1918, March 17 U.S.S. CYCLOPS - This is one of the classic Bermuda Triangle disappearances. Volumes have been written about this vessel, and the more that come to light, the more confusing and mysterious it becomes. Two of her sister ships the PROTEUS and the NEREUS disappeared on almost the same route in 1941. The loss of those two ships was overshadowed by the onset of World War II. The second Cyclops, a collier, was launched 7 May 1910 by William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, Pa., and placed in service 7 November 1910 G. W. Worley, Master, Navy Auxiliary Service, in charge. Operating with the Naval Auxiliary Service, Atlantic Fleet, the collier voyaged in the Baltic during May to July 1911 to supply 2d Division ships. Returning to Norfolk, she operated on the east coast from Newport to the Caribbean servicing the fleet. During the troubled conditions in Mexico in 1914 and 1915, she coaled ships on patrol there and received the thanks of the State Department for cooperation in bringing refugees from Tampico to New Orleans. With American entry into World War I, Cyclops was commissioned 1 May l917, Lieutenant Commander G. W. Worley in command. She joined a convoy for St. Nazaire, France, in June 1917, returning to the east coast in July. Except for a voyage to Halifax, Nova Scotia, she served along the east coast until 9 January 1918 when she was assigned to Naval Overseas Transportation Service. She then sailed to Brazilian waters to fuel British ships in the south Atlantic, receiving the thanks of the State Department and Commander-in-Chief, Pacific. She put to sea from Rio de Janiero 16 February 1918 and after touching at Barbados on 3 and 4 March, was never heard from again. Her loss with all 306 crew and passengers, without a trace, is one of the sea's unsolved mysteries. "Among the Missing" - Jay Robert Nash "Limbo of the Lost-Today" - John Wallace Spencer * Alfred L. M. Gottschalk (1873-1918) - Born in New York, New York County, N.Y., February 8, 1873. Son of L. G. Gottschalk and Louise de L. Boucher Gottschalk. Newspaper correspondent; sugar grower; U.S. Consul in Callao, 1903-05; U.S. Consul General in Callao, 1905-06; Mexico City, 1906-08; Rio de Janeiro, 1916-17. Member, Delta Kappa Epsilon. While en route from Bahia, Brazil to Baltimore on the U.S. Navy ship Cyclops, during World War I, he was one of 306 sailors and crew who perished when the ship sank, in the North Atlantic Ocean, March, 1918; the wreckage was never found.
I posted a picture of the collier USS Cyclops but unfortunately it vanished without trace! No seriously here are a couple of the strange looking ship.
.......... Silly !! That is a strange looking ship .... looks like they could take it apart and build a bridge with it !! What does a collier ship do then ?
A collier is a naval ship that carried coal for the coal-burning warships. If you like it was the predecessor of the oil-tanker! They were of great importance during the time of the late 19th Century and up to the end of the First World War. Then of course oil became the main source of fuel for Warships. Many colliers found other employment as general cargo ships, surveying ships and target tenders.
Thanks Cally ..... I thought it had to do with coal ... but I didn't think they were roaming the seas ... I thought the ships put into harbour to refuel !
Generally they did Annie - but it was not always possible especially if miles away from "friendly" ports,etc.
