SS Cedarville was a bulk carrier that carried limestone on the Great Lakes in the mid-20th century until it sank after a collision with another ship, MV Topdalsfjord on May 7, 1965.
The following year, she received slight damage when she collided with the whaleback steamer John Ericsson in heavy fog.
As part of the transfer, the ship was converted to be a self-unloading vessel and was renamed Cedarville in honor of a port she frequently visited.
She was travelling between Rogers City, Michigan[4] and Gary, Indiana with a load of 14,411 long tons (14,642 t) of open-hearth limestone.
Elmer Fleming, one of the two survivors from the SS Carl D. Bradley shipwreck, had been scheduled to command the Cedarville when she came out of winter lay-up in 1964.
There was speculation that the current bad weather caused traumatic memories of his previous shipwreck to resurface.
"[7] Fleming's sudden departure allowed many deck personnel to move up in position, including the promotion of first mate Martin Joppich to captain.
[8] In the early morning hours of May 7, third mate Charles Cook had left the SS W F White to join the crew of the Cedarville.
[10] Due to conditions of low visibility, two ships had grounded near the Soo Locks and the J E Upson had had crashed into the Gray's Reef Lighthouse.
[5] Headed for the busy Straits of Mackinac, the Cedarville made radio contact with the Benson Ford.
Through radio communication and whistle blasts, they were able to plan and execute a successful port-to-port passing arrangement.
Both changed course a mile away from each other, with Topdalsfjord's captain, Rasmus Haaland, steering his ship on a course that would lead to the two vessels passing each other on their starboard sides.
[18] The collision caused only superficial damage above the waterline of the Cedarville, consisting mainly of broken railings and deck plates.
[19] The bow of Topdalsfjord, which was reinforced for working in ice,[20] had created a large hole in Cedarville's hull below near the seventh hatch.
[26] Captain Joppich then ordered water to be pumped into the starboard ballast tanks to counteract the list.
Ed Brewster, on the starboard lifeboat, reached out to help stokerman Eugene "Casey" Jones get onto the raft.
[28] All survivors of the collision, in which ten out of the 35 aboard died, were picked up by the German freighter MV Weissenburg, and subsequently transferred to the US Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw.
[4] A U.S. Coast Guard inquiry into the incident found that the captain of Cedarville was at fault for the sinking and was charged with four counts of faulty seamanship.
[36] Cedarville is the fourth-largest ship lost on the Great Lakes after Edmund Fitzgerald, Daniel J. Morrell and fleet mate Carl D. Bradley.