TRAVERSE CITY — A solemn ceremony was held at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City on Friday.
It’s been 48 years since the tragic sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. On Nov. 10, a bell was rung 31 times: 29 for the lives lost that day back in 1975 on Lake Superior, once for all lives lost at sea, and once for singer Gordon Lightfoot, who wrote the ballad of the ship’s sinking and who passed away earlier this year.
“It’s rare that a ship is lost at sea, and it’s very rare that everybody’s lost. It’s the biggest ship on the Great Lakes. It’s lost without any warning. No bodies are ever recovered. It’s an incredibly rewarding lifestyle, but it also can be, unfortunately, a dangerous lifestyle,” said Jerry Achenbach, Great Lakes Maritime Academy superintendent.
RELATED: Tracking the Edmund Fitzgerald on her ill-fated final journey
You can see the bell recovered in 1995 from the Edmund Fitzgerald at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Whitefish Point along with other artifacts recovered from the Great Lakes.
