SS Carl D. Bradley - Later Wreck Surveys

Later Wreck Surveys

Jim Clary, marine author and artist, and Fred Shannon, maritime explorer, led two diving expeditions to the wreck. with the goal to prove that the survivor's account that Bradley broke apart was accurate. Bradley survivor Frank Mays participated in both expeditions. The first expedition in 1995 was conducted with a submersible. It was unable to conclusively prove whether the Bradley broke apart due to poor visibility and weather conditions. However, "Mays, as the only living survivor of the tragedy, placed a plaque on the wreck in memory of his fellow crewmen."

Clary, Shannon, and Mays conducted the second expedition in 1997 with a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV). They obtained underwater video film showing two sections of the Bradley sitting upright about 90 feet (27 m) apart at a depth of 320 feet (98 m) to 380 feet (116 m). Thirty years after her sinking, Frank Mays, survivor of the Bradley disaster was able to view her hull from inside the submersible. Mays later wrote, "I saw it go down in two pieces on the surface and now I've seen it in two pieces on the bottom of Lake Michigan." This was arguably an unparalleled experience in Great Lakes shipwreck history.

The Bradley's wreck lies in 310 to 380 feet (94 to 120 m) of water in a thermocline with a temperature of 39F (3.9C). A very high degree of technical skill and long decompression are required to dive this wreck. The wreck is totally encrusted with quagga mussels. Mirek Standowicz made the first scuba dives to the Bradley in 2001. He videotaped the pilot house for a documentary in production by Out of Blue Productions. His video recorded the glass blown out of the pilot house windows and the telegraph in the stop position.

Two Minnesota divers, John Janzen and John Scoles, spent months preparing to remove the Bradley's bell. They designed a special battery system and underwater torch and conducted practice dives in a flooded iron mine in Wisconsin. After obtaining the required permission from Michigan government agencies, Scoles and Janzen conducted three dives to the Bradley in August 2007. They removed the original bell and replaced it with memorial bell of similar dimensions, engraved with the names of the lost crew. They were the first scuba divers to reach the stern of the Bradley. Bradley survivor Frank Mays was present on the surface during the dives and saw the bell for the first time in 49 years when it broke the water surface.