MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Gordon Lightfoot’s "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" was released less than a year after the ship sank and became an instant hit. The lyrics secured the ship’s place in history despite several inaccuracies.

What we know:

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" was released in August 1976. It peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 Chart that November, shortly after the one-year anniversary of the ship’s sinking.

The song has endured for nearly 50 years and is credited with preserving the memory of the ship’s lost crew.

Historians believe Lightfoot’s song has kept people interested in the Edmund Fitzgerald for half a century.

"Other wrecks don't have songs," said Wes Oleszewski, a Great Lakes author and historian.

The backstory:

The Fitzgerald sank in Canadian waters o

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