Mays answers students? questions and another batch from The Advance
Safety measures changed drastically after ?58
by Peter Jakey- Managing Editor
Frank Mays, remaining survivor of the SS Carl D. Bradley, went before Rogers City Middle School students last Thursday to tell a story he has shared countless times. Mays described the hours leading up to the wreck, what happened when it broke in two, the time spent on the tiny life raft and answered many questions.
Mays was a watchman on the Bradley on the afternoon of November 18, 1958. ?I started my watch at 4 o?clock,? Mays told the students. ?I went up to the pilothouse and checked with the guys up there to see if they needed anything. Then, I went aft along the deck, and the sea was getting up. I saw the men in the galley, and then went down to the engine room.
?I made my way forward in the tunnel, and I could see the old ship working – moving right before my eyes. I went up into the dunnage room, and that?s where I heard a bang.?
He said it was the loudest noise he had ever heard. ?I looked aft along the port side and saw the stern of the Bradley swinging up and down just as your hand swings on your wrist at the end of your arm, and then went and got my life jacket from my cabin.?
The ship was going down quickly, so he went port side to see if there was a good place to jump off and since there wasn?t, he went to the starboard side. At that moment he said the bow went over and threw him into the lake.
?I had my life jacket on, but I sank pretty deep anyway,? said Mays. ?When my right hand reached out of the water, it immediately caught the edge of the life raft, and I climbed aboard as fast as I could.? And thus began a 15 hour ordeal.
According to doctors, Fleming and Mays only had a half hour of life left in them when they were found at 8:30 a.m. the next morning.
The questions from the students ranged from how old Mays was at the time of the sinking, how large the raft was to the recovery of the bell. Mays has lived life to the fullest in retirement, traveling the world and that includes a stint with the Peace Corps.
The Advance continues the second part of a two weeks series with questions for the last living eyewitness.
Q. What changes in the Bradley Transportation Line did you observed following the sinking?
Mays: It took a trip in 2000 Roger Blough (It was his first trip on a freighter since November 1958). The Roger Blough was a part of U.S. Steel at the time. Now I see the great changes on it. They have life jackets with collars on them with jock straps. Now they have these survival suits. You can get into them and jump into the water. They are built to hold your head above water and your body heat is retained. The life rafts now are in round canisters. They shoot them off and they open up. They?ve got a cover and you can swim to them, get inside and zip yourself shut and you are protected from the weather. There also are supplies inside of them. Q. I?ve seen pictures of that life raft. That thing was ridiculous.
Mays: Well. Yes! There were 18 men on the forward end. The rest slept back aft. The life raft was designed for 10 at the most. It goes back to the thought that you never thought a Bradley Transportation vessel would sink. Q. What got you through the night?
Mays: Elmer and I were dressed. We had heavy pants on and shoes and heavy jackets. Some of the others had been lying in their bunks, some were sleeping, it happened so fast, they couldn?t get dressed. Like I said in my book, ?If We Make it ?til Daylight? we will be found. It was stamina, courage, strength and faith. Q. What if Elmer hadn?t got out that ?mayday? call out?
Mays: They wouldn?t have known about it. Just prior to the sinking he had called in. Maybe they call in every six hours, or 12 hours, I don?t know, but he made the call and was satisfied, and kept on going.
Q. You said you never wanted to sail again. Does plane travel bother you at all?
Mays: Not at all. Even after the sinking I bought a 14-foot motorboat when I lived out at Grand Lake. I took that with me to Charlevoix and then eventually sold it. Q. Tell me about the media attention and what it has been like for you for five decades?
Mays: The Bradley was the ship that time forgot. Everything was about the (Edmund) Fitzgerald. I was thinking, we?ve got to bring it back. It?s got to be remembered. That?s why, when you called, I am willing to come and do this. Q: It looks like it puts you at peace.
Mays: Oh, yes! Q. Other than your book, ?If We Make it ?till Midnight,? what is the best piece of literature on the Bradley?
Mays: ?Black November? is really close. That is by Andrew Kantar. Q. If you were given plane tickets and told you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Mays: I would go back to Ireland. I was just there last year. Ireland is a beautiful country. I went to England, Scotland and Ireland last year. Last spring, I went to Morocco. Last fall I went to Spain, and when we were in Spain we took an overnight trip to Tangiers. I would go back to Turkey. I have been back to Moldova after I left the Peace Corps. Next year we have a trip scheduled on the Rhein River. That?s from Switzerland through Germany, up to the Netherlands to Belgium. Nothing beyond that. I like to take one to two trips a year. Q. What is the most unusual question you?ve ever been asked?
Mays: Did the Bradley really break in two? I look them in the eye and I say ?Yes.? I had seen it on the surface in two pieces and I?ve seen it on the bottom in two pieces. You see, there is implanted doubt that has been implanted and passed on down. Even though a dive is planned for next year to film areas at the break, he has no questions he would like answered. Fifty years later the events of November 18 and 19, 1958 are ?burned forever in my mind.?