This ongoing series showcases historic photos in the Collingwood Museum collection, with research and writing by Melissa Shaw, the museum supervisor.
Thanks to a reader’s suggestion, we are bringing you the story of a November shipwreck that claimed the life of Captain Roland O. Bryan of Collingwood aboard the American-built freighter Carl D. Bradley in 1958.
Like many Collingwood families, the Bryan family’s history centred around the marine industry. Unlike his father who worked as an engineer at the Collingwood Shipyards, Roland began and ended his career as a mariner on the Great Lakes with the majority of his career spent aboard the self-unloading freighter Carl D. Bradley.
A brother, Welsford, would go onto to serve as an ocean steamship engineer.
Roland Oscar Bryan was born in 1906 to George Henry Bryan and Emma Gray of Napier Street. According to a local report in the Enterprise Bulletin that followed the Bradley’s 1958 sinking, Roland “attended the town schools and at an early age took up sailing on the Great Lakes on U.S. vessels. He had been employed with the Bradley Transportation Co. on various ships for the past 23 years and acquired his Master’s Certificate 22 years ago.”
For nine months each year, Captain Roland served on the lakes away from his hometown, family and friends; however, for three months each winter he returned to his farm in Collingwood where he was well-known for his love of hockey and his attendance at local games.
On November 18, 1958, Captain Bryan and his crew were aboard the Carl D. Bradley in Lake Michigan en route to Calcite, Michigan on the last voyage of the season. Upon arrival, the Bradley was to undergo renovations to its cargo holds. As well, hull patches were required for two groundings that had occurred earlier in the year off Port Dolomite, near Cedarville, Michigan.
Captain Byran was no doubt looking forward to the end of another sailing season that would see his return to friends and family in Collingwood.
When the Bradley departed for Calcite on Nov. 17, the winds were blowing at 35 miles per hour. As the wind speeds increased to 60 miles per hour, the Bradley continued to hold its own amongst the 20-foot waves, giving no indication to its 35-person crew that anything was wrong. The storm that claimed the Bradley would go down in history as one of the most aggressive in Lake Michigan history.
At approximately 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 18, First Mate Elmer Fleming radioed Calcite to inform of the Bradley’s expected arrival at 2:00 a.m. Soon after, a loud thud and vibration were heard aboard the ship.
The events that followed are recorded in the United States Coast Guard report and are based on Fleming’s accounts in the days that followed the tragedy. Fleming and Deckhand Frank Mays would be the tragedy’s only survivors.
Fleming was with Captain Bryan when the loud thud was heard. Both men looked to the ship’s stern from the pilothouse and could see that the stern was sagging. Their imminent danger was known and Fleming sent out a distress call.
“Mayday! Mayday! This is the Carl D. Bradley. Our position is approximately 12 miles southwest of Gull Island. We are in serious trouble. We’re breaking up!”
Captain Bryan sounded the general alarm, commanded the engine room to stop the ship, and blew the whistle to abandon ship – seven long blasts followed by a single short blast.
Within minutes the ship snapped in two with the bow settling before rolling over and sinking. The stern followed suit in a “flash of flame and smoke as the water reached the boiler room.” Four crew members managed to board a lifeboat; however, only two would survive.
The Christian Sartori, a German cargo vessel, witnessed the stern’s explosion from approximately four miles away, but the weather conditions prevented the Sartori from reaching the Bradley’s position for over an hour. The Sartori’s efforts were joined by the United States Coast Guard air and surface units. The two survivors were eventually found at 8:25 a.m. on Nov. 19, approximately 15 hours after the Bradley’s sinking.
Combined search efforts resulted in the recovery of 18 bodies. Captain Bryan and 14 other crewmen were never found. Of the Bradley’s 35 crew members, 23 were from Rogers City, Michigan, a small city community of just 3,800 on the shore of Lake Huron.
Captain Bryan was survived by two brothers, Arnold of Loudonville, N.Y., and Chester of Toronto and two sisters, Freda (Mrs. Leslie Hockley), and Edith (Mrs. William Corrigan) both of Collingwood. He was predeceased by his brother, Welsford.
Numerous theories have been presented to explain the tragedy. During the inquiry, the Coast Guard learned of the Bradley’s coming repairs at the end of the 1958 season.
As well, it was discovered that the Bradley’s groundings earlier in the season had not been reported. One of the conclusions published in the United States Coast Guard report was that the ship must have developed a hairline fracture. Another was that Captain Bryan exercised poor judgment in heading out into the coming storm.
Vice Admiral A.C. Richmond, the commandant of the Coast Guard, challenged the accusation against Captain Bryan. The Coast Guard’s full report may be accessed here.
The self-unloading lake freighter Carl D. Bradley was built by the American Ship Building Company in Lorain, Ohio in 1927 for the Michigan Limestone Division of the United States Steel Corporation.
Its namesake, Mr. Carl D. Bradley, was president of the Bradley Transportation Company and the Michigan Limestone and Chemical Company.
At the time of its launching, the Bradley held the honourary title “Queen of the Lakes” as the longest ship on the Great Lakes. On its maiden voyage, the Bradley set a record for limestone cargoes with 14,627 gross tons. The Bradley continued to set records until it was finally surpassed in 1952 by another self-unloader.
The sinking of the Carl D. Bradley continues to be commemorated in an annual service at the Great Lakes Lore Maritime Museum in Rogers City, Michigan.
In 2008, an award-winning documentary, entitled November Requiem, was produced about the sinking, and aftermath, of the Carl D. Bradley.
Collingwood Museum staff are currently working to secure a copy of the documentary for the museum’s research collection.
For additional information on the Carl D. Bradley, please visit the Presque Isle County Historical Museum’s online exhibit: https://pichmuseum.org/carldbradley/.
If you have a story of interest that you would like to see featured in this monthly series, please reach out to Collingwood Museum staff.
