S.S. Carl D. Bradley

The S.S. Carl D. Bradley was a Self Unloading Great Lakes Freighter that was the Queen Of the Great Lakes Until Her Death

Launch
On April 9th,1927 The Ship was launched in Lorain And she would be a giant for 31 years.

She could hold 14,000 tons of stones and travel the lakes at a speed of 14-16 MPH

with a capacity of 35 crew.

Her Sinking
Carl D. 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, Carl D. Bradley set course for Manitowoc, 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 9,000 US gallons (34,000 l; 7,500 imp gal) in her ballast tanks for stability. However, when Carl D. Bradley was only a few hours from Manitowoc, she received an order from U.S. 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 miles per hour (22 to 30 kn; 40 to 56 km/h) at the start of her trip. The weather forecast was a gale with 50 to 65 miles per hour (43 to 56 kn; 80 to 105 km/h) southerly winds changing to southwest. Carl D. Bradley 's path would take it into a lethal storm that was the result of two separate weather patterns merging. A line of thirty tornadoes extended from Illinois to Texas; more than a 1 foot (0.30 m) of snow fell on North and South Dakota; nearly 2 feet (0.61 m) of snow fell in Wyoming; Nevada's temperatures plummeted to below freezing; and Tucson, Arizona, had a record 6.4-inch (160 mm) snowfall.

Captain Roland Bryan was known as a "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 to 12 miles (8.0 to 19.3 km) 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 evidence 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 Carl D. 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 structurally and should not be out in bad weather. He also expressed in the letter that he was relieved that Carl D. Bradley was slated to receive a new cargo hold during her winter lay-up in Manitowoc.

Two ships were running parallel with Carl D. Bradley when she passed Milwaukee, Wisconsin at 4:00 a.m. on November 18. Carl D. Bradley reduced her speed sometime prior to 4:00 p.m. to 14 to 15 miles per hour (12 to 13 kn; 23 to 24 km/h). 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 miles per hour (52 to 56 kn; 97 to 105 km/h). Carl D. Bradley was "riding comfortably with a heavy following sea slightly on the starboard quarter." At 5:35 p.m. the ship was about 12 miles (19 km) 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, amateur radio and commercial stations on land and sea.

Carl D. 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 massive waves and only two survived. The crew on the German cargo vessel Christian Sartori witnessed the sinking of Carl D. Bradley through their binoculars. They saw the lights go out on the fore part of the ship while the aft end of the ship remained 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 and remnants shoot up in the air. They "concluded that the Bradley had exploded".



The Wreck
The Wreck is In Lake Michighan at a depth of 30.2 FT To this day She will be The Worst Disaster in Great lakes