General Frequently Asked Questions

How long was the ship?

The S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was 729 feet long.    

How wide was the ship?

The ship was 75 feet wide.

How many men were onboard the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald?

There were 28 crewmembers and 1 captain onboard the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald.  A total of 29.  To see a list of the crew, click here.

What was the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald carrying?

The S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was carrying iron ore.

Who was captain onboard the Fitzgerald when it sank?

Captain Ernest M. McSorley was the captain of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald when it sank.

What was the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald?

The S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was a Great Lakes steel bulk freighter.

Who was Edmund Fitzgerald?

Edmund Fitzgerald was president of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance and the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was named after him.

What does "S.S." stand for?

"S.S." is an abbreviation that means steamship.

Why did the ship sink?

No one really knows why the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald sank, but there are several theories.  To learn about some of these theories, click here.

Were there any survivors?

NO!  All twenty-nine men onboard went down with the ship.  To see a list of the crewmembers, click here.

Where was the ship built?

The ship was built in River Rouge, Michigan.

Who built the ship?

Great Lakes Engineering Works built the ship.

Who owned the ship?

The ship was owned by Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.

When was the ship launched?

Edmund Fitzgerald was launched in June of 1958.

What was the hull number of Edmund Fitzgerald?

The hull number of S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was #301.

What did the ship do?

The ship was a steel bulk freighter which transported cargo.

How big was the ship compared to other ships?

The ship was the largest on the Lakes at the time of its christening and it was a very large ship compared to others when it sank.  It was only 38 feet shorter than the Anderson (10 miles behind it when it sank) and less than 100 feet shorter than Titanic.

Did they ever find the wreckage?

Yes, they did.  They found the wreckage a few days after the ship sank, but it was not officially identified until about seven months later.

Have there ever been any expeditions to the wreck site?

Yes...several.  To learn about some of these expeditions, click here.

Has any part of the ship been salvaged?

Only one part of the ship has been salvaged.  The bell.  It was raised and restored in 1995.  To learn more about this, click here.

When did the ship sink?

The ship sank on November 10, 1975 at an estimated time of 7:30 pm.

Were families given monetary compensation from Oglebay Norton?

Yes, families were given monetary compensation from Oglebay Norton following the untimely loss of the ship and her twenty-nine man crew.

What are some of the theories surrounding the wreck?

There are several theories as to why the ship sank.  To read a list, click here.

Why didn't the Anderson get help sooner?

They tried, but at the time the U.S. Coast Guard was more worried about a sixteen foot missing boat than they were about the assumption that  Captain Cooper had and expressed. (Cooper thought the ship had gone down.)

Were there any witnesses?

NO!  The closest thing to eyewitnesses were the crew on the Arthur M. Anderson, 10-15 miles behind the ship.

Were there lifeboats on the ship?

Yes, two.  Each one had room for fifty people.  Both were later found...ruined.

Were the men aware that the ship was sinking?

This is a highly disputed question, but most people believe that the men DID NOT know, otherwise there would have been a distress call.

How much did the ship weigh when it was not carrying cargo?

When it was not full of cargo, the ship weighed around 13,632 tons.

How much cargo was the ship carrying on it's final voyage?

The ship carried 26,116 tons of taconite pellets on its final voyage.