Quiz: SS Edmund Fitzgerald

It has been 50 years since the SS Edmund Fitzgerald faced a violent and devastating storm and the freighter, dubbed the “Queen of the Lakes,” went down in Lake Superior. The ship’s entire crew of 29 men lost their lives in the treacherous waters that day—a tragedy that is still remembered with a haunting melody, shipwreck museum artifacts, and countless history books. 

Built by Great Lakes Engineering Works in River Rouge, Mich., at the time this behemoth was launched in June of 1958 the Fitzgerald was the largest ship on the Great Lakes (and is still the largest to have sunk in these North American lakes). 

On November 9, 1975, the well-built ship, known for its reliability, departed from Superior, Wis., with a fully loaded cargo hold heading to Detroit. Find out what you know when it comes to the engineering of the Fitzgerald that, for 17 years with its last ending in tragedy on November 10, 1975, carried its payload from the mines near Duluth, Minn., to Detroit, Toledo, and ports on the Great Lakes.