One Sole Survivor

I attended a presentation provided at the Sault Locks Visitors Center in Sault Ste. Marie, MI on June 29, 2012. Dennis Hale was the sole survivor of the SS Daniel J. Morrell on a cold blustery stormy night off the thumb of Michigan. Winds exceeded 70 miles per hour with swells of over 25 feet. It started out as a normal trip, nothing out of the ordinary. Dennis almost missed boarding the ship.The second time he had to board the ship at a different port because of oversleeping. Making the last run of the season was its sister ship the Edward Y. Townsend. During the early morning the captain of the Townsend decided to pursue safety from the storm in the St. Mary's River heading for the protection of Thunder Bay. The Morrell was left alone in the waters off the north shore of Pointe Aux Barques, Michigan.  

At 2:00 a.m. the Morrell started sending out its screams with the banging of metal as the ship was being torn apart by the swells of wind and waves. Many of the men jumped to their deaths in the 34 degree waters of Lake Huron. Dennis was clothed in a pea coat, boxer shorts and a life jacket. His life jacket served as a prop during this presentation. First the attendees of this presentation were shown a video of the ship as it rested at the bottom of the lake. Dennis' cabin was shown along with the rest of the back portion of the ship. The ship was broken in half during its assault on that stormy eve of November 29th, 1966. The ship housed fish who saught its protection.  

The length of the ship was 580 feet, a beam of 58 feet, height of 27 feet and was operated by the Cambria Steamship Company, a Bethlehem Transportation Company Mgrs. subsidiary. The ship was a bulk freighter like the many ships that sail through the Sault Locks. There were 29 crew members, with only one surviving the trip.

The crew was called on board by the load crashes.  By 2:15a.m. the ship was ripped in half. Because things were happening so quickly, an SOS was not sent.  Some of men dove in the water or were thrown overboard. The remaining crew boarded rafts at the forward section of the vessel.  While they were waiting for that portion of the ship to sink, there were shouts that a ship was spotted off the port bow.  It was soon discovered that the ship they thought they spotted was the aft of the ship they were on.  This portion was barreling towards them under the power of the ship’s engines.  The two sections collided, and the back end of the ship kept traveling at a fast pace off into the darkness.  It was reported as looking like a wounded beast with its head shot off.

Dennis reported that it took him 24 years to talk about this incident.  When he finally spoke of what happened that stormy night, he felt a huge weight lift from his shoulders.  He boarded a raft with three other crew members.  While they drifted he was under the impression that the other crew members were off on other rafts behind them in the darkness.  As they clung for their lives battling waves of up to 35 feet, one by one the three crew members lost their lives.  Mostly due to lung problems, and the frozen temperatures.  ohn Cleary was one of these crew members.  He asked Dennis to tell his wife he loved her.  Dennis reports being in a lot of pain as he laid against two metal bars that were wedged into his back and hip.  When he was saved he told the medics that he had broken bones because he was in so much pain. 

He began shooting off flairs to no avail.  After hours he welcomed death.  He finally heard the sounds of a helicopter above him.  As far as I understand he was hung up on the shore of Lake Huron.  He has written a book about this experience A Sole Survivor. 

During this approximately 38 hour ordeal, Dennis received messages from what he thought was real.  He was told not to eat the ice from his jacket because it would freeze him from the inside out.  He followed these orders.  Dennis visited a meadow with flowers.  He also suffered from a loss in faith. 

Dennis showed a video of his trip on a ship called the Roger Blough.  He vowed and stuck to this vow for many years that he would never step foot on another ship.  Dennis finally broke that vow a short time ago with some of his friends who joined him on this cruise and a song writer joined them and wrote a song about it.  The presentation ended with some humorous things written about that excursion.