Ship’s Bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald

When it was launched in 1958, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest freighter sailing the Great Lakes. But shortly after 7:10 pm on Nov. 10, 1975, disaster struck the mighty ship. The entire crew of 29 was lost when a severe storm, with waves up to 35 feet high, sent the ship to the bottom of Lake Superior. And there it still lies, 530 feet below the lake’s surface. The tragedy was immortalized in Gordon Lightfoot’s haunting 1976 ballad The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum

The ship’s bell was recovered by divers on July 3, 1995. This iconic reminder of loss is on display at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The museum is one of Michigans most popular cultural tourism destinations. Visitors can learn about the perils of maritime transport on the Great Lakes.

Find the museum and other historical displays at the Whitefish Point Lighthouse facility in Paradise, MI, on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.