SS Carl D. Bradley Lake Michigan Sea Rescue Survivors 11-19-58

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Would you see the ship actually splitting in half? Not at that time, because we were too busy with our other duties.

Was there any explosion? There was no explosion at that time.

The explosion came when the very last part of the stern was going under.

Well, I was thrown into the water with a raft come right on in behind me.

What? Was Frank with you at that time? No, Frank was on the raft and he was thrown about four feet beyond there.

Beyond the raft, when he went off, he was thrown off.

And he came right back too.

See, we were in close.

I came up within about a foot of the raft and I would judge Frank came up with about four feet of the raft.

What happened to the other men on the raft? You said there were two others.

We lost them during the night.

What's your name? Frank Mays.

What's your name? My name is F -L -E -M -A -Y -S.

Okay, everybody rolling? Okay.

I understand some of these questions you're going to ask.

You ask first of one man and then the other.

All right, we're ready.

Elmer Fleming, where were you on the ship when this first happened? I was in the powerhouse on watch.

I stand on a 48 watch and I'm the pilot on a 48 watch.

Frank, how about you? Where were you? I was in the conveyor belt at the time.

Now what was the first warning that you were in trouble? Oh, the first warning that I heard a thud and then the alarm bells sounded.

You were down below deck.

I was down below deck at the time.

And how about you? Well, I was in the powerhouse and the captain was there and him and I were there together in the quartermaster.

And I, at the time on the thud, we were both looking forward ahead.

And he heard this thud.

Naturally, we spun around, both of us, to look where it came from.

We looked down the deck.

It wasn't hard to see what it was.

What did you see? We already saw the stern of the boat sag.

So we knew right then and there we were in trouble.

Were any shipmates alive after the disaster? We could not see any shipmates.

We did know a couple of them were there in the debris and that kind of stuff.

I saw our little work boat come sailing across through there.

It was pretty well crushed.

Of course, it would have been no good anyway as the sea.

And I saw a couple of oars.

But I did hear some fellows hollering.

And we did quite a lot of hollering in this way.

There was a lot of rainbows floating around with water lights on at that time.

Our area was fairly well lit up, but the sea was so great that men were hid most of the time.

You really couldn't tell where they were.

We did see these two fellows that weren't on a raft.

And we called to them.

And Frank, my other fellow with me here, he called them too.

And we finally got those fellows to swim over to us.

And we were able to get those two fellows on the raft with us.

How did you and Frank find the raft? Well, it's strange.

That sounds funny.

Actually, by the time I finished my distress call on the radio telephone, while I was putting out the distress, I still hadn't no life jacket.

And one of the fellows came up.

I asked to bring a life jacket up and said he couldn't find one.

He bought me a ring buoy, which I didn't like.

I wanted a life jacket.

So the moment the line broke between forward and aft, telephone and everything else was useless anyway.

I did manage to get through the coast to WLC Roger City and then the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard heard me all over the Great Lakes from what I understand now, but I never did get an answer because we broke all our power in between before that.

So by the time I came up back up there, we were just about awash then.

And I stepped over the handrail out to where the life raft is.

And I lifted one corner of it at that time to see whether it was going to float free or not.

Because we really thought we were going to go straight down and float.

About that time, evidently our superstructure being so heavy or enough, we start to go over sideways from there.

And believe me, the time she started to go over sideways, there wasn't any time to move.

And contrary, I watched the other fellows working their way up the handrail, going to the high side, which according to all theory is good seamanship.

But I was stuck on this side and I had no time to get out of there.

I had to go with it.

Any idea how long you were there before they were lost? Well, we lost the first man about 1130 when we took a complete flip in the air and come down, upside down.

All I remember is that when the raft came back down again, I was underneath it.

In high seas like that, how did the two of you manage to get back on the raft? Well, I gurgled and bubbled and swam under there until I finally bobbed my way up on the top.

I got a hold and the first man that gets up on it reaches around and helps the other man.

Homer, I'd like to ask Frank a question.

Frank, did you think at any time that you wouldn't make it? No, I never did.

I had a feeling once we were on the raft that they'd find us sometime.

Did you see any other lifeboats or rafts after you got aboard? No, not after I got aboard.

Did you hear anything? I heard a few yells.

We hollered and that was it.

Everything seemed to get quiet.

This was real just after it happened, is that right? Yeah, that's right.

From then on, nothing? From then on, nothing except us four there together.

Did you pray at any time for help? Yes, I did all night.

I never slept a bit.

And I guess your wife was praying too? There was a thousand of us.

That's why we got help.

Of course, I knew that as soon as we got daylight, we'd be rescued.

I had that much hope.

I knew they wouldn't leave us out.

They were all out there looking for you.

How about you, Homer? Did you do some praying too? Yes, I prayed.

I don't know lots of times when I could get myself laying face down where the water wasn't going down the back of my mouth all the time.

I prayed, but when quite a few ships missed us, I started getting pretty hopeless.

I figured we were going to make it then.

Was praying going on at home? Yes, and we never lost hope.

Were you terribly cold? Did you get numb? Did you get cold or numb?

Identifier

F.2012-03-1250

Date Of Production

November 19 1958

Abstract

Interviews with the two survivors of the sinking of the SS Carl D. Bradley in Lake Michigan on November 19, 1958.

Description

This film opens with brief shots of the coast guard cutter Sundew after returning from its rescue mission. Subsequent footage shows Elmer D. Fleming and Frank Mays as they are interviewed in the Charlevoix, Michigan Hospital soon after their rescue from the sinking of the freighter SS Carl D. Bradley on Lake Michigan. They talk about how they survived the night in 40 foot waves, which resulted in the deaths of their other 33 shipmates. Both are accompanied by their wives, Mary Fleming and Veronica "Toodie" Mays, who also speak briefly, and the Flemings' son Douglas C. Fleming stands to the left of his father's hospital bed.

Run Time

0:08:45

Format

16mm

Extent

331 feet

Color

B&W

Sound

Optical

Reel/Tape Number

1/1

Has Been Digitized?

Yes

Element

Print

Genre

Interview
Journalism
Disaster

Form

Interviews

Subject

Disasters
Lake Michigan
Boats and Boating
Shipping

Related Collections

SUBSERIES III: Accidents & Disasters

Related Places

North America ➜ United States ➜ Michigan ➜ Charlevoix

Main Credits

Koza, Frank (is filmmaker)

Participants And Performers

Mays, Frank (is interviewee)

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