, ABC News reported. The ship’s original bell — raised in 1995 at the request of families — now hangs at Whitefish Point as a permanent memorial. Each November 10, the bell tolls 29 times for the crew and a 30th for all lost Great Lakes sailors.

The remembrance extends to Detroit’s Mariners’ Church, where Rector Richard Ingalls rang the bell 29 times the morning after the sinking — an act memorialized in Gordon Lightfoot’s lyric “the church bell chimed ’til it rang twenty-nine times” — and in 2023, after Lightfoot’s death, they rang it a 30th time, a practice continuing this year.

The 29 men lost in the tragedy are:

Captain Ernest M. McSorley, 63

First Mate John H. McCarthy, 62

Second Mate James A. Pratt, 44

Third Mate Michael E. Armagost, 37

Wheelsman John D. Simmons, 60

Wheelsman Eugene O'Brien, 50

Wheelsman John J. Poviach, 59

Watchman Ransom E. Cundy, 53

Watchman William J. Spengler, 59

Watchman Karl A. Peckol, 55

Chief Engineer George J. Holl, 60

First Assistant Edward E. Bindon, 47

Second Assistant Thomas E. Edwards, 50

Second Assistant Russell G. Haskell, 40

Third Assistant Oliver "Buck" J. Champeau, 41

Oiler Blaine H. Wilhelm, 52

Oiler Ralph G. Walton, 58

Oiler Thomas Bentsen, 23

Wiper Gordon MacLellan, 30

Special Maintenance Man Joseph W. Mazes, 59

AB Maintenance Thomas D. Borgeson, 41

Deck Maintenance Mark A. Thomas, 21

Deck Maintenance Paul M. Riipa, 22

Deck Maintenance Bruce L. Hudson, 22

Steward Robert C. Rafferty, 62

Second Cook Allen G. Kalmon, 43

Porter Frederick J. Beetcher, 56

Porter Nolan F. Church, 55

Cadet David E. Weiss, 22

A Beacon of Remembrance — Split Rock Lighthouse

Every year on the 10th of November, the beacon at Split Rock is lighted to commemorate the sinking of the freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald.Alex Kormann/Star Tribune via Getty Images

Perched high above Minnesota’s North Shore, Split Rock Lighthouse first shone in 1910 to protect Great Lakes shipping; today it serves as a public focal point of remembrance tied to the Fitzgerald story. Each November 10, the lantern is relit during a solemn ceremony that honors the 29 men lost, according to the Minnesota Historical Society.

How Did the Sinking Change Shipping Safety?

The disaster spurred safety improvements across Great Lakes shipping — from better storm reporting and hatch standards to modern navigation and monitoring. Maritime historian Frederick Stonehouse said the Fitzgerald’s loss helped catalyze changes so significant that while a ship of similar size had typically been lost every six or seven years before 1975, none has gone down since on the lakes; “Every sailor on the Great Lakes that’s sailing today owes a great deal of debt of gratitude to the Fitzgerald,” Stonehouse told ABC News.

Why the Mystery Still Matters

Public interest has only grown. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum expected its busiest year ever for the 50th, executive director Bruce Lynn told ABC News, adding: “When we remember the Fitzgerald, I like to think that at the same time we’re remembering all those other shipwrecks.” For families like Debbie Gomez-Felder’s, the rituals are personal. “That was the closest thing to my dad… That’s the soul of the ship,” she told ABC News about ringing the bell at Whitefish Point.

This story was originally reported by Parade on Nov 9, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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