The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter launched on June 7, 1958, as the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes, and remains the largest ever to sink there. For 17 years, she efficiently transported taconite, setting haul records and becoming beloved by boat watchers, partly due to her "DJ captain," Peter Pulcer, who broadcast music and commentary.

Tragically, under Captain Ernest M. McSorley, the ship vanished during a severe storm on Lake Superior on November 10, 1975, with the loss of all 29 crew members. Caught in near-hurricane-force winds and 35-foot waves, the Fitzgerald reported being in "significant difficulty" but sent no distress signal before suddenly sinking in Canadian waters, leaving the exact cause of her demise unknown. This disaster is one of the best-known in Great Lakes history, immortalized by Gordon Lightfoot's 1976 ballad "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," and led to crucial changes in shipping regulations and practices.