There are several theories behind the sinking of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, but still to this day nothing has been proven.  This page lists the most common theories.  If you would like to vote on which theory you think caused the sinking, click here.

1. The night that the Edmund Fitzgerald sank, there were waves as high as thirty feet.  One possibility is that waves picked up both ends of the ship, but the middle, where all the ore was, was not held by a wave, so the overload forced the middle downward and ship sank.

2. The ship may have sank due to faulty hatch covers.

3. The ship may have sank after bottoming out near Fathom Shoal.

4. Another theory, which is very disliked by many Fitz enthusiasts, is that the supposedly men did not fasten the series of clamps that were used to hold down all of the heavy taconite pellets, and therefore the cargo shifted.

5. Previous structural damage may have caused the sinking.

6. Another theory is that a huge wave just swamped the ship and it sank.  Many people call these three huge waves (so big they are detected by radar) the Three Sisters.

7. Some people say the ship sank because it was never maintained in the way that it should have been.

8. One other theory is that a huge wave rode up between two swells and it snapped in half.

9. Others think the crew was not prepared for an emergency.  (They did not participate in lifeboat drills on a normal basis.)

10. Some believe that human error could have played a role in the sinking.

11. A wave engulfed the ship, pushing the front of the ship underwater.  The ship then hit water, and broke in two...this may be why the two portions of the ship are so close.