Black Mug-Edmund Fitzgerald

11 oz. black ceramic mug featuring original dye sublimated design

Caption Reads:

The Edmund Fitzgerald

The Great Lakes ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald was built, at a cost of $8.4 million, in 1958 by the Great Lakes Engineering Works at River Rouge, Michigan. At 729 feet in length and a gross tonnage of 13,632, she was the largest ship on the Great Lakes and would remain so until 1971. Her infamous last voyage began at Superior, Wisconsin, where she had been loaded with 26,116 tons of taconite. Last radio contact was made the next night at 7:10 p.m., November 10, 1975, when the fitzgerald reported “we are holding our own,” as she was in the throes of a fierce storm with winds close to 90 mph. Within minutes she disappeared from radar. The National Transportation Safety Board determined that due to her taking on water with the rough seas, the ship’s hatch covers experienced massive failure, flooding the hold, and she sunk before a distress call could have been issued. She went down with the captain and his crew of 28 men.