During a tremendous storm on November 29, 1966, the 60-year-old, 586 foot long Daniel J. Morrell broke in two and sank north of Harbor Beach while plowing through near hurricane force winds and waves higher than a three-story building. At 2:00 AM, Dennis Hale, the only crewman to survive the sinking, reported hearing a loud bang as the steel ship was ripped apart by the waves. The bow section sank almost immediately, while the stern remained afloat and under power, traveling 5 miles before it sank. Of the 29-man crew, only watchman Dennis Hale survived. Hale and three crewmates climbed aboard a liferaft, and as the bow section sank they were thrown into frigid Lake Huron. They climbed back into the raft and spent 38 hours enduring ferocious wind, huge waves, blinding snow, and freezing temperatures. One by one the men succumbed before the Coast Guard found them. Hale was taken to Harbor Beach Hospital for emergency medical treatment for exposure and frostbite. The bow section lies at a depth of 205 feet about 32 miles northwest of Harbor Beach, and the stern section rests about 30 miles northwest of Harbor Beach at a depth of 218 feet. Built by West Bay City Ship Building Co. of West Bay City, MI, as hull number 619, the ship was launched on August 22, 1906, for the Cambria Steamship Co. of Cleveland, OH, departed Bay City on September 24, 1906, on her maiden voyage, was managed by Hanna from 1906 through the 1926 sailing season and by Bethlehem Transportation Corp. from 1927 to 1966, received new Babcock and Wilcox coal-fired water tube boilers in 1945, and was re-powered in 1956 with a 3,200 hp three cylinder Skinner Uniflow steam engine.