The Edmund Fitzgerald was one of the most famous ships to ever sail on Lake Superior. The Fitzgerald was one of the fastest ships sailing Superior, often breaking her own records and setting new ones. The Fitzgerald was the largest freshwater ship in history and was just 140 feet shorter than the Titanic. The Fitzgerald or Fitz (as the crew called her) was built in 1958. She was put into the water on 8 June 1958. In his book Andrew Kantar says: “The Edmund Fitzgerald was named after the wife of the president of the NMI (Mutual Insurance northwestern). (5). Fitz was the American pride of the American team (Gordon Lightfoot). Fitzgerald had a good crew that had been with her for 17 years. The crew called the Fitzgerald, it's lives. For the crew were Captain Ernest Mcsorley, John, James, Michael, George, Edward, Thomas, Russell, Oliver, Frederick, Thomas B, Thomas D, Nolan, Ransom, Bruce, Allen, Gordon, Joseph, Eugene, Karl, John P, Robert, Paul, John S, William, Mark, Ralph, David, Blaine made up the crew. On October 31, the Fitz was on her last voyage of the season, but did the captain know it would be his last? and the crew? At 8:30 on November 8, the FItz was loaded with 26,000 tons of taconite pellets (Anderson 10) "With a cargo of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty" (Gordon Lightfoot http :// www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/) They were crossing Lake Superior from Superior Wisconsin to WhiteFish Point Michigan, which is 350 miles to the southeast. The only thing the captain didn't know was that there was a storm coming from Wisconsin to Canada with hurricane-force winds, the worst storm in history. so the storm hit them... middle of paper... broadcast live on TV the stress was released when the bell broke the surface. The bell was replaced with a new one engraved with the names of the crew members. Fitzgeralds bell was polished and donated to the Seafarers' Cathedral. Each year the names of the sailors were called and the bell rang 29 times for each man on the Fitzgerald and once for each sailor who died when the November storms came. The story of the Fitzgerald was made into a song called "The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot. Now, due to the sinking of the Fitzgerald, no boats, ships or merchant ships can sail in November. under the bow of the ship. The legend lives on from the Chippewa to the great lake they called "Gitche Gumee." The lake, it is said, never returns its dead when the November sky turns dark. (Gordon Lightfoot)