Two poignant artefacts from one of the most famous shipwrecks in Great Lakes history have sold at auction for a staggering $150,000 (£118,000). The items, a life ring and a piece of a lifeboat from the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, were sold on Friday, 19 December 2025.
A Tragic Legacy Resurfaces
The sale comes just a month after the 50th anniversary of the vessel's tragic sinking in Lake Superior. On 10 November 1975, the massive ore carrier was caught in a ferocious storm and plunged 535 feet (163 metres) to the lake bottom, taking all 29 crew members with it. There were no survivors.
The relics sold were discovered only eight days after the disaster by a carpenter, Larry Orr. While taking a break from his work along the shore in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, he stumbled upon the life ring and the wooden fragment from a lifeboat. "I'm dumbfounded," said the 77-year-old longtime owner from Yulee, Florida. "I never believed in a million years it would go for that much money. Shocked."
From Museum Display to Auction Block
For decades, Orr had loaned the artefacts to a museum in Michigan for public display. His decision to sell was driven by personal financial need. The sale was conducted by DuMouchelles, a Detroit auction house and art gallery located remarkably just a block from Mariners’ Church. This church solemnly tolls a bell each year on the anniversary of the sinking.
The auction house has not disclosed the identity of the buyer. The sale concludes a somewhat unusual chapter for the artefacts. Orr had recently agreed to hand them over to the state of Michigan as part of a $600,000 settlement in an unrelated misconduct lawsuit against state police. However, following a report by The Associated Press highlighting the strange nature of the deal, the state agreed to return the items to Orr. His settlement amount remained unchanged.
An Enduring Cultural Memory
The Edmund Fitzgerald's legacy was cemented in popular culture by Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot's 1976 iconic ballad, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." The song immortalised the tragedy, ensuring the ship's story reached a global audience far beyond the Great Lakes region.
The substantial price achieved at auction underscores the powerful and enduring fascination with this maritime disaster. These simple, salvaged objects serve as tangible, haunting connections to the crew lost half a century ago, their story forever echoing in the cold depths of Lake Superior.
