the terrifying might of the great lakes in the northern united states if you've seen some of my other videos you know they aren't simple lakes to be trifled with these behemoth bodies of water are often quite dangerous have taken the lives of countless sailors but the lakes are also bountiful and incredibly useful to the us and canada the iron mines of minnesota the salt mines of ohio and the limestone mines of michigan mariners brave stormy gale and deep troughs every year to transport more than 160 million tons of cargo a year on a stormy november evening in 1958 the former queen of the great lakes the ss carl d bradley made a fateful trip across lake michigan enroute to lake huron she would end up joining a long legacy of shipping dotting the bottom of the great lakes carl d bradley would begin her life in 1923 when her keel was laid down in the american shipbuilding company yards in lorraine ohio the day she entered the water on the 9th of april 1927 she gained the title of queen of the lakes the queen of the lakes is an unofficial title for the largest vessel currently sailing the lakes it may not be official but it is recognized by many of the sailors on the lakes even today carl d bradley stripped the title from the ss lemoine by only six feet or 1.8 meters and would hold on to it for 22 years when it was finally passed on to the wilford sykes who is actually still active at the time of this writing the carl d bradley held the title of queen for the second longest of any of the great lakes ships second only to the massive motor vessel paul r tragertha trigartha being the current queen at the time of writing and has been since april 1981 at 1 0013 feet 6 inches or 308.9 meters she'll be a heck of a ship to beat if she ever even is beaten but back to the carl d the ship would have her pilot house after pilot house and self-unloading crane built over the period between april and her christening and maiden voyage in july of 1927. the vessel was an imposing 639 feet or 194.8 meters in length and feet or 19.9 meters at the beam and had a 30.2 foot or 9.2 meter draft she weighed in at 10 028 tons and featured a fairly large crew of 35. she was powered by two coal fired foster wheeler high pressure water tube boilers running a turbo electric drive at the time of her launching she could generate around 4 800 horsepower about twice what her contemporaries could generate this also meant she was the first ship in the bradley fleet to be entirely electric the ship drawing power from her motors to run lighting a gyrocompass and many other state-of-the-art equipment the ship was propelled along by her single screw at around 13 knots the ship is owned and operated by bradley transportation company a subsidiary of the us steel corporation she would mainly be making deliveries of limestone from the michigan limestone and chemicals company in calcite michigan on the day of her christening miss emma bradley the wife of mr carl d bradley broke a red white and blue ribbon wrapped bottle on her bow but being the height of prohibition this bottle was filled with spring water from the quarry and calcite with that the ship was off with carl d bradley and captain by a william mclean she sailed to rogers city michigan a small town on the coast of lake huron near the northern tip of michigan's lower peninsula built in lorraine ohio and registered as home ported in new york city carl d bradley was a michigan ship all the same her most frequented port being calcite near rogers city and the county of presque isle michigan or as they call it there presque isle michigan here she would load several thousand tons of limestone to take to ports on lake michigan and lake erie for most of her service life she was run by crews predominantly from rogers city michigan or nearby in fact of her final crew list 20 were from here that day she arrived at rogers city she was met by the city band and thousands of onlookers the next day she got right to work taking a load from calcite to buffington harbor in gary indiana each load being anywhere from 12 000 to 14 000 tons on average setting a personal record two years later in 1929 of 18 114 tons this was the equivalent of nearly 300 train cars the vessel continued her distinguished career in through the depression and on into world war ii serving the company dutifully as she carried incredible amounts of cargo to places others may have struggled being a self-unloader meant that she could pull into near-shore facilities that may not have been equipped with shore facilities necessary to unload a freighter she could use her 180 foot boom to deposit the limestone then be back off to calcite for another load in record time in 1943 being the queen of the lakes carl d had the esteemed honor of being the first ship through the new macarthur lock in the sioux locks a lock that's still in service to this day but a few years after this she would lose her title of queen to the wilford sykes in 1949 impressively using her substantial engine power during certain times in the colder months the carl d was even used for light ice breaking her four peak would be packed with concrete and you would plow through ice flows using her displacement to plow a channel later on she would be put up and have any damaged hole plating replaced she wasn't able to force her way through thick ice walls like the mighty us coast guard cutter mackinac but it's still very impressive for a ship not at all designed for that sort of job the ship had a very fruitful career in 1954 she was mastered by a man named roland bryan captain brian was born in august of 1906 in collingwood ontario in canada at the age of 48 when he took charge of the carl d he was considered an expert mariner and a heavy weather captain but that doesn't mean he was infallible and in april of 1957 there was a collision between the carl d bradley and the motor vessel white rose there isn't much reported on this other than the fact that the collision occurred in the southern bend of the sinclair river near to detroit michigan no one was hurt but the carl d was put in dry docks for repairs in may replacing several of the damaged shell plating on both the port and starboard sides the incident was reported to the us coast guard and investigated at the time of writing i was unable to locate any existing reports other than a mention in the report of her sinking a year and a half later but other questionable incidents occurred in the following months that were not reported to the coast guard in truth touching bottom wasn't uncommon for lake freighters of the time loaded to capacity with coal or iron or what have you they had significantly deeper drafts pulling in and out of port also at this time things such as electronic feathometers were not commonplace on freighters times the ships would rubbed the bottom and as long as no apparent damage occurred they would proceed with their operations as normal this occurred twice in 1958 the first occurring in spring as the carl dia departed cedarville michigan a limestone port at the southern part of the saint mary's river she hit bottom damage was sustained after the carl d's forward collision bulkhead but repairs weren't made because the damage was believed to be light once again she touched bottom in november of 1958 near cedarville this time requiring her repairs to a 14-inch gash in her underside when she made port in cal side michigan neither incident was reported to the u.s coast guard thinking them too minor or trivial to be reported a structural inspection was performed by the us coast guard in october of 1958 as well as a series of drills for the crew to perform the crew performed these drills admirably getting a sign off from the us coast guard but the inspection of the vessel wasn't quite so glowing discrepancies were found the inspectors noted nearly 1 000 popped rivets crews even remarked lightly that in heavy seas you could walk her holds and hear the rivets popping and bouncing around the hole like ricocheting bullets but this was passed off as acceptable seeing as the ship had 100 000 rivets and losing a few was actually commonplace also noted was the fact that the ballast tanks had nearly rusted through in places in heavy seas the tanks would leak as water sloshed from the rusted open holes but despite this the ship was cleared to sail by the coast guard the discrepancies were known to the company and in fact the ship was due for her five-year dry dock and overhaul coming at the end of november during this she was due to have almost an entire refitting of her cargo hold a reinforcement to her ballast tanks and an installment of a centerline bulkhead things that in hindsight might just have prevented this disaster altogether captain brian even wrote to friends stating that the refit couldn't come any sooner thinking the ship was in no state to be running through heavy weather the 1958 season was a slow one not just for the bradley or the u.s steel fleet but for the entirety of the great lakes the slowest season on the lake since 1939. many ships never even made a trip in fact the carl d was laid up from july 1st to october 1st in calcite her crew off ship with but one lonely watchman on board to walk her quiet decks a seemingly final respite before her last few trips november 17th 1958 just around 10 pm the carl d bradley departed her slip in gary indiana after offloading a full load of crushed limestone her last offload for the season or at least it was supposed to be the forecast looked nasty as was pretty common on the great lakes come november warm fronts from the south coming up to collide with cold fronts from the north right over the lakes the forecast looked bleak already winds as high as 40 to 55 knots from the south by southwest already there was a stiff wind of about 25 knots and a small craft advisory had been declared but this would be a simple trip carl d wasn't homeward bound to calcite this was just a simple trip up north hugging the wisconsin coast up to manitowoc for dry dock through winter and her much needed refit they'd need to not go more than 5-12 miles from the lee of the wisconsin shore the storm was bad but not worse than the carl d had ever faced so she was underway by 2200 home was just a hop skip and a jump away the men aboard would be heading home to rogers city soon enough her ballast tanks on her outboard sides and beneath her hold were filled to keep her low and riding smoothly but just as the storm was progressing and they were nearly inside of manitowoc the rug was pulled out from beneath them about 0-400 captain brian got a call from calcite asking her to divert her course from wisconsin to calcite for one more last-minute haul shirley rowland would have been a bit hesitant knowing he would have to come to starboard and beam to the growing seas she would have to cross through the northern part of lake michigan and would be battered until she reached the straits of mackinac but it was late in a very bad season the company doing what they could to recoup their losses what was another few days to line their pockets a bit more before winter layup captain brian knew the bradley had been through worse so he pressed on he ordered the galley to make an earlier dinner around 1600 giving them time to secure and tie down before they came to starboard and broadside to the winds and seas a bit before 1700. on board there was an atmosphere of this being just like any other transit they were eager to be home in calcite and nothing seemed to be any way out of the ordinary 43 year old first mate elmer fleming walked the deck from the aft mass deck to the pilot house despite the quartering seas causing the ship to yawn roll according to him she was riding smoothly below decks 26 year old deck watchman frank mays checked the sump pump beneath the cargo hold not noting any more water than usual he headed up forward through the ship's tunnel not noting anything out of the ordinary relieving the captain of his watch fleming stood on the bridge with a captain for a good bit at 1720 he radioed calcite reporting his position as being 12 nautical miles southwest of gull island with an eta of about zero 200. but just a few minutes later he heard a sound that would make his heart skip a beat a loud thud he and the captain quickly looked afterwards to watch the entire aft end of the ship sagging dangerously they both immediately knew what was happening the 31 year old freighter was breaking up and sinking the captain slammed the throttles to all stuff before sounding the general alarm and then sounding abandoned ship on the ship's whistle fleming made a desperate mayday call over the radio mayday mayday mayday this is the carl d bradley our position is approximately 12 miles southwest of goal island we're in serious trouble we're breaking up the call was short the power lines connecting the bow and the stern severing quickly realizing he didn't have a life jacket fleming rushed to his cabin two decks below to grab his below deck maze heard the thud loud and clear and figured it was wise to head topside to investigate there he saw sparks coming from the split in the deck and realized just how bad the carl d was soon the bow section began listing heavily to port as she settled in the stern the aft section with her boilers running and electricity on swung to port quickly settling forward on deck with lifejacket dawn fleming remembers seeing the captain and another crewman clinging to the high side starboard railing climbing forward the self-unloading crane dipping into the water before the entire forward section capsized dumping the men into the lake the men swam hard for the surface coming up near a raft that had been tossed into the stormy waters maze and fleming swam to the raft but captain brian was nowhere in sight they turned to watch the aft section go under remembering how off it was to be able to see into the cargo hold for a bit they watched ben scramble across the deck desperately trying to launch one of the ship's lifeboats right up until her railing slipped below the tumultuous waters of lake michigan moments later the men were rocked by a brilliant explosion a bright flash and a rush of steam as cold leg water hit the carl d's still hot boilers and created a massive boiler explosion that could be seen for miles four nautical miles of bath of bradley's beam the german freighter christine sartori fought through the tempest braving the 55 knot winds and 30 to 40 foot seas the captain turned and looked in shock as he saw a flash of light and an explosion the radar contact of the carl d bradley disappeared from his feed he instantly came to to provide assistance knowing the ship was in trouble and knowing survivors wouldn't make it long in these heavy seas aboard the raft the two men were joined by two more 21 year old deck watchman gary stroletsky and 25 year old deckhand dennis meredith they piled into the small raft and held on because they were far from being out of danger winds buffeted the tiny raft as seized tossed her about like a cork the life raft's small c anchor didn't last long against the seas once torn loose the ride became even more violent they opened top drafts several times upending dumping its contents of beleaguered sailors into the cold waves time and time again they were thrown from the raft only to have to swim back and climb back in each time sapped their strength and robbed their bodies of vital heat a marathon of exertion finally maze fleming and strollerski pulled their tired bodies back into the wrath once more turning back to see meredith struggling to climb back in as well but his body was at its breaking point he strained as his shipmates came to his aid trying with all their might to pull their shipmate into the raft but they just didn't have it in them [Music] they opted to hold on to the young man keeping him pinned to the side of the raft his body mostly in the water as he clung to the side of the raft they figured they held on to the man for two or three hours in that dark frigid storm finally the man had had it he gave up and let go his body slipped beneath the waves and they never again saw dennis meredith he became just one more claimed by the lakes the men struggled on that raft mays became increasingly worried as he noticed ice forming in his hair and on his jacket but they did not struggle alone nearby the christine sartori battled with all her might to reach them taking over an hour just to reach the spot four miles away where the bradley sank her crew desperately scanning the waters in hopes of saving her fellow sailors in the life raft the men had expended two flares in hopes to be seen in the storm they saw the sartori within less than a mile of them they pulled out their last flare and tried to ignite it it failed the flare was too wet they could only scream and wave their arms watching the sartori pass them by so close yet just out of reach by this time multiple stations around the lakes had heard the mayday call the closest and first to respond was coast guard station charlevoix even attempting to launch their 36-foot motor lifeboat the cg-3639r2 but unfortunately was forced to come about and return to station shortly after entering the open lake due to the severity of the storm the us coast guard cutter sundew was moored in charlevoix at the time and was immediately notified by group charlevoix that she was to get underway to aid in the search for the carl d and her survivors the 180 foot bowie tender at the time was in bravo 12 status meaning that if a call came in she had to be underway within 12 hours but her captain lieutenant commander howard d muth had her underway and heading for the lake within the hour leaving dock with just enough crew to run the cutter and nothing more but what his cutter would face out in the open waters of lake michigan was going to be no picnic as the small buoy tender battled through heavy winds and seas with scarcely any time to secure for c the cutter passed out of the mouth of the channel and quickly began to have her insides thrashed everything in the galley not bolted down was thrown on the deck and smashed to pieces propane tanks in the bowie decks were washed overboard and every single can of paint in her paint locker spilled to the ground and made a hell of a mess to be cleaned later the small cutter struggled through 30-foot seas lieutenant commander moth estimating some to be in the 40s not a man on board rested and few didn't feel at least a bit seasick but in spite of the hardship they arrived on scene only around four hours after departing taking command of the scene as she was joined shortly after by the us coast guard cutter hollyhock from sturgeon bay wisconsin through all of this maze fleming and strzeleski were forced to lay down in the raft with their arms spread wide to try and stay in and they were beyond tired exhaustion and hypothermia had most definitely set in it was at this point the 21 year old gary strzeleski stated that he was going for a swim the young man had been a swimmer in high school and figured he could swim to shore and go for help mason fleming begged him not to do it to stay in the boat and see reason but they couldn't stop him he hopped out of the boat and swam off into the maelstrom this would be the last time fleming or mays would see that young man alive not much more than an hour later the coast guard cutter sun dude came bobbing through the storm miraculously spotting the two men in their small eight by 10 foot raft they scrambled to pull the freezing men aboard thankful to find anything at all in that dreadful weather they were quickly ushered below decks as they were wrapped in warm blankets and slowly warmed up by the cutter's corman using warm beef broth fed to them every half an hour they had been in the water for a total of 14 hours and had drifted nearly 20 nautical miles just on the wind alone the sundew and hollyhock continued their search joined by nine other civilian freighters the trans-ontario the sylvania the allgogen the sartori the henry ford ii the munson the johnstown and the edwin hoyt ii joined also by aircraft from selfridge air force base near detroit kenrose air force base near sault ste murray michigan glenview naval air station north of chicago and coast guard aircraft from coast guard air station traverse city another survivor was spotted by the crew of the trans ontario and pulled aboard surprisingly it was gary strzeleski alive but just barely the crew did their best to revive the hypothermic and exhausted man but by the time a doctor was being lowered onto the deck of the trans ontario via helicopter it was too late he was already gone the crews continued to search for days in total two crewmen were found alive 17 bodies were recovered from the area around gull island the rest of the 35 crew either went down with the ship or were simply never found the sundew pulled back into charlevoix silently carrying two survivors and on her buoy deck eight of carl d's brave sailors draped in tarps all of the great lakes heard of this event and were hit hard by it but the town hit hardest was rogers city michigan of the 33 dead or missing 20 came from the little limestone town by the lake an investigation was conducted by the us coast guard to try and find an answer to the sudden and horrific tragedy coming through the ship's past inspections and even digging up the groundings that the ship hadn't reported but this wasn't a mystery like the edmund fitzgerald would end up being the causes were abundantly clear continued damages from a long and tough career on the lakes combined with a weakened hole and rusting cargo hold made the old girl give up the ghost before her prime the coast guard agreed that the proposed repairs slated for the 58-59 dry dock might have saved her as well in the end recommendations came about for further better inspections and increased the amount of flares kept on a life raft as well as the requirements to carry life rafts both for and aft not too long after the sinking the wreck was located utilizing sonar and after this it was visually verified using the motor vessel's submarix in 1959 utilizing specialized underwater cameras the crew was able to get a visual of the sunken freighter but noted something unusual the ship appeared to be in one piece in spite of the testimony from maze and fleming despite their protest their testimony was written off as they were suffering from shock or maybe they misremembered it the photos from the submarinex was considered by the insurance company in issuing compensation to the survivors and the family of the deceased seeing as the ship didn't split in half the company wasn't held liable due to it being an act of god so the families weren't as highly compensated had the ship indeed split the company would have been liable and thus they would have been paid more elmer fleming went back to sea working on the ships even becoming master of the cedarville before passing away in 1969 he swore that he saw the ship split until the day he died frank mays would never work on a lake boat again taking the job on shore instead the official story would be that the carl d had simply been taken by an act of god and that u.s steel could not be held liable that is until 1995 when michigan businessman and underwater explorer fred shannon took a vested interest in the wreck tracking down mays who was 63 at the time and he and the old sailor went down in a two-person sub called the delta there they were able to see in person for the first time in almost 40 years the wreck of the carl d bradley the water was murky and stirred up by a storm at the time but maize could finally see the ship that had almost taken his life almost a lifetime ago visibility was low near five feet at times but they clearly could read the name on the aft they attempted to find the split but couldn't risk getting too close worried about colliding with the ship's self-unloading boom it wouldn't be for another two years in 1997 when maze and shannon would go to the wreck again in clear weather there plain as day was an obvious split nearly 90 feet apart the two sections sat almost perfectly in line the aft section resting at a slight 20 degree angle but for all this time mason fleming had been right frank mays passed away in january of 2021. he was 89 years old and was described by his family and friends as an adventurer coming so close to death at such an early age he was basically going to live life and if there was something he wanted to do he did it lane mays his daughter thank you so much for watching this i hope you learned something i hope you enjoyed it i'd like to thank the curators over the presque isle county historical museum in rogers city michigan they gave me an absolute wealth of information on this subject and they also helped me fact check a few things that i wasn't so sure about they were absolutely helpful and it would be fantastic if you guys showed them some support i'll link some of their information down in the description below and go ahead and check them out say thank you because they helped me out a lot it's back to business as usual after the ghost ship month i know some people enjoyed it some people didn't i definitely got some conspiracy theorist crackpots to come out of the woodwork but i quite enjoyed doing something a little more lighthearted uh my channel artist did a little fun little piece of art as you can see the creepster returning to his job in the dreaded cleveland ohio uh so i thank her for that um i thank my friend kelson so much for being the voice of the creepster maybe he'll return next year we'll see i want to thank everyone for all the growth my channel's been seeing it's just been growing up incredibly fast and i'm just in awe thank you very much i owe it all to you it's all because of your passion and your willingness to help me grow that i've even grown this much so thank you very much and i appreciate any continued support if you'd like to support the channel artist as well as myself i have merch linked in the description below um go ahead and get something if you want to it helps out my channel artist a lot uh and all the money goes to her but all the same thank you all so very very much and fair winds and following seas to you should mates