When the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald sank, the Coast Guard set out to locate its remains in the waters of Lake Superior. They found it and took plenty of pictures of it, but no efforts were made to lift the wreckage or its crew to the surface. This is usually the case for shipwrecks — provided the wreck doesn’t pose a danger to others — as it’s seen as a respectful choice for the dead, especially in wartime. Besides, it would be practically impossible to lift a broken, rapidly decaying vessel like the 730-foot-long Fitzgerald to the surface and onto dry land. This is why no victim has been recovered, let alone buried or cremated. They’ve simply been left alone.
That being said, in 1994 one body was accidentally found near where the Edmund Fitzgerald sank — or at least, what was left of it. The remains were partially covered in “seaman’s coveralls,” per the Los Angeles Times, but because the body was found almost 20 years after the vessel sank, there’s really no way to confirm its identity. At the time officials were considering retrieving the remains regardless of the difficulties involved, but ultimately seemed to have decided against it. As UPI quotes, Dr. Jim Cairns said that there was little purpose in recovery, anyway, as “there is no medical mystery to be solved and family members have said they’d like their relatives to remain in their natural grave.”
