The sinking of the Carl D.

I just finished reading a book about the  Carl D. Bradley shipwreck this week while staying here in Rogers City, Michigan. At approximately 5:30 pm on November 18, 1958, the Carl D. Bradley, a 623 foot limestone carrier caught in one of the most violent storms in Lake Michigan history, snapped in two, and sank in less than five minutes.  Four of the thirty-five-man crew escaped to a small raft, where they hung on in total darkness, braving thirty-foot-high waves and frigid temperatures, but only two of them survived.  As the storm raged on, a search-and-rescue mission hunted for survivors, while the frantic citizens of nearby Rogers City, Michigan, the town that was home to twenty-six members of the Bradley's crew, anxiously awaited word of their loved ones' fates.

No one believed it possible when word spread that the "Carl D" (as the townsfolk called it), a gigantic limestone carrier with a storied history on the Great Lakes, had sunk in the teeth of a fierce November storm. Once the flagship of it's fleet, the Carl D had set numerous tonnage records, and for years had been the largest ship working the lakes. Furthermore, she was considered virtually unsinkable.  The story of the Bradley is a haunting one. Nearing the end of a long journey that had seen her battling high winds and heavy seas, the Bradley broke in two, sinking within a matter of minutes -- all within sight of a nearby ship that could only helplessly watch as the Carl D plunged to the bottom of Lake Michigan, claiming the lives of 33 of its 35 crewmen, including its captain.
This however, is only part of the story.  In a truly amazing turn of events, two men survived and were rescued, after a night of clinging to a life raft pitched around in the stormy seas. The account of their survival, and of the heroic efforts made in bringing them to safety, is one of the most compelling stories in recent Great Lakes history.