USS Cyclops (AC-4)
 USS Cyclops anchored in the Hudson River |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Order | k. A. |
| Keel laying | k. A. |
| Launch | May 7, 1910 |
| Commissioning | k. A. |
| Whereabouts | Total loss at sea |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
19,360 long tons |
| length |
165 m |
| width |
20 m |
| Draft |
8.4 m |
| crew |
236 officers and men |
| drive |
2 steam engines |
| speed |
15 knots |
The USS Cyclops was a coal ship of the Proteus class of the United States Navy put into service in 1910 , which disappeared on March 4, 1918 after leaving Barbados under as yet unexplained circumstances in the area of the Bermuda Triangle (Caribbean). There is no trace of the ship and the 306 people on board; a wreck was never found.
As the ship about 11,000 tons at its final voyage manganese ore was loaded, it was thought initially that the USS Cyclops could have been applied by German naval forces and sunk because the United States at this time with the German Reich in the war were and manganese ore plays an important role in the manufacture of ammunition. It was also feared that the ship's command, which was mostly of German origin, would overflow. However, both assumptions were contradicted by the German side after the war. The US Navy currently considers it likely that the ship, which was inconveniently loaded and had an engine failure, sank in a sudden storm.
In the history of the United States Navy , this marine casualty was the largest loss of seafarers outside of combat operations at sea.
The sister ships Proteus and Nereus disappeared in World War II when they also transported ore instead of coal.
The Cyclops in Culture
In the novel Cyclop (original title Cyclops , 1986) by Clive Cussler , misfortune is the basis for the plot.
In Tim Curran's novel Dead Sea (2013), a barge in the area of the Bermuda Triangle gets into an eerie parallel world in which the crew encounters the abandoned freighter USS Cyclops.
literature
- John Harris: On the last trip. Mysterious shipwrecks (HMS Erebus , Terror , Mary Celeste , USS Maine , SS Waratah , USS Cyclops , MV Joyita , Teignmouth Electron ) Düsseldorf u. a. (Econ) 1983. ISBN 3-430-14040-4
- Marvin Barrash: USS CYCLOPS , Westminster, MD (Heritage Books, Inc.) 2010. ISBN 0-7884-5186-3
