From the CBC archives: Requiem for the Suzanne-E

It was a maritime disaster in the middle of the Canadian Prairies — the sinking of the Suzanne-E, which claimed the lives of nine people, in Lake Winnipeg 50 years ago this week.

On Sept. 24, 1965, the 70-tonne freight vessel faced a sudden storm and went down in the lake about three kilometres north of Grindstone Point.

"The Suzanne-E's slipping into history," Ted Francis, who volunteered at the Marine Museum of Manitoba in Selkirk, Man., said in Requiem for the Suzanne-E, a CBC-TV documentary from 1996.

Three decades after the Suzanne-E sank, journalist Andy Blicq searched for details about the tragedy, those who perished, and the one man who survived.

That lone survivor, Clifford Everett, had been silent about his ordeal for years, but he broke his silence to Blicq and recounted what happened that night.

"It's been 30 years ago since that happened. Maybe the younger generation can get some experience out of it," Everett said.

"The lake, it can be a wicked thing … it can change so fast. Never take it for granted."

Click on the video player above to watch the full documentary.