[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 190 (Monday, November 10, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1052]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING THE S.S. EDMUND FITZGERALD

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PETE STAUBER

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, November 10, 2025

  Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald 
on the 50th anniversary of her sinking. The S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was 
launched on June 8, 1958, in River Route, Michigan. She was the largest 
ship on the Great Lakes for thirteen years, at 729 feet and over 13,000 
gross tons. Her normal course often took her between Minnesota, where 
she would load on taconite ore, and the steel mills in Michigan and 
Ohio.
  On November 9, 1975, the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald left Burlington 
Northern Railroad Dock No. 1 in Superior, Wisconsin. Carrying a load of 
taconite ore, she set sail for Zug Island, Detroit, Michigan, but 
weather conditions rapidly deteriorated, and soon the S.S. Edmund 
Fitzgerald was fighting one of the most violent storms the Great Lakes 
region has ever seen. Reports suggest the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was 
fighting steady winds of 58 knots with gust winds of up to 70 knots and 
seas of 18 to 25 feet.
  On November 10, 1975, the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake 
Superior approximately 17 miles from Whitefish Point, Michigan. It took 
the lives of all 29 crew members aboard, including Captain Ernest M. 
McSorley.
  Today, the legacy of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald lives on in the Great 
Lakes region and beyond. Her legacy is shared through community 
ceremonies, museums, and other maritime organizations, both in story 
and in song, including the well-known 1976 ballad by Gordon Lightfoot, 
``The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.''
  As a representative from and lifelong resident of northern Minnesota, 
I will continue to do my part in sharing the story of the S.S. Edmund 
Fitzgerald so that her legacy may live on forever.

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