This is one of the most famous Great Lakes shipwrecks of recent history. The Carl D. Bradley was an ore carrier, which means she transported iron ore from one place to another. She had already been in service on the lakes for thirty-one years at the time of her final voyage in 1958.
The Great Lakes are prone to massive violent storms in late autumn. These produce waves that can be up forty feet high. On the night November 18, the Bradley ran into one such storm on Lake Michigan. She broke in two on the surface and went down with thirty-three of her crewman. Only two men survived to tell the tale; First Mate Elmer Fleming (aged froty-three at the time), and Deck Watchman Frank Mayes (aged 26 at the time). They had escaped with two other crewmen in a life raft, but the latter two died of exposure to the elements. Fleming and Mayes held on and later rescued by the Christian Sartori, a German cargo vessel that witnessed the Bradley's sinking.
What makes the story of this wreck a very gut-wrenching one is the fact most of the crewmen on board (a total of 23) were from Rogers City, a small town in Northern Michigan. The entire town was devastated by the loss of their men on the lake. As a tribute to the families of the victims, divers down to wreck and retrieved the bell in 2008. A memorial service was held in City hall and the bell tolled to commemorate the crew.
Frank Mayes is the only one of the two survivors left. Elmer Fleming died about twelve years after the sinking.
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