In September 1829, the schooner Lake Serpent left the islands of western Lake Erie carrying a heavy cargo bound for Cleveland. Somewhere on the return voyage, the ship vanished. Weeks passed with no…
In September 1928, the aging steamer Manasoo set out across Georgian Bay carrying passengers, automobiles, and more than 100 head of cattle. As darkness fell and the weather worsened, sometime after…
On May 16, 1919, the massive Great Lakes freighter D. R. Hanna was carrying a valuable cargo of wheat across Lake Huron when thick fog closed in near Thunder Bay Island.Somewhere ahead, another…
On September 10, 1875, the wooden steamer Equinox was fighting through a violent gale on Lake Michigan, carrying more than 6,700 barrels of salt and towing the schooner Emma A. Mayes toward…
In November 1905, the steamer Lafayette and the massive barge Manila were caught in the deadly Mataafa Storm on Lake Superior. Lost in darkness and snow, Captain D. P. Wright tried to steer toward the…
On July 24, 1915, the SS Eastland rolled onto its side in the Chicago River while still tied to the dock. There was no storm, no collision, and no open water, yet 844 people died only feet from…
In the final episode of our eight-part Edmund Fitzgerald series, we follow the story beyond the storm and beneath the surface of Lake Superior.Months after Fitzgerald disappeared on November 10, 1975,…
In September 1894, the schooner barge Ironton was making its way north across Lake Huron when a routine tow suddenly began to unravel. A mechanical failure, rough seas, and an unexpected encounter in…
On June 20, 1953, the Scotiadoc, a 49-year-old Great Lakes freighter loaded with wheat, pushed out onto Lake Superior as thick fog swallowed everything around her. Somewhere in that gray wall, another…
In Part 7 of our 8-part Edmund Fitzgerald series, Lake Effect takes a different turn as we dive into Gordon Lightfoot’s legendary song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and the remarkable story…
