Local artist creates replica of S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald

DETROIT – Today marks the 45th anniversary of one of the most famous Great Lakes shipwrecks: the sinking of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald.

S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in a Lake Superior storm on November 10, 1975 with the loss of the entire crew of 29.

When launched on June 7, 1958, it was the largest ship on North America’s Great Lakes, and remains the largest to have sunk there.

One local man decided he wanted to pay his respects to the victims lost on the vessel.

Local 4′s Paula Tutman has more on the story. You can watch her full report in the video player above.

45 years ago: S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald sinks in Lake Superior

The ship was named after the President and CEO of its owner, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. According to a Los Angeles Times obituary, Edmund Fitzgerald, who died in 1986, was a civic leader in his hometown of Milwaukee. He was credited with helping to establish the city’s Performing Arts Center, port facility, and Amtrak station.

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