MAY 7, 1965: Cedarville collides with freighter and sinks in the Straits
“For the second time in seven years, Rogers City was in mourning. Scarcely had the tragedy of the ill-fated Carl D. Bradley been erased when the news of the sinking of the steamer Cedarville again brought sorrow to the community.” —Presque Isle County Advance, May 13, 1965—- Forty years ago this week, the community relived a nightmare when word came of the sinking of the ore-carrier Cedarville. Less than seven years after experiencing the tragic loss of lives when the Carl D. Bradley sank in a storm in November 1958, the area again was hit with a great loss. Early on the morning of Friday, May 7, 1965, the Steamer Cedarville left the port of Calcite loaded with limestone under the command of Captain Martin Joppich.
BOUND FOR Gary, Indiana, the 588-foot ship with a capacity of 13,900 tons of cargo, set sail at 4:30 a.m. Originally called the A.F. Harvey in 1927 and converted to a self-unloader in 1957, the vessel left her home port with air temperatures in the low 40s. As the vessel approached the Straits of Mackinac, she encountered foggy conditions.
At the same time, a 424-foot Norwegian freighter, the Topdalsfjord, also approached the Straits from Chicago bound for the DeTour passage on the northeast coast of the straits. Water temperature was estimated at 37 degrees on choppy waters. Thick fog limited visibility on the brisk May day. As the Cedarville approached the bridge from the Lake Huron side, the high-riding Topdalsfjord, with a hull reinforced with thick steel for plowing through North Atlantic ice, had just sailed under the Big Mac from the west side of the bridge, with her bow pointed northeast toward the DeTour channel, some 35 miles away.
JAN KRONSTOL, second mate and radar operator aboard the Topdalsfjord, told a U.S. Coast Guard Board of Inquiry the vessel was “somewhat north” of the prescribed shipping route as it passed under the Mackinac Bridge. The ship’s course was altered to point her in a more southerly direction, but the adjustment was not enough to get out of harm’s way. After clearing the bridge just to the left of center of the main span, the Topdalsfjord’s speed was never more than four miles per hour, according to chief officer Karl Fagrli. Later calculations estimated the vessel’s speed to be in excess of 6.5 miles per hour, too fast for conditions, argued an attorney for U.S. Steel at the inquiry. Captain Joppich sighted the Norwegian vessel about 900 feet away, he testified. The Topdalsfjord failed to answer the Cedarville’s one-blast signal, calling for a port-to-port passage of the vessels. Another ship, the German freighter Weissenburg, reportedly called the Cedarville minutes before, warning that a foreign vessel headed through the Straits was not answering whistle signals. The Cedarville radioed for the Topdalsfjord, but got no response. “When I first sighted her I was still far enough away to clear her,” Joppich testified. “I’m sure he could easily have prevented the collision if he had just hauled it to the right.” According to the investigation ?Findings of Fact? dated September 28, 1965, the Topdalsfjord was on a steady heading and at right angles to the Cedarville?s general approach. ?After several unsuccessful attempts to make radio contact with the Norwegian vessel and with the range decreasing, the vessel?s course was changed to the right gradually as recommended by the third mate. The Topdalsfjord was then noted looming out of the fog at an estimated 900 feet. The helm was ordered immediately to hard right and full ahead was rung up on the engines. ?When the Cedarville?s bow passed ahead of the Topdalsfjord?s bow, the helm was ordered hard left in an effort to swing the stern clear.? Coast Guard Board of Inquiry But the right measures were not taken to avoid the collision. The Norwegian vessel?s bow struck the Cedarville on the port side nearly at a right angle, ripping a fatal gash in the hull at the No. 7 hatch, then broke free and disappeared in the fog. The forward motion of the Cedarville sent it away from the Topdalsfjord, then both ships came to a stop. According to crewman Robert Bingle, interviewed by the Advance days after the sinking, the collision woke him up at mid-morning. “I was awakened by something that sounded like we had run aground,” Bingle said. “The general alarm went off and I quickly dressed, put on my lifejacket and went up on deck. It was 9:55.” IN THE FOG-SHROUDED Straits of Mackinac, the impact ripped a 20-foot hole in the port-side of the Cedarville as the ships met some 6,600 feet east of the bridge. Crewmen rushed to the deck attempting to cover the hole with a tarpaulin. “The ship was listing to port,” Bingle said in the 1965 interview. ?But the water was pumped into the starboard side and we leveled off. No one was excited and we didn’t think we were in any danger of sinking. In fact, we joked about it, recalling that we spent a few weeks last summer in the shipyard and it looked like we would be doing the same thing again.” Instead of giving the order to abandon ship, the captain ordered everyone back to their stations and tried to beach the ship. Severely damaged with water rushing in, the vessel began listing to port again as it poked through the choppy water. Within minutes, the bow started to go down and the ship began to roll to the starboard side.
After the sinking was known to the captain of the Norwegian ship, lifeboats were sent looking for survivors, but none were found by the crew of the colliding vessel. Some survivors were rescued by the Weissenburg, which had seen the Cedarville drop off its radar screen and headed in to help. The Topdalsfjord proceeded to an anchorage near Mackinac City without having located any personnel from the Cedarville. The Cedarville sank less than one half-hour after the collision, coming to rest on its starboard side in 102 feet of water, just 2,000 yards from the shore approximately one mile northeast of Mackinaw City. Captain Rasmus Haaland of the Topdalsfjord testified that he thought “very definitely” that his ship was stopped at the time of the collision. He said he put his ship hard astern when he saw the Cedarville. He ordered full starboard rudder to attain the maximum stopping power available to his ship.
THE TOPDALSFJORD suffered extensive damage to the bow section extending back 11 feet, the Coast Guard reported. Damage didn?t stop her from continuing on to Port Arthur, Ontario later that day for repairs.
A COAST GUARD Marine Board of Investigation later determined the Cedarville to be navigating the channel at an excessive speed for conditions, which limited visibility to 300 to 600 feet. Contributing to the loss of lives, the Coast Guard determined, was the delay in the beaching attempt and not immediately giving the order to abandon ship. No injuries were caused by the collision, as all who died either drowned or were caught in the ship when it went down. The board said ?the captain judged poorly the peril to his crew and vessel and the time remaining for him to beach his ship.? The report, reviewed by Coast Guard commandant, Adm. W.J. Smith, said the captain should have beached the ship on the nearest shoal as soon as possible and he ?should have immediately realized this,? the report said.
The report said Joppich ?should have beached his vessel on the nearest shoal or deciding against that, he should have steered the correct course for the nearest land. The beaching course furnished by the third mate was incorrect and the master should have immediately realized this. It is tragic that the Cedarville steamed enough miles following her fatal wound to have made the beach at Mackinaw City.? Joppich?s license was suspended for one year.
WHATEVER THE cause, the outcome proved devastating. Ten men lost their lives. Dead were: Stanley Haske, 36, Ed Jungman, 51, William Asam, 38, Arthur Furhman, 29, W
AFTER YEARS of pillaging by divers, the wreck is now preserved in the Straits of Mackinac Underwater Preserve. Cedarville is in about 110 feet of water with the hull of the vessel within 35 feet of the surface.