On this date, November 18, 1958, a freighter sank in a violent storm on one of the Great Lakes.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Noooooooooooo, not that one:

44 years later: Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald

44 Years Ago Today; "When the gales of November came early..."

This one:

Carl D. Bradley split in two, sank 61 years ago, causing heartache for Michigan town
Updated Nov 17, 2019;Posted Nov 17, 2018



Once known as "the Queen of the Lakes," the. Bradley broke in two and sank in Lake Michigan during a violent storm on Nov. 18, 1958

By Tanda Gmiter | [e-mail]

ROGERS CITY, MI - The Carl D. Bradley may not have had a famous song penned about her demise, but when she broke in two and sank in northern Lake Michigan during gale-force winds on Nov. 18, 1958, it plunged an entire town into grief.

The wreck was a harsh blow to Rogers City, a busy port town on Lake Huron, just 40 miles north of Alpena. Of the 33 men who died in the Bradley’s wreck, 23 were from this town.

When the Bradley went down, it left widows on nearly every street in Rogers City. Fifty-three children became fatherless that night.

Of the wreck’s two survivors, only Frank Mays, now 87, is still alive. In past years, he’s visited local memorial events to tell the tale of what happened when the ship known as “The Queen of the Lakes” saw her stern suddenly sag and split off, spelling doom for the 639-foot freighter.
....

So why does the Bradley tend not to stay in the forefront of people's minds like the famous Edmund Fitzgerald, another big freighter that went down in a similar storm in 1975?

“The Edmund Fitzgerald gets lots of attention, because of the Gordon Lightfoot song and the speculation on what caused it to sink. However, the Bradley sinking claimed more lives, featured an unbelievable night of four men clinging to a small raft and the thrilling rescue attempt,” said Eric Gaertner, a news leader for MLive in Grand Rapids who wrote a book about the wreck called “Torn in Two: The True Story of the Carl D. Bradley Sinking and the Challenges for Those Left Behind.”

“While conducting interviews and researching the sinking of the Carl D. Bradley, the thing that struck me was the sheer loss of human life for one small town. An overwhelming majority of the 33 men who died in the tragedy were from Rogers City, a town of about 4,000 at the time. It’s difficult to comprehend that a visitation service inside the local high school gym featured 15 caskets.”

[Aristus]

1. Just like the Edmund Fitzgerald. Similar design, too.

Has any ship designer looked into the way the ship design may contribute to the breaking in half of ships in the kinds of storms peculiar to the Great Lakes. Have any design changes been implemented?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. They represented the naval architecture of the late-1940s to mid-1950s. My guess is "yes."

How many ships of that design did not sink? I don't know.

Correction: wow, was I off:

SS Carl D. Bradley

CarlDBradley ship.jpg
SS Carl D. Bradley
History
United States
Name: Carl D. Bradley
Owner:
Bradley Transportation Company Duluth, Minnesota 1927–1952
United States Steel Corporation Cleveland, Ohio 1952–1958
Operator:
Bradley Transportation Company 1927–1952
United States Steel Corporation 1952–1958
Port of registry: United States New York City
Builder: American Shipbuilding, Lorain, Ohio
Yard number: 00797
Launched: April 9, 1927
Christened: July 28, 1927
Completed: mid-1927
Maiden voyage: July 27-28, 1927
In service: July 28, 1927
Out of service: November 18, 1958
Identification: Registry number US 226776
Nickname(s): Carl D.[1]
Fate: Lost in a storm on November 18, 1958
General characteristics
Type: Self-unloading lake freighter
Tonnage: 10,028 GRT
Length: 639 ft (194.8 m)
Beam: 65.2 ft (19.9 m)
Depth: 30.2 ft (9.2 m)
Installed power: 4,800 hp (3,600 kW)
Propulsion: General Electric high and low pressure steam turbines turning electric motors to a single fixed pitch propeller
Speed: 14–16 mph (23–26 km/h)
Capacity: 14,000 t (stone) 12,000 t (coal) largest cargo 18,114 t (stone)
Crew: 35
Notes: Second vessel to carry this name. The first SS Carl D. Bradley was renamed SS John G. Munson in 1927 and SS Irvin L. Clymer in 1951.

SS Carl D. Bradley was a self-unloading Great Lakes freighter that sank in a Lake Michigan storm on November 18, 1958. Of the 35 crew members, 33 died in the sinking. 23 were from the port town of Rogers City, Michigan. Her sinking was likely caused by structural failure from the brittle steel used in her construction.

Built in 1927 by the American Ship Building Company in Lorain, Ohio, Carl D. Bradley was owned by the Michigan Limestone division of U.S. Steel, and operated by the Bradley Transportation Line. She retained the title of "Queen of the Lakes" for 22 years as the longest and largest freighter on the Great Lakes.

[Dennis Donovan]

3. Astonishing that anyone survived.