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Product Description
Laid down in 1957 and completed the following year, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest iron ore carrier on the Great Lakes, with a carrying capacity of 23,000 tons, later increased to 26,000. At 729 feet in length it was the longest until the completion of the 730 ft SS Murray Bay in 1960. For 17 years she set various records to and fro Lakes Superior and Michigan, until it encountered one of the worst storms of the century on 10 November 1975, while steaming ahead of another lake freighter, the SS Arthur M. Henderson, fighting near hurricane-force winds and 35 feet (11 mt) waves. After a series of sudden, particularly large waves that were reported by the Henderson, the Fitzgerald disappeared from the latter's radar. Nothing of it was heard again until some days after the fact, when a badly damaged lifeboat was recovered. The following year the wreck was located, split in two sections and with roughly 200 ft (61 mt) of the middle virtually obliterated in smashed and torn plates on the bottom, amidst the ship's cargo. No trace of the crew was ever found, not a body nor remains. There are still conflicting theories about what and how exactly the Fitzgerald sank, but one thing's for sure: it was the largest ship lost in the history of the Great Lakes.