As the largest freighter on the Great Lakes she was depended upon to fulfill her shipping commitments no matter the weather, no matter the conditions. The Big Fitz was 729 feet long and her beam 75 feet. The Edmund Fitzgerald (the largest Great Lakes freighter when she was launched June 7, 1958, and also the largest to ever sink in the Great Lakes) was known as a “workhorse” and set seasonal haul records 6 times, often breaking her own records. The story starts out with keeping commitments. It’s a battle for survival that does not have a happy ending. The story covers so many emotions and human conditions. As we huddled for warmth around our makeshift campfire pit, our captain shared the icy cold story of the “ Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”. It is impossible for those familiar with the Great Lakes to not know the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald. At night, as we sat around the campfire and peered at the other island’s Lighthouse beacons spinning with their secure tempo, we would watch the passing lights of Great Lakes ore ships eerily pass on the horizon. Lake Superior is truly a majestic body of water filled with wonder, joy, and sorrow, quite literally. The lake really is that cold, even in the middle of July. If we missed it, we probably would have gotten hypothermia. If we missed the rope we’d be in trouble because sailboats don’t exactly stop and turn on a dime. We’d spend the day diving off the bow into truly frigid water, swiftly surfacing and quickly grabbing onto a tow behind rope we had trailing the sailboat. Our little sailboat was packed with all our gear – clothes, food, tents, you name it. We had an entire week to explore 21 islands from Madeline to Sand to Raspberry. I think it started when I was a young boy sailing through the Apostle Islands National Park with about 7 other young boys and 1 certified Coast Guard captain. Retrieved 16 September 2013.I’ve always had a fascination with Lighthouses.
The hull was scrapped in Port Maitland, Ontario, in 1987. In August 1986, US 266029 was towed from her moorings to the Detroit Marine Terminal where the pilot house was removed for display and exhibition, at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Detroit's Belle Isle. In 1985 she was renamed US 266029, her registry number, as a newly renamed SS William Clay Ford (2) was put into the fleet. In December 1984, she hauled her last load of cargo from Duluth, Minnesota, to Rouge Basin, south of Detroit. In 1984 ownership was transferred to the Rouge Steel Corporation.
In 1979 the hull of William Clay Ford was lengthened 120 feet. On the night of November 10–11, 1975, these men voluntarily left a safe harbor to face the dangers of gale force winds and vicious seas, in the blackness of a storm which had already claimed as a victim the steamer Edmund Fitzgerald, to search for possible survivors of that disaster, exemplifying the finest traditions of the maritime profession. Because of the bravery and valor demonstrated that night by Captain Don Erickson and his crew, they were presented with many accolades including a plaque bestowed upon them by the Great Lakes Maritime Institute recognizing their role in the search for Edmund Fitzgerald. The Anderson and Ford had made it to safety at Whitefish Bay, but went back into the storm at the request of the Coast Guard to look for survivors of the Fitzgerald. William Clay Ford was one of two ships involved in the initial search for the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, along with the SS Arthur M. The first captain of William Clay Ford was John Jameson Pearce of Dearborn, Michigan.
The ship was a part of the Ford Motor Company fleet of ore carriers and made her home port at Ford's River Rouge Plant, south of Detroit, Michigan. Her keel was laid in 1952 at River Rouge, Michigan by the Great Lakes Engineering Works, and she was launched in 1953. She was named for William Clay Ford Sr., grandson of Henry Ford. SS William Clay Ford was a bulk freighter built for hauling material on the Great Lakes.
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