(GIBRALTAR, Mich.) — Saturday is the 50th anniversary of the launch of the Edmund Fitzgerald, and a commemoration is planned near the site of the Detroit River shipyard that built the legendary ore carrier, the Toledo Blade reported. The Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest on the Great Lakes for a decade, until the vessel sank during a storm in Lake Superior, killing all 29 crew. While annual memorials and Gordon Lightfoot’s song keep the memory of the disaster alive, some retired Michigan sailors are hoping Saturday’s event will help launch a new annual tradition honoring the legacy of Great Lakes shipbuilding.
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