The Ship That Vanished Without a Trace - SS Edmund Fitzgerald Mystery

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]November 10th, 1975. [music] The largest cargo ship on the Great Lakes is about to vanish without a trace. The SS Edmund Fitzgerald battles through one of the most violent storms [music] ever recorded on Lake Superior.

[00:00:13]729 feet of steel hauling over 26,000 [music] tons of iron ore through waves towering more than 30 feet high. [music] Hurricane force winds howl across the lake. Snow falls sideways and the ship is already dying. The crew radios nearby ships reporting serious damage. They've lost radar. Water floods the deck. Two massive vents are damaged allowing water into the cargo holds. Still, Captain Ernest McSorley remains calm. At 7:10 p.m. he sends his final message [music] across the radio. "We are holding our own." Minutes later, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald vanishes completely. No distress call, no SOS, nothing.

[00:00:55]>> [music] >> When search crews arrive, they find only debris scattered across the freezing water. All 29 crew members are gone. The ship split in two on the lake bed 530 feet below. Lake Superior never gives her dead back.