<P> For 17 years Fitzgerald carried taconite iron ore from mines near Duluth, Minnesota, to iron works in Detroit, Toledo, and other Great Lakes ports . As a workhorse, she set seasonal haul records six times, often breaking her own previous record . Captain Peter Pulcer was known for piping music day or night over the ship's intercom while passing through the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers (between Lakes Huron and Erie), and entertaining spectators at the Soo Locks (between Lakes Superior and Huron) with a running commentary about the ship . Her size, record - breaking performance, and "DJ captain" endeared Fitzgerald to boat watchers . </P> <P> Carrying a full cargo of ore pellets with Captain Ernest M. McSorley in command, she embarked on her ill - fated voyage from Superior, Wisconsin, near Duluth, on the afternoon of November 9, 1975 . En route to a steel mill near Detroit, Fitzgerald joined a second freighter, SS Arthur M. Anderson . By the next day, the two ships were caught in a severe storm on Lake Superior, with near hurricane - force winds and waves up to 35 feet (11 m) high . Shortly after 7: 10 p.m., Fitzgerald suddenly sank in Canadian (Ontario) waters 530 feet (160 m) deep, about 17 miles (15 nautical miles; 27 kilometers) from Whitefish Bay near the twin cities of Sault Ste . Marie, Michigan, and Sault Ste . Marie, Ontario--a distance Fitzgerald could have covered in just over an hour at her top speed . Although Fitzgerald had reported being in difficulty earlier, no distress signals were sent before she sank; Captain McSorley's last message to Anderson said, "We are holding our own ." Her crew of 29 perished, and no bodies were recovered . The exact cause of the sinking remains unknown, though many books, studies, and expeditions have examined it . Fitzgerald may have been swamped, suffered structural failure or topside damage, been shoaled, or suffered from a combination of these . </P> <P> The disaster is one of the best - known in the history of Great Lakes shipping . Gordon Lightfoot made it the subject of his 1976 hit song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" after reading an article, "The Cruelest Month", in the November 24, 1975, issue of Newsweek . The sinking led to changes in Great Lakes shipping regulations and practices that included mandatory survival suits, depth finders, positioning systems, increased freeboard, and more frequent inspection of vessels . </P> <P> Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, invested in the iron and minerals industries on a large - scale basis, including the construction of Fitzgerald, which represented the first such investment by any American life insurance company . In 1957, they contracted Great Lakes Engineering Works (GLEW), of River Rouge, Michigan, to design and construct the ship "within a foot of the maximum length allowed for passage through the soon - to - be completed Saint Lawrence Seaway ." Fitzgerald was the first laker built to the maximum St. Lawrence Seaway size, which was 730 feet (222.5 m) long, 75 feet (22.9 m) wide, and with a 25 foot (7.6 m) draft . The moulded depth (roughly speaking, the vertical height of the hull) was 39 ft (12 m). The hold depth (the inside height of the cargo hold) was 33 ft 4 in (10.16 m). GLEW laid the first keel plate on August 7 the same year . </P>

Song about ship that sank in the great lakes