Captain Ernest McSorley and his crew were fighting for their lives in a battle against the "Witch of November" when his final words went out over the radio.
“We are holding our own."
Less than 15 minutes later, the 35-foot waves on Lake Superior and a blinding snowstorm overcame the mighty Edmund Fitzgerald ship and its 29-person crew. There was no distress signal.
Nov. 10 marks 50 years since the sinking of the Fitzgerald. Its crew still rests 500 feet below the surface of Lake Superior in Canadian waters near Whitefish Bay, according to the Detroit Historical Society.
But their memory lives on in legend, song and tradition.
