<P> Although the search recovered debris, including lifeboats and rafts, none of the crew were found . On her final voyage, Fitzgerald's crew of 29 consisted of the captain, the first, second and third mates, five engineers, three oilers, a cook, a wiper, two maintenance men, three watchmen, three deckhands, three wheelsmen, two porters, a cadet and a steward . Most of the crew was from Ohio and Wisconsin; their ages ranged from 20 - year - old watchman Karl A. Peckol to Captain McSorley, 63 years old and planning his retirement . </P> <P> Fitzgerald is among the largest and best - known vessels lost on the Great Lakes but she is not alone on the Lake Superior seabed in that area . In the years between 1816, when Invincible was lost, and 1975, when Fitzgerald sank, the Whitefish Point area had claimed at least 240 ships . </P> <P> A U.S. Navy Lockheed P - 3 Orion aircraft, piloted by Lt. George Conner and equipped to detect magnetic anomalies usually associated with submarines, found the wreck on November 14, 1975 . Fitzgerald lay about 15 miles (13 nmi; 24 km) west of Deadman's Cove, Ontario, 17 miles (15 nmi; 27 km) from the entrance to Whitefish Bay to the southeast, in Canadian waters close to the international boundary at a depth of 530 feet (160 m). A further November 14--16 survey by the USCG using a side scan sonar revealed two large objects lying close together on the lake floor . The U.S. Navy also contracted Seaward, Inc., to conduct a second survey between November 22 and 25 . </P> <P> From May 20 to 28, 1976, the U.S. Navy dived the wreck using its unmanned submersible, CURV - III, and found Fitzgerald lying in two large pieces in 530 feet (160 m) of water . Navy estimates put the length of the bow section at 276 feet (84 m) and that of the stern section at 253 feet (77 m). The bow section stood upright in the mud, some 170 feet (52 m) from the stern section that lay capsized at a 50 - degree angle from the bow . In between the two broken sections lay a large mass of taconite pellets and scattered wreckage lying about, including hatch covers and hull plating . </P>

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