Since the 1912 opening of the Calcite quarry, the world's largest limestone mine, many residents of the Rogers City area earned their livings sailing on freighters that delivered stone from the quarry to ports throughout the Great Lakes. Great Lakes sailors were often away from their families for months at a time, and although most returned home safely throughout their careers, the work carried serious risks and some lost their lives. The greatest tragedy involving sailors from the Rogers City area came with the sinking of the S.S. Carl D. Bradley on November 18, 1958, when the ship, bound for Calcite to pick up its final load of the season before major repairs, was caught in a violent storm on northern Lake Michigan, broke up, and sank. Of the 35 crewmen, 33 perished, including 28 from Presque Isle County and 23 from Rogers City, devastating the community as 23 women were widowed, 53 children lost their fathers, and many others lost sons, brothers, uncles, cousins, nephews, and neighbors. Eight years later, the Bradley fleet suffered another tragic loss when, on May 7, 1965, the Cedarville collided with the Norwegian vessel Topdalsfjord in heavy fog in the Straits of Mackinac and sank, while Topdalsfjord survived. Of the Cedarville's 35 crewmen, 10 perished, nine from Rogers City; 10 women were widowed and 31 children lost their fathers, and Rogers City again went into mourning. These losses became an important part of Rogers City's unique and sometimes tragic nautical history.