Forty years ago on this date

Most folks above a certain age (and some below that age) are aware of what happened forty years ago this evening, if only because of the very well-known song that Gordon Lightfoot wrote about it. On 10 November 1975, an early and vicious winter storm hit Lake Superior, and took down the SS Edmund Fitzgerald with all her 29 crew.

My father-in-law was a merchant mariner -- an engineer to be specific -- up through the mid-1960s, when a medical condition caused his retirement. His son was career Navy, also in engineering. Tonight my thoughts are with all those who go down to the sea in ships, with special prayers for those (and the family and friends of those) who didn't come back.

Here's an excellent video with an intro of what I think is an ABC newscast from the following day, footage of the big ship herself, and Gordon singing the song live in the background: The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald