Name/Title
Edmund FitzgeraldContext
The Edmund Fitzgerald was designed and built for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company by the Great Lakes Engineering Works at River Rouge, MI, in late 1957 and early 1958. Instead of construction from keel up, the Fitzgerald was built on the ground in prefabricated hull sections. 900 people worked on the Fitzgerald, and an estimated 10,000 people witnessed her launching and christening on June 7, 1958. She was operated for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. by Oglebay Norton Corporation and upon her launch became the flagship of its Columbia Transportation fleet. The Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest ship ever launched on the Great Lakes at that time, 13 feet longer than her nearest competitor.
The ship sank on the evening of November 10, 1975 in Lake Superior, 17 miles north-northwest of Whitefish Point, MI. All 29 crew members died. The 729-foot-long, 75-foot-wide ship was carrying 26,216 tons of taconite pellets from Superior, WI to Detroit, MI. From the U.S. Coast Guard's Marine Board of Investigation report: "[T]he most probable cause of the sinking was the loss of buoyancy resulting from massive flooding of the cargo hold. This flooding most likely took place through ineffective hatch closures. As the boarding seas rolled over the spar deck, the flooding was probably concentrated forward. The vessel dove into a wall of water and never recovered, with the breaking up of the ship occurring as it plunged or as the ship struck the bottom. The sinking was so rapid and unexpected that no one was able to successfully abandon ship."
The wreckage is located at the bottom of Lake Superior in Canadian waters over 500 feet deep.
Edmund Fitzgerald was a founder and first president of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society.
Vessel information supplied on a label on back of work: "Bulk carried Edmund Fitzgerald. Built 1958, River Rouge, MI. by Great Lakes Engineering Works for NML Ins. Co. Named for Chairman of Bd., Edmund Fitzgerald (b. 1895). Sank 13 miles off Coppermine Point, Lake Superior, Nov. 10, 1975. 29 lives lost."Collection
Marine Collection, Artwork CollectionAcquisition
Source (if not Accessioned)
Elizabeth CutlerMade/Created
Artist
Frederick H. GerlachDate made
1982Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
Signature and DateLocation
Lower leftTranscription
"Fritz Gerlach • 82"Dimensions
Dimension Description
Framed SizeHeight
21-1/2 inWidth
28 inDimension Description
Image SizeHeight
14 inWidth
20-1/2 in