The Bamberg herald. (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, June 20, 1918, Page 2, Image 2
THE CYCLOPS MYSTERY
COLLIER MAY BE IX PORT OF
MISSING MEN.
Many Theories Suggested to Account
for the Disappearance
of the Cyclops.
Washington, June 1.?What became
of the missing collier Cyclops?
Is she a prize in some German
port, the victim of treachery? Does
she lie disabled in some unfrequented
cove of the tropical seas, driven
there and helpless by accident?
Or has she made her last voyage
and with more than 300 souls turn-!
up in the Port of Missing Men to
join seventeen other ships of the
American Navy which have disappeared
just as mysteriously since
.1781? ;
Sailing from Barbados in the West!
Indies March 4 with a complement of
295 men the great 19,000-ton naval
collier has not since been sighted oi
reported. By order of the Navy Department
all available navy craft in!
Southern waters have been making a |
dragnet search for the vessel, but
daily the conviction among officials
grows stronger that the great modern
mystery of the sea will remain
unsolved.
But the search for the ship still is
maintained with unabated intensity.
Cruisers and destroyers have retraced
her route. Every island
among the scores that dot that portion
of the sea is being carefully
scrutinized for any clue. But the
unremitting anxiety of the searchers
has failed to disclose any trace of a
ship apparently plucked in a day
. from the busy lanes of the South
American trade routes.
Many Theories.
To account for the disappearance
of the Cyclops there have been sug???
? n :ki?
gtJStcu liitiuv iucuucs an puasiuic,
none entirely plausible.
Was she blown into fragments by
a heavy charge of explosives placed
in her hold before she left port?
This explanation is hardly acceptable
because wreckage would have covered
the sea for many miles around.
Was she torpedoed and sunk
"without a trace" by a German submarine
that had crossed the Atlantic
to prey on comparatively unprotected
shipping? That theory is discounted
because in such a case at least a few
s. o. s. calls could have been sent out
before the Cyclops went under. Moreover
floating wreckage certainly
would have been found.
Was she attacked and captured by
a marauding enemy raider that had
slipped into the Atlantic after eluding
the British fleet? Even if attacked,
it is claimed, the collier's
wireless would have put her in communication
with other naval vessels
or merchant shipping.
Enemy Agents?
Did enemy agents, carefully
"planted" among the ship's personnel,
seize control of the Cyclops ija
the night and dismantle the radio to
make wireless communication with
the outside world impossible? This
explanation has but little support
because it is claimed that a small
enemy force hardly could be expected
tn reduce tn nrisnners a force of
nearly 300 men, many of them naval
reservists.
. ' Again, if taken by an enemy force
abroad where is the Cyclops now?
Every bay, every inlet capable of admitting
a vessel of her draft, has
been carefully searched. She had
not enough coal in her bunkers to
make the trans-Atlantic trip to some
German port. Morover, one engine
was out of commission, cutting
down her speed to ten knots an hour.
Even if additional coal had been
procured she hardly could have slipped
past the British patrols into
some German port. Her limping
gait would have made her an easy
victim for the fast Allied destroyers
or cruisers.
Did the crew succumb to the effects
of a poisonous gas given off by her
cargo of manganese? Hardly, it is
thought because all shipping men
used to cargoes of that character
take precaution to eliminate the danger.
Perhaps Foundered.
Did the big vessel of 19,000 tons
displacement, constructed with a
?; TrrltVifti n Hincr tho llPAvifiSt
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weather, founder in a severe tropical
storm. This theory sounds unreasonable
to many who believe the
ship capable of riding safely out of
any storm she might encounter, yet
in view of all the known circumstances
the explanation is accepted
by most naval officials as the most
probable account for the disappearance.
The Cyclops although of deep draft
and broad beam carried a remarkably
high and heavy superstructure.
Eight great steel derricks towered
over her hull, and there was other
heavy framework placed above decks
to give her a maximum of efficiency
in loading or discharging coal.
In case of a heavy list to port or
starboard, perhaps to the extent of
forty-five degrees, the Cyclops, burdened
with her heavy derricks, was
perhaps unable to swing back into
equilibrium, crashed over to one side,
and quickly settled. The heavy cargo
of manganese might have shifted
and hindered the vessel from righting
after a severe list.
Stormy Weather.
| Moreover, vessels which returned
L.to Atlantic ports about the time the
Cyclops was due, reported that unusually
stormy weather had been encountered
in Southern waters.
Caught in the trough of a heavy sea,
the Cyclops might have capsized and
gone uown quicKi*, magging uu\wi
beneath her hull all deck equipment
which otherwise might have floated
on the surface as an indication of her
fate.
The theory that the Cyclops suddenly
went down in a storm is
about the only theory that adequately
would explain her failure to wireless
in case of danger. The fact that
no radio calls ever came from the
vessel is one phase that characterizes
the disappearance of the ship
as one of the most mysterious in
modern sea annals.
Leaving the West Indian harbor on
March 4 the Cyclops was expected to
touch at an Atlantic port on March
13. When attention was called to
the fact that she was a few* days
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overdue, no anxiety was felt because
it was known she had one engine out :
of commission. However, when a
week passed and there was even no
news that she had been sighted, a
feeling of great apprehension swept ,
over the Navy Department. Every
effort was made to find her, but on
April 14 the department gave permission
to publish the facts, which
long had been withheld.
Daniels Still Hopeful.
Secretary Daniels still clings to ,
the hope that mystery will be cleared,
but there are not many in the department
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The call of blue water always has
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