SS Carl D. Bradley

The SS Carl D. Bradley was a self-unloading Great Lakes freighter that sank in a Lake Michigan storm on November 18, 1958. Of the 35 crew members, 33 died in the sinking and 23 were from the port town of Rogers City, Michigan. Her sinking was likely caused by structural failure from the brittle steel used in her construction. She was the sister of the ill-fated SS Cedarville.

Built in 1927 by the American Ship Building Company in Lorain, Ohio, the Bradley  was owned by the Michigan Limestone division of U.S. Steel, and operated by the Bradley Transportation Line. She retained the title of "Queen of the Lakes" for 22 years as the longest and largest freighter on the Great Lakes.

Design and construction
The Bradley Transportation's fleet of self-unloading ships was used to haul limestone from the Michigan Limestone quarry in Rogers City, Michigan. The Bradley was built to meet Michigan Limestone's lucrative contract with a cement firm in Gary, Indiana. By 7 ft, she was longer than the second largest ship on the Great Lakes and her engine had almost twice the power of engines installed in most freighters. At 639 ft, she was the longest freighter (and the largest self-unloader) on the lakes for 22 years. Later the AA class of U.S. Steel-owned freighters was roughly the same size as the Bradley but shorter in length by just inches. The Bradley retained the title "Queen of the Lakes" until the launch of the 678 ft SS Wilfred Sykes in 1949.

The Bradley began as Hull 797 in 1923 at the American shipbuilding Company in Lorain, Ohio. She was launched in Lorain on April 9, 1927. She was outfitted with her fore and aft housing in the ensuing months until her maiden voyage when Mr. and Mrs. Carl D. Bradley, the community band, and hundreds of people from Rogers City greeted her the first time she steamed into the Calcite harbor on July 28, 1927. The Bradley was named for Carl David Bradley, who was president of Michigan Limestone. Bradley declared that the new ship was "the last word in freighter construction."

The U.S. Coast Guard described the Bradley's design and construction as: "...[a] typical arrangement for self-unloading type vessels with a forepeak and large cargo area, and hawing propulsion machinery aft. These areas were separated by two transverse watertight bulkheads, the collision bulkhead at frame 12, and the engine room forward bulkhead at frame 173. The cargo hold space was divided into five compartments by screen bulkheads above the tunnel and the unloading machinery was located in the conveyor room just forward the cargo spaces.  The entire 475 foot length of the cargo space was open longitudinally through the tunnel and conveyor room."

As the flagship of Bradley Transportation Company, the Bradley often carried corporate officials and guests in her state rooms. She received more attention than the other ships in the fleet with her gray and red paint always fresh, her decks freshly hosed down, and a larger crew. The Bradley had individual rooms for the captain, chief mates, chief steward, and engine room officers. The rest of the crew was housed in comfortable dormitory style rooms. She had a "state-of-the-art" galley with huge refrigeration units and storage pantries. Her engine room housed a huge generator powered by two Foster-Wheeler boilers. The Bradley was the only fully electric ship in the Bradley Transportation fleet. Her generator powered everything from the propeller to the running lights.

Career
The Bradley registered port was New York City; however, her true home was Rogers City, Michigan, where Michigan Limestone was based. The Bradley Transportation fleet was predominantly crewed by men from Rogers City. Many of crew were friends, neighbors, or related to each other. As the boats were often out and back home every few days, and they made their homes and raised their families in Rogers City.

During her career, the Bradley carried different grades of limestone from Lake Huron to deepwater ports on Lakes Michigan and Erie and occasionally Lake Superior. The Bradley set new records in stone trade. She carried her largest cargo in 1929 when she loaded with 18114 LT of limestone, a cargo that would require 300 railroad cars to move. She was the first Lake freighter to pass through the new MacArthur Lock at the Soo Locks in 1943.

As the biggest boat on the lakes, the Bradley was traditionally the first boat through the Straits of Mackinac when the ice kept the smaller vessels from leaving port. She served as an icebreaker. Her forepeak was filled with cement; she would break ice to Indiana, and then go to the Lorain shipyard for replacement of broken plates before starting her season.

The Bradley sustained damage when she was in a collision with the MV White Rose on the St. Clair River on April 3, 1957. She was in dry dock in Chicago, Illinois for seven days in May 1957 for major repairs to her hull. The Bradley had two groundings while proceeding out of Cedarville, Michigan, one in the spring of 1958 and the other in November 1958. These groundings were not reported to the U.S. Coast Guard. The November grounding required repairs. The U.S. Coast Guard investigation considered whether the groundings caused hull stresses that contributed to the Bradley's sinking. The U.S. Coast Guard noted that although Bradley Transportation received an award for 2,228,775 injury-free man hours from April 24, 1955 to December 31, 1957 while operating the Bradley, the company's focus was industrial safety rather than material safety of the vessel. Since the Bradley Transportation founding in 1912, it had never lost a ship until the Bradley sank.

Although the Bradley was normally one of the busiest ships in the Bradley fleet, she was laid up from July 1 to October 1, 1958 due to a downturn in the steel industry. She made only 43 round trips in the 1958 shipping season. The Bradley was scheduled for repairs in Manitowoc, Wisconsin when she laid up over the winter. Her owner, Bradley Transportation Company (a U.S. Steel subsidiary), planned an $800,000 replacement of her rusting cargo hold and bulkheads. A common joke among her crew was that she was being held together by her rust. Sailors reported that they picked up sheared off rivets by the bucketful following storms due the Bradley's excessive twisting and bending in heavy weather.

The U.S. Coast Guard conducted an annual inspection of the Bradley on April 17, 1958 and found her seaworthy. On October 30, 1958, the U.S. Coast Guard found no problems during a safety inspection of the Bradley that included a fire and boat drill.

Final voyage
The Bradley met its fate on November 18, 1958  while en route  to Port of Calcite, the harbor in Rogers City, Michigan. The previous day, she had completed what was initially supposed to be her last voyage of the 1958 season, which she completed with the delivery of a cargo of crushed stone at Gary, Indiana. After leaving Gary, the Bradley set course for Manitowoc, Wisconsin, where she was due to spend her winter layup in drydock and was to have a new cargo hold fitted. She departed Gary for Manitowoc empty on her final voyage on November 17 at 10:00 p.m. with 9000 gal in her ballast tanks for stability. However, when the Bradley was only a few hours from Manitowoc, she received an order from US Steel to return to Calcite, as they had scheduled her to deliver another load of stone at the last minute.

The winds were 25 to 35 mph at the start of her trip. The weather forecast was a gale with 50 to 65 mph southerly winds changing to southwest. The Bradley's path would take it into a lethal storm that was the result of two separate weather patterns merging. Tucson, Arizona had record 6.4 inch snowfall, Nevada's temperatures plummeted to below freezing, a line of thirty tornadoes extended from Texas to Illinois, nearly 2 ft of snow fell in Wyoming, and more than a 1 ft of snow fell on North and South Dakota.

Captain Roland Bryan was known as "heavy weather captain" who took pride in delivering his cargo on time. Bryan's usual course up Lake Michigan was quicker and ran closer to the Michigan shore. On November 18, he avoided the brunt of the building seas by instead traveling 5 mi to 12 mi along the lee of the Wisconsin shore. He planned a course with his first and second mate that would take them to Cana Island near the Wisconsin shore and then they would turn at Lansing Shoal near the Beaver Island group. Although the seas gathered strength from the southwest, they were not considered severe and she was riding smoothly. However, there is proof that regardless of his reputation, Captain Bryan likely had his doubts concerning how well the 31-year-old vessel could manage in rough seas. Not long before the Bradley's loss, Bryan stated in a letter to a friend that he was well aware that the ship was not in the best condition structural-wise and shouldn't be out in bad weather. He also expressed in the letter that he was relieved that the Bradley was slated to receive a new cargo hold during her winter lay-up in Manitowoc.

Two ships were running parallel with the Bradley when she passed Milwaukee, Wisconsin at 4:00 a.m. on November 18. The Bradley reduced her speed sometime prior to 4:00 p.m. to 14 to 15 mph. By 4:00 p.m, she was past Poverty Island with the Captain in charge of navigation and the First Mate on watch. Winds were storm force from the southwest at 60 to 65 mph. The Bradley was "riding comfortably with a heavy following sea slightly on the starboard quarter." At 5:35 p.m. the ship was about 12 mi southwest of Gull Island. At this moment a loud thud was heard followed by a vibration. The first mate turned aft and saw the stern of the vessel sagging. The captain slammed the engine's telegraph to "stop engines" and sounded the alarm to abandon ship. As the ship broke in two, he shouted at the crew on deck to run and don their life jackets. The first mate managed to radio transmissions of mayday and give their position before the power lines aboard the ship were severed. The distress call was picked up by the Coast Guard, and amateur and commercial stations on land and sea.

The Bradley had one life raft stored in the bow section and two lifeboats stored in the stern section. The crew in the stern section attempted to lower the lifeboats. One lifeboat became entangled in cables and the other lifeboat dangled at an impossible angle for launching or boarding. The life raft was tossed clear of the wreck when the bow section sank. The four crew members who reached the life raft were repeatedly thrown off by the huge waves and only two survived.

The crew on the German cargo vessel, the Christian Sartori witnessed sinking of the Bradley through their binoculars. They saw the lights go out on the fore part of the ship while the aft end of the ship remain lit. Then they saw the lights on the aft end go out so that the silhouette of the ship remained barely visible. A short time later they heard an explosion and saw a red, yellow, and white column of flame. They "concluded that the Bradley had exploded".

Search and rescue
After witnessing the Bradley explosion, the Sartori immediately altered course for the Bradley's location but the wind and waves were so fierce that it took her one and one-half hours to traverse the 4 mi that separated the vessels. The Plum Island lifesaving station deployed a 36 ft boat within minutes of the Bradley sinking. The crew was unable to steer or make any headway in storm and was forced to seek the shelter of nearby Washington Island. The USCG Cutter Sundew went out from Charlevoix, Michigan into the open lake in the pounding seas of an unremitting gale. She arrived at the search area at 10:40 p.m. on November 19, 5 hrs after the Bradley sank. Coast Guard Station Charlevoix also launched a 36 ft motor lifeboat in an attempt to reach the Bradley, but this was ordered back after being mercilessly tossed about on Lake Michigan. The USCG Cutter Hollyhock from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin arrived on the search scene at 1:30 a.m. on November 19 after a 7 hour trip that her skipper described as "a visit to hell." During the night, friends and family members of the Bradley crew drove from Rogers City and the surrounding towns to Charlevoix where any survivors would arrive. They kept vigil by lining the beach at Charlevoix with their car headlights turned on. Eight other commercial vessels joined the search at daybreak. U.S. Coast Guard air and surface units and searched for survivors throughout the following days.

At 8:37 a.m. on November 19, the Sundew located the Bradley's forward life raft 15 hours after the Bradley sank and 17 mi from the sinking site. Two survivors were on the raft &mdash; 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 died not long after being rescued. The two survivors said that they fired two of the three signal flares stored on the life raft not long after the Bradley sank. When they tried to fire the remaining flare, it was wet and would not fire when the Sartori passed within 100 yd without seeing them. Mays reported that his cork-filled life jacket kept him buoyed but he had to hold it down just keep it on due to the force of the waves. He knew that he had to find something to hold onto in order to survive.

During the day, the Sundew and other vessels recovered 17 more bodies, all wearing lifejackets. The bodies were brought to Charlevoix City Hall for family identification. More lifejackets were found laced up, indicating that they may have slipped off while they were worn. In all, of the 35 crewmen, 33 lost their lives. The bodies of the 15 men not recovered remain missing to this day.

After the ice broke up in the spring of the 1959, the United States Army Corps of Engineers located the Bradley's wreck using sonar equipment aboard the MS Williams. The wreck was found 5 mi northwest of Boulder Reef and just south of Gull Island lying at a depth of 360 to 370 ft. Later in 1959, the Bradley's owners, U.S. Steel Corporation, hired Los Angeles-based Global Marine Exploration Company to survey the wreck using underwater television. They concluded that the ship was lying in one piece. However, the two survivors continued to maintain that they saw the Bradley break in two. The U.S. Steel survey of the wreck was criticized because it was conducted in secrecy without impartial witnesses.

Investigation
The Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation found that the Bradley sank from excessive hogging stresses. The Marine Board reported that four vessels were crossing Lake Michigan parallel or ahead of the Bradley during the storm and that eight other vessels sought shelter at the time of the casualty. They concluded that Captain Bryan "exercised poor judgment" when he decided to leave the shelter of the Wisconsin shore and sail into the open lake during the storm. However, the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, Vice Admiral A.C. Richmond, issued his own report that disapproved the Marine Board's conclusion that the Master of the Bradley used poor judgment. Richmond noted that his conclusion was supported by the vessel's 21 year history of Great Lakes navigation and the report that it was sailing smoothly prior to its sinking. His report also rejected that hogging stresses caused the Bradley to sink. He concluded that she broke up due to "undetected structural weakness or defect."

Maritime historian Mark Thompson wrote that the type of steel used in the older vessels may have caused their structural failure:"After the Carl D. Bradley sank in 1958, Coast Guard technical experts were aware of the shortcomings of the notch-sensitive and brittle steel that was used to build many ships prior to 1948, but there doesn't seem to have been any program in place to warn the owners or crew of such vessels. That led to the loss of the SS Daniel J. Morrell in 1966, and may have been a factor in many other shipwrecks."

Recommendations
Following their investigation of the Bradley sinking, the U.S. Marine Board of Investigation made the following safety recommendations:
 * 1. Mechanical changes should be made in the way lifeboats are disengaged and deployed.
 * 2. A second life raft should be mandatory on Great Lakes cargo ships because they land upright no matter how they are overturned.
 * 3. Each life boat should be equipped with two tow ropes (painters).
 * 3. Six  parachute-type flare signals with equipment for firing them skyward  should be stored on each lifeboat and life raft.
 * 4. The cork and canvas life vests should be updated to include crotch straps and collars to support the neck.

The Great Lakes shipping industry later replaced the rigid, open rafts like the one carried on the Bradley with inflatable life rafts with an enclosed canopy for protection against the elements.

In 1968, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) gave notice to the U.S. Coast Guard Commandant that the structural failure sustained by the SS Edward Y. Townsend, the Bradley, and the SS Daniel J. Morrell could recur under similar circumstances. The NTSB recommended that the U.S. Coast Guard take action to implement a progressive structural renewal on ships constructed prior to 1948.

Legal settlement
The Bradley's estimated value at the time her loss was $8 million. It made her the most costly shipwreck in Great Lakes history. U.S. Steel initially offered $660,000 as a settlement. Family members of the lost crewmen felt that U.S. Steel used the U.S. Coast Guard findings to avoid responsibility for the loss the Bradley. The company believed that their 1959 survey results of the wreck supported their position that the Bradley loss was an "act of God".

Ten families filed lawsuits seeking more than $7 million just weeks after the U.S. Coast Guard report was released. U.S. Steel reached a $1,250,000 lump-sum settlement one year and sixteen days after the Bradley sank. A commissioner was appointed to determine how the settlement money would be divided among the families. The settlement would not guarantee lifelong financial security to the Bradley families. One published source said the settlement was "one of the fastest in maritime history for a case of its scope."

Later wreck surveys
Jim Clary, marine author and artist, and Fred Shannon, maritime explorer, led two diving expeditions to the wreck. with the goal to prove that the survivor's account that Bradley broke apart was accurate. Bradley survivor Frank Mays participated in both expeditions. The first expedition in 1995 was conducted with a submersible. It was unable to conclusively prove whether the Bradley broke apart due to poor visibility and weather conditions. However, "Mays, as the only living survivor of the tragedy, placed a plaque on the wreck in memory of his fellow crewmen."

Clary, Shannon, and Mays conducted the second expedition in 1997 with a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV). They obtained underwater video film showing two sections of the Bradley sitting upright about 90 ft apart at a depth of 320 ft to 380 ft. Thirty years after her sinking, Frank Mays, survivor of the Bradley disaster was able to view her hull from inside the submersible. Mays later wrote, "I saw it go down in two pieces on the surface and now I've seen it in two pieces on the bottom of Lake Michigan." This was arguably an unparalleled experience in Great Lakes shipwreck history.

The Bradley's wreck lies in 310 to 380 ft of water in a thermocline with a temperature of 39F (3.9C). A very high degree of technical skill and long decompression are required to dive this wreck. The wreck is totally encrusted with quagga mussels. Mirek Standowicz made the first scuba dives to the Bradley in 2001. He videotaped the pilot house for a documentary in production by Out of Blue Productions. His video recorded the glass blown out of the pilot house windows and the telegraph in the stop position.

Two Minnesota divers, John Janzen and John Scoles, spent months preparing to remove the Bradley's bell. They designed a special battery system and underwater torch and conducted practice dives in a flooded iron mine in Wisconsin. After obtaining the required permission from Michigan government agencies, Scoles and Janzen conducted three dives to the Bradley in August 2007. They removed the original bell and replaced it with memorial bell of similar dimensions, engraved with the names of the lost crew. They were the first scuba divers to reach the stern of the Bradley. Bradley survivor Frank Mays was present on the surface during the dives and saw the bell for the first time in 49 years when it broke the water surface.

Legacy and memorial
Of the 35 crewmen, 33 died in the sinking, and 23 were from Rogers City, Michigan, a town with one stoplight and 3,873 residents. Twenty-three women were widowed and fifty-three children became fatherless. Two Bradley wives had children on the way. The largest mass funeral service was held at St. Ignatius Catholic Church for nine of the recovered Bradley victims. Friends and relatives would nearly double the town's population during the funerals and memorial services. There was a funeral on every street. The town's mayor issued an official proclamation declaring that every November 18 would be dedicated to the memory of the men lost on the Bradley. The Mariner's Church of Detroit, Michigan offered special prayers for the Bradley sailors. Ships at sea dropped anchor at noon for memorial services for those lost on the Bradley.

The Detroit News established the "Carl D. Bradley Ship Disaster Fund" and contributed $1000 to set it up. Donations came from across the country, ranging from Michigan Limestone's $10,000 contribution, to collections aboard commercial ships, to individual donations.

On August 9, 1997, a memorial in Roger City's Lakeside Park was dedicated to the forty-three men who lost their lives on the Bradley and the Cedarville.

The bell from the Bradley was returned to Rogers City in 2007. It was restored and unveiled in a ceremony held on the weekend of the 49th anniversary of the Bradley sinking. On November 17, 2008, a 50th Anniversary Memorial was held at the Great Lakes Lore Museum in Rogers City when the Bradley's bell was tolled to commemorate the crew. The documentary movie November Requiem premiered at the Rogers City Theater during the ceremonies. It used author Andrew Kantar's book, Black November, as a major source and focused on the repercussions on the small community of Rogers City after the Bradley sank. The documentary was featured on PBS in November 2008. In 2010, it won two Emmy awards for best historical documentary and best original music score.

Victims
The following men were lost in the sinking. Unless noted, all resided in Rogers City, Michigan. † denotes body not recovered.


 * Carl R. Bartell, 25; Third Mate
 * John L. Bauers, 30; First Assistant Engineer †
 * Douglas J. Bellmore, 34, Onaway, Michigan; Porter †
 * Duane W. Berg, 25; Deckhand †
 * Alfred F. Boehmer, 32; Second Assistant Engineer
 * Richard J. Book, 26, Portsmouth, Iowa; Deckwatch
 * Roland O. Bryan, 52, Loudonville, New York; Master †
 * Alva H. Budnick, 26; Watchman
 * Raymond G. Buehler, 59, Lakewood, Ohio; Chief Engineer †
 * William T. Elliott, 26; Repairman
 * Clyde M. Enos, 30; Cheboygan, Michigan; Stokerman †
 * Erhardt O. Felax, 47; Stokerman
 * John F. Fogelsonger, 31, St. Ignace, Michigan; Second Mate †
 * Cleland E. Gager, 30, Onaway, Michigan; Oiler
 * Paul A. Greengtski, 23, Posen, Michigan; Watchman †
 * Paul C. Heller, 45; Stokerman


 * Paul R. Horn, 21; Oiler
 * Dennis M. Joppich, 19; Wiper †
 * Raymond J. Kowalski, 31; Wheelsman
 * Joseph Krawczak, 35; Wheelsman
 * Floyd A. MacDougall, 26; Oiler †
 * Dennis B. Meredith, 25; Metz Township, Michigan; Deckhand †
 * Melville W. Orr, 35; Watchman †
 * Alfred G. Pilarski, 30; Second Cook
 * Gary N. Price, 21, Onaway, Michigan; Deckhand
 * Leo J. Promo, Jr., 21; Asst. Conveyorman
 * Bernard J. Schefke, 19; Porter
 * Keith H. Schuler, 34; Third Assistant Engineer †
 * James L. Selke, 18; Porter †
 * Gary L. Strzelecki, 21; Deckwatch
 * Earl P. Tulgetske, Jr., 30, Wheelsman †
 * Edward N. Vallee, 49; Conveyorman
 * John Zoho, 63; Clairton, Pennsylvania; Steward

Additional reading

 * Ashlee, Laura R. Broken in Two, (November/December 1990) Michigan History magazine.
 * 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.
 * 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 0-9627084-9-6; ISBN 978-0-9627084-9-7; ISBN 0-9627084-2-9; ISBN 978-0-9627084-2-8.
 * Great Lakes Vessels Online Index: Carl D. Bradley