SwtM - S.S. Carl D. Bradley Traditional Cache

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Hidden : 5/3/2019
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:


This cache is located in the Bradford, Dickson, White Nature Preserve. The land was logged in the 1800's and then purchased by a lawyer during WWII. His family planted trees in the area to prevent erosion and they also had a victory garden on the land. For many years the family enjoyed hiking, fishing and having picnics on the property. After Mr. White died in 2003 his wife donated the land so that others could enjoy spending time here. Please stay on the trails and deer trails, going cross country between caches will lead you into a swamp; this is a valuable ecosystem with over 130 different plants and it could be harmed by people walking through it.

[2011 series / Great Lakes Shipwrecks]
The 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 the Bradley retained the title of "Queen of the Lakes" for 22 years as the longest and largest freighter on the Great Lakes. The Bradley Transportation's fleet of self-unloading ships was used to haul limestone from the Michigan Limestone quarry in Rogers City. She was longer than the second largest ship on the Great Lakes and her engine had almost twice the power of engines installed in most freighters.

As the biggest boat on the lakes, the Bradley was traditionally the first boat through the Straits of Mackinac when the ice kept the smaller vessels from leaving port. She served as an icebreaker. Her forepeak was filled with concrete; she would break ice to Indiana, and then go to the Lorain shipyard for replacement of broken plates before starting her season.

The U.S. Coast Guard conducted an annual inspection of the Bradley on April 17, 1958 and found her seaworthy. On October 30, 1958, the U.S. Coast Guard found no problems during a safety inspection of the Bradley that included a fire and boat drill.

The Bradley met its fate on November 18, 1958 while en route to Port of Calcite, the harbor in Rogers City, Michigan. The previous day, she had completed what was initially supposed to be her last voyage of the 1958 season, which she completed with the delivery of a cargo of crushed stone at Gary, Indiana. After leaving Gary, the Bradley set course for Manitowoc, Wisconsin, where she was due to spend her winter layup in drydock and was to have a new cargo hold fitted. She departed Gary for Manitowoc empty on her final voyage on November 17 at 10:00 p.m. with 9,000 US gallons in her ballast tanks for stability. However, when the Bradley was only a few hours from Manitowoc, she received an order from U.S. Steel to return to Calcite, as they had scheduled her to deliver another load of stone at the last minute.

The winds were 25 to 35 miles per hour at the start of her trip. The weather forecast was a gale with 50 to 65 miles per hour southerly winds changing to southwest. The Bradley's path would take it into a lethal storm that was the result of two separate weather patterns merging. A line of thirty tornadoes extended from Illinois to Texas; more than a 1 foot of snow fell on North and South Dakota; nearly 2 feet of snow fell in Wyoming; Nevada's temperatures plummeted to below freezing; and Tucson, Arizona, had record 6.4 inches snowfall.

Although the seas gathered strength from the southwest, they were not considered severe and she was riding smoothly. Two ships were running parallel with the Bradley when she passed Milwaukee, Wisconsin at 4:00 a.m. on November 18. The Bradley reduced her speed sometime prior to 4:00 p.m. to 14 to 15 miles per hour. By 4:00 p.m, she was past Poverty Island with the Captain in charge of navigation and the First Mate on watch. Winds were storm force from the southwest at 60 to 65 miles per hour. The Bradley was "riding comfortabl y with a heavy following sea slightly on the starboard quarter." At 5:35 p.m. the ship was about 12 miles southwest of Gull Island. At this moment a loud thud was heard followed by a vibration. The first mate turned aft and saw the stern of the vessel sagging. The captain slammed the engine's telegraph to "stop engines" and sounded the alarm to abandon ship. As the ship broke in two, he shouted at the crew on deck to run and don their life jackets. The first mate managed to radio transmissions of mayday and give their position before the power lines aboard the ship were severed. The distress call was picked up by the Coast Guard, amateur radio and commercial stations on land and sea.

The Bradley had one life raft stored in the bow section and two lifeboats stored in the stern section. The crew in the stern section attempted to lower the lifeboats. One lifeboat became entangled in cables and the other lifeboat dangled at an impossible angle for launching or boarding. The life raft was tossed clear of the wreck when the bow section sank. The four crew members who reached the life raft were repeatedly thrown off by the massive waves and only two survived.

The crew on the German cargo vessel the Christian Sartori witnessed the sinking of the Bradley through their binoculars. They saw the lights go out on the fore part of the ship while the aft end of the ship remained lit. Then they saw the lights on the aft end go out so that the silhouette of the ship remained barely visible. A short time later they heard an explosion and saw a red, yellow and white column of flame and remnants shoot up in the air . They "concluded that the Bradley had exploded".
Visit 14 geocaches in the SwtM series. At each geocache collect a letter and number combination. Insert them into the phrase: FiTS LIKe A GlOVE
Use the coordinates from the phrase to find the final geocache and become a Mitten Master
Tannery Falls S.S. Carl D. Bradley Fort Gratiot Lighthouse
Norway to Wakefield Gordy Howe Intl. Bridge ElvisFest
S.S. Chicora Jacob's Falls Fox Theater
Point Iriquois Lighthouse S.S. Badger ArtPrize
Grand Island Calumet Mitten Master

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

pevffpebffrq qbjarq ybtf

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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