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Ceremonies Mark 40th Anniversary Of Edmund Fitzgerald Sinking

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - Events in Michigan are observing the 40th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior. The freighter went down Nov. 10, 1975, killing 29 crewmen.

A sculpture by Timothy P. Schmalz titled "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is being revealed Tuesday afternoon at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum in Detroit.

The sculpture will be on display through the spring, when it will be moved to its permanent location at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Memorial ceremonies are being held Tuesday night at both museums.

The Fitzgerald left Superior, Wisconsin and sank on its way to Zug Island during a storm about 17 miles from Whitefish Point in Lake Superior.

The Great Lakes have claimed thousands of ships since European explorers began navigating the waters in the 1600s, but few have captured the public's imagination as has the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Today is the anniversary of the last voyage of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald On Nov. 9, 1975, 29 men boarded the Fitzgerald...

Posted by U.S. Coast Guard Great Lakes on Monday, November 9, 2015

Much of that attention is owed to Gordon Lightfoot's haunting ballad, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," which memorialized the ship and its crew members, whose bodies remain with the sunken vessel.

"Lake Superior seldom coughs up her victims unless they're wearing life jackets. As of this time, we have no reason to believe the men of the Fitzgerald had time to get into life jackets," Capt. Charles A. Millradt, commander of the Soo Coast Guard Station, said at the time.

Nothing so tragic has occurred on the Great Lakes since.

TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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