24th Annual Lost Mariners Remembrance

For the twenty-fourth consecutive year, the Detroit Historical Society and the Great Lakes Maritime Institute are pleased to host the Lost Mariners Remembrance program at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Belle Isle. Sponsorship is provided by the Lake Carriers’ Association and the International Ship Masters Association, Detroit Lodge #7. 

On the anniversary of the sinking of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, a lantern vigil at the Fitzgerald anchor starts the evening. A select Honor Guard will then escort a memorial wreath to the Detroit River for receipt by an Honor Flotilla of both Canadian and United States government and commercial vessels. 

Elements of the evening traditionally highlight other catastrophes that claimed the lives of Great Lakes mariners. Balladeer Lee Murdock will tell some of these stories in song, followed by award-winning shipwreck hunter David Trotter, who will describe the storm, fire, and explosion that claimed the large tug Goliath in 1848. The Detroit-based ship was loaded with supplies for mining towns in the Upper Peninsula when an accident occurred on Lake Huron, claiming all eighteen people on board. Trotter discovered the wreck in 1994.

Unable to join us in-person? Watch a livestream of the event on the Dossin Great Lakes Museum facebook page.