Where is USS Cyclops?

[Crow]

Its been kind of quiet here lately. The following while not a treasure ship a fascinating missing ship case.

The USS Cyclops (AC-4) was a large U.S. Navy collier (fuel ship) that mysteriously vanished in the Atlantic in March 1918, with the loss of all 306 crew and passengers, making it the single largest non-combat loss of life in U.S. Navy history; it was last seen in Barbados after reporting engine issues and carrying vital manganese ore, and despite extensive searches, its wreck has never been found, leaving its fate one of history's great maritime mysteries, potentially due to storms, structural failure, or German submarine action.

Surely with today's technology and internet. Perhaps people here could contribute to its history, fate and help narrow down the possible location of the wreck. If any thing a fun project.

Crow

 

[Crow]

Here is plans of the vessel.

Crow

 

[Physics guy]

Some theories in Wikipedia:

USS Cyclops - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Mattock]

Flight 19 is sitting on top of it.

 

[ropesfish]

I believe that the wreck location is known to some. They have recovered a few pieces of the vessel and a bit of the cargo and the analysis of the recovered ore fits in with the manganese ore known to be aboard the Cyclops. Like most folks, they would like to monetize the find to recover their costs. but have had no luck getting any documentary film makers interested in paying for a discovery/recovery effort. All I can say is that I was told that the vessel did not make much northward progress after her 'mysterious' stop in Barbados.

 

[AstralDruid]

Buried on oak island ?

 

[Red_desert]

Its been kind of quiet here lately. The following while not a treasure ship a fascinating missing ship case.

View attachment 2240510

The USS Cyclops (AC-4) was a large U.S. Navy collier (fuel ship) that mysteriously vanished in the Atlantic in March 1918, with the loss of all 306 crew and passengers, making it the single largest non-combat loss of life in U.S. Navy history; it was last seen in Barbados after reporting engine issues and carrying vital manganese ore, and despite extensive searches, its wreck has never been found, leaving its fate one of history's great maritime mysteries, potentially due to storms, structural failure, or German submarine action.

Surely with today's technology and internet. Perhaps people here could contribute to its history, fate and help narrow down the possible location of the wreck. If any thing a fun project.

Crow

Maybe I can check see if any new info

 

[Red_desert]

Maybe I can check see if any new info

A few layers often get overlooked, and they deepen the enigma:
🌊 A ship already under strain
The Cyclops was overloaded with manganese ore, a notoriously dense cargo. Some historians argue the ore may have shifted or liquefied, destabilizing the ship. But even that doesn’t fully explain the total absence of debris.
⚙️ Mechanical trouble that hinted at worse
Reports from Barbados describe engine cylinder issues and a captain who was… controversial. Lt. Cmdr. Worley had a reputation for erratic behavior, and some crew openly disliked him. It doesn’t prove anything, but it adds human tension to the technical risks.

 

[Crow]

I am no engineer but I suspect structural failure and two sister ships had the same problem. The ships was designed for being a coal carrier not repurposed to carry Manganese ore which much heavier.

Nereus below was lost at sea sometime after 10 December 1941 while steaming from St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, along the same route where her sister ship, USS Cyclops had disappeared towards the end of World War I. Nereus carried a cargo of ore destined to make aluminum for Allied aircraft, and was presumed sunk after being torpedoed by a German U-boat. However, there are no German U-boat claims for this vessel.

But she was not the only sister ship to Cyclops that disappeared mysteriously. Proteus was lost at sea to an unknown cause sometime after 23 November 1941. Proteus's possible fate as having foundered in heavy seas on 25 November 1941 somewhere in the Caribbean Sea with the loss of all of her 58 crew members below.

So three ships of same class of four all mysteriously disappeared without trace. No survivors no debris, No live rings or lifeboats etc. The three appears to have had catastrophic failure that gave no time to launch a lifeboat.

Crow

 

[Crow]

Here is part of deck plan of USS Cyclops. Top Deck House below

The poop deck below.

Eight lifeboats cutter, boats of different types. Yet the Cyclops was carrying 306 people onboard the USS Cyclops when she disappeared in March 1918, including crew and passengers, marking the largest non-combat loss of life in U.S. Navy history, with no survivors or wreckage ever found. 236 enlisted crew and 70 passengers? Where hell were they housed? The ship probably sank due to improper loading of the manganese ore. He said that the ship’s heavier-than-usual cargo was stored amidships. The uneven weight distribution stressed the ship’s hull, and the rough waters could have split it into two parts. This would have caused water to rush in and pull the vessel underwater, leaving no time to lower the lifeboats.

As you can see, they had not learned the lessons of the Titanic have more passengers than crew.

Proteus and Nereus carried only 58 crew members. Some questions should be asked: Why was the Cyclops carrying an excessive number of people?

Regardless of all the Cyclops failings, the three had a common connection in their loss a catastrophic loss that resulted in never launching lifeboats or life preservers ever washing up somewhere.

Crow

 

[Crow]

If we look harder at the cargo holds. If loading was inappropriate, you could create fatigue in the structure of the ship.

Especially the middle cargo hold. As you can see blown up picture below. The welded steel components would have been under so much stress.

Perhaps given a list of factors for a structural fracture. Poor loading that puts stress on the hull. Fatigue and poor weather conditions probably also contributed to the loss of the vessel as well.

With the ships breaking in two, the vessel is in two pieces become top heavy and capsizes and sinks very quickly. Although that is one theory.

There is at least two vessels north of ST Thomas in virgin islands. And perhaps a third of the Atlantic coast of North America.

The importance of finding these shipwrecks raises an important structural engineering question. Did the three vessels suffer from the same structural engineering failure?

Crow

 

[Crow]

Here was numerous other theories.

Another theory suggests that the USS Cyclops fell victim to a torpedo attack after leaving Barbados. However, no records or findings prove that U-boats were in the area when the ship went missing. Also, looking at how Germany admitted to several other ship sinkings, like that of the passenger vessel Lusitania in 1915, which took more than a thousand lives, it is not likely that Germany would try to cover up their role in the loss of a cargo ship.

A few people opine that Captain Worley betrayed the Navy and handed the USS Cyclops to the Germans. Worley was originally from Germany, and so were many of his crew members, making people question his loyalty to the Navy. It is thought that he secretly handed over the ship to Germans as he was still loyal to his homeland after the First World War began.

As with the blame for the torpedo attack, Germany went through its records after the war ended to see if there was any truth in the rumours about Worley handing the vessel to the Germans, but they did not find anything to support this claim.

There is nothing to support these theories.

Crow

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

A US Navy collier ship lost in WWI? How do you know it was "non-combat"? Perhaps a U-Boat sank her but was also sunk before it could return to port to report the sinking? 178 U-boats never came back in WWI. Note that two of Cyclops sister ships were sunk in WWII and their exact locations are not known, either. A LOT of ships were sunk in wartime and are uncharted.

 

[Crow]

If we look at the claims of where it was lost.

The ship put to sea from Rio de Janeiro on 16 February 1918, and entered Salvador on 20 February. Two days later, she departed for Baltimore, Maryland, with no stops scheduled, carrying the manganese ore. The ship was thought to be overloaded when she left Brazil, as her maximum capacity was 8,000 long tons (8,128 t). Before leaving port, Commander Worley had submitted a report that the starboard engine had a cracked cylinder and was not operative. This report was confirmed by a survey board, which recommended, however, that the ship be returned to the United States.

She made an unscheduled stop in Barbados because the water level was over the Plimsoll line, indicating that it was overloaded,[1] but investigations in Rio proved the ship had been loaded and secured properly. Cyclops then set out for Baltimore on 4 March, and was rumored to have been sighted on 9 March by the molasses tanker Amolco near Virginia, but this was denied by Amolco's captain.

Additionally, because Cyclops was not due in Baltimore until 13 March, the ship was highly unlikely to have been near Virginia on 9 March, as that location would have placed her only about a day from Baltimore. In any event, Cyclops never arrived in Baltimore, and no wreckage of the ship has ever been found.

Cyclops is the last major U.S. Navy ship to be discovered. Given the recent run of newly found warships, such as the USS Indianapolis, Cyclops may also be found sooner or later. It was a huge vessel; it would have a magnetic signature.

Crow

 

[Crow]

A US Navy collier ship lost in WWI? How do you know it was "non-combat"? Perhaps a U-Boat sank her but was also sunk before it could return to port to report the sinking? 178 U-boats never came back in WWI. Note that two of Cyclops sister ships were sunk in WWII and their exact locations are not known, either. A LOT of ships were sunk in wartime and are uncharted.

Good point! It's possible. In summary, while U-boats were active and successful in the Caribbean during WW1, specific numbers for U-boat sinkings there are not as readily available. But coincidence all three ships were torpedoed by submarines that were later sunk? All three had zero survivors and no wreckage, no lifeboats or life preservers found.

For the USS Cyclops in WW1 in 1917, during World War I, German U-boats focused heavily on the North Atlantic for unrestricted warfare to starve Britain, with only a small, temporary presence or limited action in the Caribbean as the war shifted, not a large, sustained flotilla, but rather opportunistic attacks on shipping routes, though exact numbers for that specific year and region are scarce in broad overviews

For two sister ships lost in 1941. Peak Operations: German U-boats operated in the Caribbean primarily from February 1942 until late 1942/early 1943. Deployment Numbers: Approximately 90 different U-boats sortied in the Caribbean region throughout the war. These were not all present simultaneously but rotated through the theater as part of various operations. German U-boats began extending patrols into the region in late 1941, part of a broader shift to attack shipping closer to the Americas, though specific numbers operating exactly in the Caribbean in 1941 are harder to pinpoint than the much larger 1942 influx. The major German offensive, Operation Paukenschlag, started in January 1941 off the U.S. East Coast, with U-boats moving south, intensifying attacks in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean throughout 1942, sinking hundreds of ships as the U.S. was largely unprepared.

Of course, that hypothesis could be proven or disproven if the wrecks were found.



Crow

 

[Red_desert]

I am no engineer but I suspect structural failure and two sister ships had the same problem. The ships was designed for being a coal carrier not repurposed to carry Manganese ore which much heavier.

Nereus below was lost at sea sometime after 10 December 1941 while steaming from St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, along the same route where her sister ship, USS Cyclops had disappeared towards the end of World War I. Nereus carried a cargo of ore destined to make aluminum for Allied aircraft, and was presumed sunk after being torpedoed by a German U-boat. However, there are no German U-boat claims for this vessel.

View attachment 2240939

But she was not the only sister ship to Cyclops that disappeared mysteriously. Proteus was lost at sea to an unknown cause sometime after 23 November 1941. Proteus's possible fate as having foundered in heavy seas on 25 November 1941 somewhere in the Caribbean Sea with the loss of all of her 58 crew members below.

View attachment 2240942

So three ships of same class of four all mysteriously disappeared without trace. No survivors no debris, No live rings or lifeboats etc. The three appears to have had catastrophic failure that gave no time to launch a lifeboat.

Crow

Yes, that would stand to reason

 

[Crow]

There was theory looking at the USS jupiter blueprints the lack of enough longitudinal girders was alarming for a proteus class collier. My thought was structural failure on March 5th or 6th 1918 is likely.... in fact very likely, Cyclops departed Barbados with 10,000 tons of manganese ore, which is denser than her usual coal cargo. Given the lack of girders that mean the stress was mainly on the transverse ribs and double bottom and upper deck/hatches.

I'm thinking that on the 5th or 6th a gale came through and the Cyclops decks were awashed with green water due to her low freeboard and overloaded condition. Combined with a bad starboard engine. Water could've rushed over the decks and through the canvas hatches and into the ore cargo.

Here's another clue, Cyclops holds were not separated by watertight bulkheads. It was an entirely open hold plan with semi dividers and beams, so water could've rushed in freely. and sloshed around into one continuous free flowing mass. This combined with the cargo and lack of enough girders could've snapped her keel and given the fact that ore is not buoyant it probably sucked her down in minutes. No time to launch her boats or send an s.o.s due to immediate power loss from breakup.

It's possible it gave into extreme hogging and sagging and like a weakened paperclip the metal fatigue set in and she broke at the #3 and #4 holds its theorised that about 200-400 mi north of Barbados possibly near Martinique in waters 3000m deep.

But does that explain the later vessels of the same class disappearance?

Crow

 

[Crow]

Putting a face on the young men who perished as part of her crew. Gordon Dewees, one of the many seaman lost aboard the USS Cyclops (AC-4)

Chas S. Ashbee, another victim aboard the USS Cyclops (AC-4)

Over 108 years and counting, it's time to give descendants of those who perished answers.

Or does the Navy already know the answers?

These ships were designed to carry coal, not bauxite or manganese ore.

Bauxite has a bulk density of approximately 68 to 90 pounds per cubic foot (lb/ft³), or about 2 to 3 grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm³). The variation depends on whether it is loose or compacted (mine run).

Coal (specifically wet ash from coal, a related material) has a significantly lower bulk density, typically around 45 to 50 lb/ft³. General coal itself is even lighter.

This difference means that a given volume of bauxite will weigh more than the same volume of coal. The higher density of bauxite is due to its composition of aluminum oxides and hydroxides combined with iron, silica, and titanium oxides, which are denser than the carbon-rich material that makes up coal.

Since the other two ships of the class were lost, did they suffer from the same fate in WW2, or was just torpedoed?

Crow

 

[Colombiapictures]

A cursed Voyage?

A true story of manganese ore cargo.

The year was 1965.

We took a cargo of manganese ore in Laurenzo Marques, Moçambique. A few thousand tons. Destined for Hamburg? As we were about to sail, an inspector discovered that we were overloaded. The Plimsoll line.

The Plimsoll line showed that the ship was too low in the water for the winter season. We were going to sail around the Cape of Good Hope during the southern winter. We were loaded for the summer in the North Atlantic Ocean.

It took 5 days to unload a few hundred tons of the heavy ore. The cost of the ship was $8000 per day so this represented a considerable loss.

After we sailed past the Cape, the captain tried recover the lost time. To get the most speed out of the old ship he pushed the engine to its maximum. 122 RPM on the propeller. After a few days the engine blew a gasket. With the ship dead in the water, the engineers had to lift the 1.5 ton cylinder head off, replace the gasket and reset the cylinder head.

A heavy swell was running, remnant of a major winter storm in the “Roaring Forties”. The ship was rolling from 40 degrees to 40 degrees. Imagine the 1.5 ton heavy cylinder head hanging from chains attached above with this sort of heeling angle.

The manganese ore was so heavy that most of the space of the holds was empty. Just a small heap of ore on the bottom. If the heeling surpassed 45 degrees there was serious risk of the ore shifting. That would have been our end.

While the engineers worked feverishly, we, in the galley struggled to keep the food in the pots. Weather information in those times was scant. We did not know if the sea state was going to get worse. Anyway, the engineers were well trained ex German WWII Navy veterans who knew their job.

I am still here to tell the story.

Should I tell the story of the whole trip?

 

[Crow]

Please do that would of been hell. Trying to do repairs to an engine in rolling seas.


Crow