AMNA NAWAZ: This week marks 50 years# since the S.S.

Edmund Fitzgerald## sank while crossing Lake Superior.

The# shipwreck, which killed all 29 men aboard,## became the most well-known wreck# to ever occur on the Great Lakes.

William Brangham recently spoke# with the author of a new book## that explores both the tragedy and# the enduring legend it inspired.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: When the Edmund# Fitzgerald first launched in 1958,## it quickly became the pride of the Great# Lakes, a mammoth ship measuring almost## 730 feet from bow to stern.

It made# hundreds of trips, moving mostly tons## of iron ore from mines in Minnesota to# the steel mills of Detroit and Toledo.

On November 9, 1975, the Fitz, as she was known,# took off from a port near Duluth, Minnesota.## It was supposed to be her last run of the# season, but a storm was brewing and headed## for the Great Lakes.

To avoid the worst of it,# the Fitzgerald's captain decided to steer the## ship off its normal course, moving north to# get some shelter along the Canadian shore.

On the afternoon of the 10th, it started# to turn toward Whitefish Point at the far## southeast corner of Lake Superior.

Winds# were gusting up to 100 miles an hour,## pushing what could have been 60-foot# waves.

The Fitzgerald lost its radar,## sustained some structural damage, and# began to list or lean to one side.

Bernie Cooper was captain# of the S.S.

Arthur Anderson,## which was trailing several miles# behind the Fitzgerald that night.

BERNIE COOPER, Captain, S.S.

Arthur Anderson:# Those two seas were the biggest we ever had,## and I just wonder if those two seas# didn't catch up to the Fitzgerald.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The night of November 10,# the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in the frigid## waters of Lake Superior, just 17 miles# from safety.

Today, the ship still sits## at the bottom of the lake, more than 500# feet down.

No bodies were ever recovered.

Less than a year after the sinking,# Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon## Lightfoot released his folk ballad# "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

"## The song became a surprise hit, popularizing# the Fitzgerald story with an international## audience and solidifying a legend# that lives on half-a-century later.

It's all recounted in a new book# called "The Gales of November:## The Untold Story of the Edmund# Fitzgerald" by journalist John U. Bacon.

And John U. Bacon joins us now.

John, thank you so much for being here.

There has been a lot written and told# about this story.

I mean, you have said## that this is maybe the most well-known wreck# outside of the Titanic.

So, given all of that,## what was it that you wanted to delve into,# what story you wanted to tell with this book?

JOHN U. BACON, Author, "The Gales of November: The# Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald": The untold## part of my story -- and it's a# gr.. I got to six crewmen who'd been# on the ship before it went down,## because all 29 men went down# with the ship that night,## including two guys who'd been on the ship that# season.

And they could fill in what the captain## was like, what the crew was like, how the ship# functioned.

And I got to 14 of the 29 families to## find out more about their fathers, their cousins,# their uncles, their boyfriends in some cases.

And these guys have never# talked to the press before.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Can you give us# a little bit more detail about some## of the examples of those stories that# you -- what you learned from these men?

JOHN U. BACON: I will give you three quick ones.

The captain, Ernest McSorley, 63 years old, the# best in the Great Lakes, he'd been.. since he was 31.

So, that's more than half his# life.

He was going to retire after this trip## at 63.

And he tacked on one more trip for# his bonus for his wife's medical care,## Nellie, who was in 24-hour care# at that point, probably cancer.

So, this trip was a tack-on, and that# makes it all the more heartbreaking,## of course.

We have got Eddie Bindon, 47 years# old, who -- 25-year marriage to his wife, Helen,## and about to retire himself after this trip.

He# had gone the day before on Saturday to Duluth,## Minnesota, right next to Superior, Wisconsin,# to buy his wife a two-carat diamond ring.

And for reasons William will never know, he# gave it not to his duffel bag to take with him## to Toledo, where he's going to see her in three# days.

He gave it to a friend of his and said:## "Please mail this to my wife."

And he did.# And, of course, three days after the wreck,## she received her 25th anniversary ring.# She never took it off.

She never remarried.

So that's a pretty amazing story.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Amazing.

JOHN U. BACON, Author, car": The last one,## Bruce Hudson found out two months earlier, he# got his girlfriend.. in Toledo.

He said, don't worry.

We will move in# together and raise the child ourselves.

Of course,## the ship goes down, and Ruth Hudson thinks# she's lost her only child.

She has, of course.

She has no idea that six months later, she's going## to be a grandmother.

So these stories are# the kind of things that make them human.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: A lot of people might have# come to know this story by the famous Gordon## Lightfoot song.

And you talk a little# bit about how critical that song was to,## in a way, popularizing this.

Can# you tell us a bit about that?

JOHN U. BACON: Let's be honest, William.# Without the song, there is no book.

There are 6,000 Great Lakes shipwrecks# between 1875 and 1975, and everyone knows one,## and it's this one.

It's because of the song.# So the song not only popularized this tragedy,## naturally, but it also put a spotlight on# the entire industry and woke up the industry.

After this, you had better forecasting, better# communications with the captains.

You had,## frankly, more common sense.

When it's rough out,# don't go out, stay in.

They never used to, and now## they always do.

So, since 1975, since that song# came out 1976, there has been not one, not one## Great Lakes shipwreck amongst commercial sailors# since then, versus 6,000 the previous century.

So that's the impact it made.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And yo.. JOHN U. BACON: Absolutely.

The song gave it so# much attention that they were writing reports## two and three and four years later, the Coast# Guard, the National Transportation Safety Board,## and, of course, books upon books you can# see behind me that I have been reading.

They're not about the Lusitania.

They're not# about the Bradley that went down in 1958 or the## Cedarville in '65.

It's about this one ship.# So this kind of -- it was 9/11 basically for## the shipping industry, and that forced them to# wake up and do a better job, and now they have.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Your book also# sort of pulls the curtain back on## the importance of Great Lakes shipping,# how critical it was to the country,## and how risky it could be.

Can you# just give us a little sense of that?

JOHN U. BACON: This is where your cement# comes from, your car comes from, your food## comes from.

It's all from these ships.

And I did# not fully appreciate that, the reason being is## that shipping is three times more efficient than# trains and six times more efficient than trucking.

It's not even close.

So if they can put it on a# ship, they will.

And it's also more dangerous,## as you pointed out.

Perhaps the biggest# shock to me in all my research is the## simple fact that the experienced sailors# in both the Atlantic and the Great Lakes## will tell you the Atlantic is not# as dangerous as the Great Lakes.

Saltwater squashes down the waves and# spreads them out.

So you get these gentle## roller coasters versus these mountaintops,# basically, that are twice as close together.## Instead of 10 to 16 seconds apart, they're# four to eight seconds apart.

On top of that,## the storm in the ocean is probably from 500# or 1,000 miles away.

In the Great Lakes,## they are called locally occurring storms, which,# William, means the storm over your head right now.

And that can change very quickly.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: How do you hope that# the country remembers this tragedy?

JOHN U. BACON: Obviously, solemnly.

There## are a lot of jokes out there you# will find on Twitter and so .. But second thing is to understand# that these guys, in my opinion,## were heroes before that night.

Everyone knows# the fisherman, the farmer, the factory worker,## the miner.

No one knows these guys.

But# this is where your stuff comes from,## and at great risk.

It also# should be noted, by the way,## the families didn't know each other at all when# the ship went down, have become incredibly close.

And they said to me, they're not like# family.

They are family.

And one of the## daughters pulled up her sleeve, and it says# "We are holding our own" in a tattoo on her## left forearm.

That was the last word from the# Edmund Fitzgerald: "We are holding our own."

And these families truly are.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, the book# is called "The Gales of November."

John U. Bacon, thank you so much for joining us.

JOHN U. BACON: William, thank you.