Forty Years Ago Today

At roughly 14:30 yesterday forty years ago, the Edmund Fitzgerald departed the iron ore docks in Superior, Wisconsin with a load of 26,116 tons of taconite pellets.  She would have been bound for Zug Island in Detroit but this would be her last trip on the Great Lakes.  The Arthur M. Anderson would depart Two Harbors, Minnesota roughly two hours later with a load of iron ore for Gary, Indiana.  The two would take their place in Great Lakes Maritime History.

This is an older picture of mine showing the Arthur M. Anderson unloading at Zug Island.  The Anderson was the last ship to remain in contact with the Edmund Fitzgerald.  She followed the Fitzgerald on that fateful day and was the first vessel to assist in searching for the Fitzgerald or her crew.

So today, we remember the 29 men who lost their lives on the Edmund Fitzgerald on this day forty years ago.