50 years ago, the Edmund Fitzgerald, a 'rock star' ship, sank in Lake Superior

The 729-foot ore boat Edmund Fitzgerald, shown in 1972 file photo, in Marie, Mich.

Twenty-nine sailors drowned when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in the Great Lakes' icy waters on Nov. 10, 1975. The ship was immortalized in a surprise hit 1976 folk ballad by Gordon Lightfoot.

(Image credit: Bettmann Archive)