Off Topic: A storm not seen since 1975

Tonight's gales are being reported as on the level of those that sank the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.  This got the history nerd in me got digging around for information on it.

To save on the space I'll put it under a cut:

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.

http://www.ssefo.com/

This website has some nice references that describe the timeline from christening though recovery of the bell.  I would really take a good look at the "Timeline" that includes the actual radio transcripts. 

With a load of iron ore - 26,000 tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmund_Fitzgerald

While wikipedia is not a great resource for true and complete research, but calling it like it is, shows that it does have a great deal of information in a nice quick format.

The Captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/wxwise/fitz.html

This site actually takes the lyrics of the Gordon Lightfoot song and documents much of how the facts match up.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral
The church bell chimed, 'til it rang 29 times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

http://home.pacbell.net/chabpyne/lyrics.html

And for those interested in the poetry and the legend of the Fitzgerald as recored in Lightfoot's song the complete lyrics are posted here.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.