The watery fate of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald has fascinated the public for half a century, stoked by Canadian bard Gordon Lightfoot’s epic retelling of the tragic tale.

The Fitz went down off Whitefish Point in northern Michigan on Nov. 10, 1975, in a tempestuous storm so horrendous, the ship faced 160 km/h winds and 11-metre-high waves.

All 29 crew members went down with the ship. No bodies were recovered.

Monday marked the 50th anniversary of the Great Lakes legend.

The Big Fitz — launched in 1958 — left Superior, Wis., on Nov. 9, 1975, in the afternoon with a load of 23.5 tonnes of taconite pellets bound for Zug Island, near Detroit.

Memorials were held at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point, Mich., on Monday, one for the public and one for the families. On Sunday

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