Historic shipwrecks to be remembered

Detroit Free Press

Monday marks the 33rd anniversary of the often-chronicled sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior. But this month also marks a landmark 50th anniversary of another famous Great Lakes shipwreck -- the Carl D. Bradley in Lake Michigan.

The Detroit Historical Society is holding its annual remembrance for Great Lakes mariners lost at sea on the Fitzgerald anniversary, but this year, the activities will focus on the Bradley and include newly displayed artifacts from the lost ship.

"It's a reminder of the storms of November," said local lake historian Mac McAdam of Dearborn. "Everybody is trying to make their last run before the winter locks them in. They're running fast and hard now."

No one knows exactly how many ships have gone down in the Great Lakes.

"Many of the boats weren't documented, so when they were lost, no one knew," said Joel Stone, curator of the historical museum.

A hundred years ago, there were thousands of ships traveling the lakes. "Now there's less than 100," Stone said. "We tend to forget there's a lot going on out there."

The Fitzgerald may well be the most famous Great Lakes wreck, thanks to Lightfoot's song. On Nov. 10, 1975, the Fitzgerald and its crew of 29 were running for their lives across Lake Superior in nearly 60 m.p.h. winds with hurricane-force gusts. The waves were 35 feet high.

"One of the worst seas I've ever been in," reported Capt. Ernest McSorley, in one of his last transmissions. It was just 17 miles short of the safety of Whitefish Bay when the ship disappeared. All rescuers ever found was debris, including useless lifeboats and life preservers.

Ironically, the Fitzgerald replaced the Bradley as the largest freighter on the lakes when it was launched in 1958, the same year the Bradley sank.

The Bradley's owners planned an $800,000 overhaul during the winter, but what was to be the last voyage of the season turned out to be the last voyage ever.

The Bradley was about 60 miles northwest of Charlevoix on Nov. 18, plowing through another fierce November storm with a crew of 35.

A strange noise caught Capt. Roland Bryan's attention at 5:31 p.m. He looked down and saw his ship breaking apart, the aged metal no match for the storm's assault.

Fourteen minutes later, the Bradley broke in two, plunging men and lifeboats into the water. First Mate Elmer Fleming and watchman Frank Mays were lucky. more