SS Carl D. Bradley
Contents
History
The Bradley was named for Carl David Bradley, who was president of Michigan Limestone at the time. It was honored in 1943 by being the first Lake freighter to pass through the new MacArthur Lock, part of the Soo Locks.
At 639' LOA she was the longest freighter (and the largest self-unloader) on the lakes. Although later the AA class of U.S. Steel-owned freighters were roughly the same size she bore the title "Queen of the Lakes" until the launch of the 678' SS Wilfred Sykes in 1950. The Bradley's final season would be 1958--oddly enough the Edmund Fitzgerald's first season. Ironically, the 'Fitz' would later suffer a similar fate in a November gale.[2] Other Great Lakes freighters that have been lost in recent times under similar conditions were the Daniel J. Morrell and the Henry Steinbrenner.
The Bradley's registered port was New York City; however, her true home was Rogers City, Michigan, where Michigan Limestone was based. As the boats of the Bradley Transportation fleet were often out and back home every few days, many of the crews made their homes and raised their families in Rogers City.
The Bradley met its fate on 18 November 1958. The previous day, it had unloaded a cargo of crushed stone at Gary, Indiana. Northbound, it coasted along the Wisconsin shore in ballast as seas gathered strength from the southwest. It was the deadhead half of the boat's final scheduled voyage of the 1958 season, which was ending because of the deteriorating climatic conditions of late fall.
The Bradley was scheduled to head to Manitowoc, Wisconsin for repairs when laid up over the winter. A rusting cargo hold had been set for an $800,000 replacement in the prior year. However, its owner, Bradley Transportation Company (a U.S. Steel subsidiary) pushed back the repair. Meanwhile, a radio call from headquarters ordered one more stone delivery before the layup. This proved to be the demise of the Bradley. She encountered a storm with 65 mile per hour winds and 20-foot (6.1 m) waves. Despite these conditions, which "compelled other freighter captains to take shelter" along the shore, Captain Roland Bryan, known as a 'heavy weather man,' headed into Lake Michigan bearing northeast from the Door County Peninsula toward the Mackinac Straits.
Continuing on this course, by 5:35 p.m. the ship was about 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Gull Island. At this moment the hull of the vessel sagged alarmingly and began to break in two. The first mate managed to radio three separate transmissions of mayday before the power lines aboard the ship were severed. An order was given to abandon ship, but the Bradley sank before any life saving craft could be effectively launched.[3]
A German cargo vessel, the Christian Sartori, witnessed the sinking. However, the wind and waves were so fierce that it took her two hours to traverse the four miles that separated the vessels.[4]
The distress call was picked up by the Coast Guard. Despite grave peril, the USCG Cutter Sundew went forth out from a safe mooring in Charlevoix, Michigan into the open lake, still lashed by the teeth of an unremitting gale. Coast Guard Station Charlevoix also launched a 36 foot motor lifeboat in an attempt to reach the Bradley, but was ordered back after being mercilessly tossed about on Lake Michigan.
United States Coast Guard air and surface units and other commercial vessels searched for survivors throughout the night and into the next morning. At 8:25am on 19 November, the Sundew located the Bradley's forward life raft 5 miles (8.0 km) northeast of Gull Island with two survivors aboard — First Mate Elmer H. Fleming, 43, and Deck Watchman Frank L. Mays, 26. Another crew member from the Bradley, deckwatch Gary Strelecki was also found alive, but sadly died not long after being rescued. Throughout the night and the following days, the Sundew and other vessels recovered 17 more bodies, many of which were brought to Charlevoix City Hall for family identification. In all, 33 crewmen lost their lives. The bodies of the 15 men not recovered remain missing to this day.
Legacy and memorial
Of the 33 men who died in the sinking, 23 were from Rogers City, Michigan. The effect on the town and its people is documented in the film November Requiem.[5]
In August 2007, divers John Scoles and John Janzen removed the Bradley's bell and returned it to Rogers City, where it was restored and unveiled in a ceremony held the weekend of the 49th anniversary of the Bradley sinking. Curators planned to toll the bell again on the 50th anniversary of the sinking. A memorial bell of similar dimensions, engraved with the names of the lost crew, was placed on the Bradley two days after the original bell was removed. Janzen and Scoles utilized heliox breathing gas and closed circuit rebreathers to complete the work. This was the deepest artifact recovery mission ever performed in the great lakes by autonomous divers. All decompression was completed in the water, without the aid of diving bells, surface support vessels or decompression chambers.
Memorial events in Rogers City were held for the 50th anniversary of the loss.[6] On 17 November 2008, a 50th Anniversary Memorial was held at the Great Lakes Lore Museum in Rogers City.[7] At the time of the disaster, Life Magazine ran an "expose." The documentary movie, November Requiem which explored how the Northern Michigan community coped with the disaster, premiered at the Rogers City Theater during the ceremonies.[8]
Despite the loss, Rogers City continues to be a busy port, shipping upwards of 300,000 tons of limestone each year, about 500 boatloads, "Hundreds of millions of tons of limestone" have been shipped from the quarry located at the Port of Calcite, Michigan, making it "the busiest bulk cargo port in Michigan's Lower Peninsula."[9]
Victims
The following men were lost in the sinking. Unless noted, all resided in Rogers City, Michigan. † denotes body not recovered.
| File:Card D Bradley Pilot house door.jpg SS Carl D. Bradley Pilot House. Depth here is approx. 315 feet (96 m). | |
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Carl D. Bradley |
| Owner: |
Bradley Transportation Company Duluth, Minnesota 1927–1952 United States Steel Corporation Cleveland, Ohio 1952–1958 |
| Operator: |
Bradley Transportation Company Duluth, Minnesota 1927–1952 United States Steel Corporation Cleveland, Ohio 1952–1958 |
| Port of registry: |
 United States |
| Builder: | American Shipbuilding, Lorain, OH |
| Yard number: | 00797 |
| Launched: | April 9, 1927 |
| Christened: | July 28, 1927 |
| Completed: | Early summer 1927 |
| Maiden voyage: | July 27-28th 1927 Lorain, OH to Rogers City, MI |
| In service: | July 28, 1927 |
| Out of service: | November 18, 1958 |
| Identification: | Registry number US 277437 |
| Fate: | Lost in a storm on November 18, 1958 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Lake freighter Self-Unloader |
| Tonnage: | 10,028 tons |
| Length: | 639’ |
| Beam: | 65.2’ |
| Depth: | 30.2’ |
| Installed power: | 4,800hp |
| Propulsion: | General Electric high and low pressure Steam Turbines turning electric motors to a single fixed pitch propeller |
| Speed: | 14-16mph |
| Capacity: | 14,000tons (stone) 12,000tons (coal) largest cargo 18,114 tons (stone) |
| Crew: | 35 |
| Notes: | Second vessel to carry this name. The first SS Carl D. Bradley was renamed SS John G. Munson in 1927 and SS Irvin L. Clymer in 1951. |
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See also
- SS Daniel J. Morrell
- SS Cedarville Sister ship, sank in 1965
References
- The Alpena News Fiftieth Anniversary Edition, Loss of the Carl D. Bradley. November 14, 2008.
- Great Lakes Vessels Online Index: Carl D. Bradley
Additional reading
- Ashlee, Laura R. Broken in Two, (November/December 1990) Michigan History magazine.
- Bree, Marlin. Courage of the Sole Survivor, The Ensign, excerpted from Marlin Bree’s Wake of the Green Storm: A Survivor’s Tale
- Hopp, James. Mayday: Tragedy at Sea. (paperback) (Publisher: James L. Hopp, 2008) 264 pages. ISBN 978-0-9799270-5-8.
- Janega, James. I lived, `now I can be there for them'. (November 29, 2006). Chicago Tribune.
- Kantar, Andrew. Black November: The Carl D. Bradley Tragedy (Paperback) (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2006). ISBN 0870137832; ISBN 978-0870137839.
- Mays, Frank, (Author), Pat Stayer (Author), Jim Stayer (Author), and Tim Juhl (Author) If We Make it til Daylight (Out of the Blue Productions, 2003). ISBN 0962708496; ISBN 978-0962708497; ISBN 0962708429; ISBN 978-0962708428.
- Ratigan, Bill. Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals. Grand Rapids: WB Eerdmans, 1977.
- Schumacher, Michael. The Wreck of the Carl D. (Bloomsbury USA, 2008) ISBN 159691484X; ISBN 9781596914841[10]
- van Heest, Valerie, Rogers City Remembers Michigan History magazine January/February, 2009, pp. 32–41.
Notes
- ↑ "Sunday Marks 35th anniversary of wreck". Great Lakes Shipwreck Research. http://www.ship-wreck.com/messages/2066.html. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
- ↑ Carl D. Bradley home page. and Bradley History.
- ↑ van Heest, Valerie, Lost in the Gales of November, Michigan History magazine January/February, 2009, pp. 35.
- ↑ Bradley, Mary A. The Witch of November Came Early: The Saga of the Edmund Fitzgerald, (November-December, 1999). Michigan History magazine, p.35.
- ↑ The Bay City Times, Volume 134, Number 319
- ↑ 50th Anniversary, Carl D. Bradley memorial, Carl D. Bradley home page.
- ↑ Modrzynski, Mike. Ceremony to honor men lost on Carl D. Bradley November 17, 2008. Alpena News.
- ↑ van Heest, Valerie, Rogers City Remembers Michigan History magazine January/February, 2009, pp. 40-41.
- ↑ van Heest, Valerie, Rogers City Remembers Michigan History magazine January/February, 2009, p. 41.
- ↑ Review of The Wreck of the Carl D.
External links
- The Alpena News Fiftieth Anniversary Edition, Loss of the Carl D. Bradley. November 14, 2008.
- United States Coast Guard Report (Requires Adobe Acrobat).
- Carl D. Bradley homepage.
- Expedition 97's Bradley Photos.
- Gilham, Skip, Vineland, Ontario, Canada, Shipwreck: Carl D. Bradley 48 NOAA Mariner's Weather Log No. 3.
- University of Detroit Mercy - Carl D. Bradley
- Newspaper headlines, Str Bradley Sinks with 35 Aboard and 33 Lost, 2 Saved Presque Isle County Advance and Alpena News, respectively.
- Newspaper headlines, 33 Missing as Freighter Sinks in Lake Michigan Bay City Times and erroneous headline from Detroit Times.
- Pictorial history of the Carl D. Bradley.
- The Ship that Time Forgot, video of underwater expeditions to the Carl D. Bradley.
- Toussaint Warren J. May Day-May Day Words No One Ever Wants To Hear (originally appeared in "Shipmates" April-May 1997) published by the Ninth U.S. Coast Guard District.
