Jump to content

USS Cyclops: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m minor grammar and detail edit of heading paragraph
Mdhennessey (talk | contribs)
3,816 edits
cleanup
Line 35: Line 35:
|-
|-
|Propulsion:
|Propulsion:
⚫
|
⚫
|15 knots
|-
|-
|Speed:
|Speed:
⚫
|15 knots
⚫
|
|-
|-
|Range:
|Range:
Line 49: Line 49:
|
|
|}
|}

The second '''USS ''Cyclops''''' was a [[collier]] in the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War I]]. The loss of the ship and 306 crew and passengers without a trace sometime after March 4, 1918 remains the single largest loss of life in U.S. Naval history not directly involving combat.
The '''USS ''Cyclops'' (AC-4)''' was one of four [[USS Proteus (AC-9)|''Proteus'']] Class [[collier]]s built for the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War I]]. Named for the [[Cyclops]], a primordial race of [[Giant (mythology)]]giants from [[Greek mythology]], she was the second U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name. The loss of the ship and 306 crew and passengers without a trace sometime after [[March 4]] [[1918]] remains the single-largest loss of life in U.S. Naval history not directly involving combat.


==History==
==History==
''Cyclops'' was launched [[7 May]], [[1910]], by [[William Cramp and Sons]], [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], and placed in service [[7 November]] [[1910]], with George W. Worley, Master, [[Navy Auxiliary Service]], in charge. Operating with the Naval Auxiliary Service, [[U.S. Atlantic Fleet|Atlantic Fleet]], she voyaged in the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]] from May to July [[1911]] to supply Second Division ships. Returning to [[Norfolk, Virginia]], she operated on the east coast from [[Newport, Rhode Island]], 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 [[U.S. State Department]] for cooperation in bringing refugees from [[Tampico]] to [[New Orleans, Louisiana]].
''Cyclops'' was launched [[7 May]], [[1910]], by [[William Cramp and Sons]], [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], and placed in service [[7 November]] [[1910]], with George W. Worley, Master, [[Navy Auxiliary Service]], in charge. Operating with the Naval Auxiliary Service, [[U.S. Atlantic Fleet|Atlantic Fleet]], she voyaged in the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]] from May to July [[1911]] to supply Second Division ships. Returning to [[Norfolk, Virginia]], she operated on the east coast from [[Newport, Rhode Island]], 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 [[U.S. State Department]] for cooperation in bringing refugees from [[Tampico]] to [[New Orleans, Louisiana]].


With American entry into [[World War I]], ''Cyclops'' was commissioned [[1 May]] [[1917]], her Master, [[George W. Worley]], promoted to Lieutenant Commander. She joined a convoy for [[Saint-Nazaire]], France, in June [[1917]], returning to the U.S. 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 [[Brazil]]ian waters to fuel British ships in the south Atlantic, receiving the thanks of the [[U.S. Department of State|State Department]] and [[CINCPAC]].<ref name="cyclops-1.htm">http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c/cyclops-1.htm</ref><ref>http://freepages.military.rootsweb.com/%7Ecacunithistories/hr_mallory.htm</ref>
With American entry into [[World War I]], ''Cyclops'' was commissioned [[1 May]] [[1917]], her Master, [[George W. Worley]], promoted to Lieutenant Commander. She joined a convoy for [[Saint-Nazaire]], France, in June [[1917]], returning to the U.S. 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 [[Brazil]]ian waters to fuel British ships in the south Atlantic, receiving the thanks of the [[U.S. Department of State|State Department]] and [[CINCPAC]].<ref name="cyclops-1.htm">http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c/cyclops-1.htm</ref><ref>http://freepages.military.rootsweb.com/%7Ecacunithistories/hr_mallory.htm</ref>


She put to sea from [[Rio de Janeiro]] [[16 February]] [[1918]]. On [[20 February]], ''Cyclops'' entered [[Bahia]]. Two days later, she departed for [[Baltimore, Maryland]], with no stops scheduled. She made an unscheduled stop in [[Barbados]] on [[3 March]] and [[4 March]], where Worley called on the United States Ambassador to the Barbados, and took on additional supplies. ''Cyclops'' then set out for Baltimore, and was never seen or heard from again.<ref name="usnsh-c/cyclops.htm">http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-c/cyclops.htm</ref>
She put to sea from [[Rio de Janeiro]] [[16 February]] [[1918]]. On [[20 February]], ''Cyclops'' entered [[Bahia]]. Two days later, she departed for [[Baltimore, Maryland]], with no stops scheduled. She made an unscheduled stop in [[Barbados]] on [[3 March]] and [[4 March]], where Worley called on the United States Ambassador to the Barbados, and took on additional supplies. ''Cyclops'' then set out for Baltimore, and was never seen or heard from again.<ref name="usnsh-c/cyclops.htm">http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-c/cyclops.htm</ref>
Line 60: Line 61:
A complete list of the crew and passengers lost in the incident are available from the Department of the Navy-[[Naval Historical Center]].<ref name="cyclops-1.htm"/>
A complete list of the crew and passengers lost in the incident are available from the Department of the Navy-[[Naval Historical Center]].<ref name="cyclops-1.htm"/>


== Accusations ==
==Accusations==
At about the time the search for the ''Cyclops'' was called off, an alarming telegram was received by the State Department from Brockholst Livingston, the U.S. consul on Barbados:
At about the time the search for the ''Cyclops'' was called off, an alarming telegram was received by the State Department from Brockholst Livingston, the U.S. consul on Barbados:


Line 73: Line 74:
:''LIVINGSTON, CONSUL''..<ref>http://www.bermuda-triangle.org/html/telegram.html</ref>
:''LIVINGSTON, CONSUL''..<ref>http://www.bermuda-triangle.org/html/telegram.html</ref>


Investigations by the Office of Naval Intellegence revealed that Captain Worley was born Johan Frederick Wichmann in [[Sandstadt]], [[Hanover]] Province, [[Germany]] in 1862, and that he had come to America by jumping ship in San Francisco in 1878. By 1898 he had changed his name to Worley (after a seaman friend), and succeeded in owning and operating a saloon in San Francisco's Barbary Coast. He also got help from brothers whom he had convinced to emigrate. During this time he had qualified to the position of ship's master, and had commanded several civilian merchant ships, picking up and delivering cargo (both legal and illegal; some accounts say [[opium]]) from the Far East to San Francisco. Unfortunately, the crews of these ships reported that Worley suffered from a personality akin to [[HMS Bounty]] captain [[William Bligh]]: the crew was often brutalized by Worley for trivial things.[[Image:Worley1.jpg|frame|right|'''George W. Worley''']]
Investigations by the Office of Naval Intellegence revealed that Captain Worley was born Johan Frederick Wichmann in [[Sandstadt]], [[Hanover]] Province, [[Germany]] in 1862, and that he had come to America by jumping ship in San Francisco in 1878. By 1898 he had changed his name to Worley (after a seaman friend), and succeeded in owning and operating a saloon in San Francisco's Barbary Coast. He also got help from brothers whom he had convinced to emigrate. During this time he had qualified to the position of ship's master, and had commanded several civilian merchant ships, picking up and delivering cargo (both legal and illegal; some accounts say [[opium]]) from the Far East to San Francisco. Unfortunately, the crews of these ships reported that Worley suffered from a personality akin to [[HMS Bounty]] captain [[William Bligh]]: the crew was often brutalized by Worley for trivial things.[[Image:Worley1.jpg|frame|right|George W. Worley.]]


Naval investigators discovered information from former crewmembers about Worley's habits. He would berate and curse officers and men for minor offenses, sometimes getting violent; at one point, he had allegedly chased an ensign about the ship with a gun. Saner times would find him making his rounds about the ship dressed in long underwear and a derby hat. Worley sometimes would have an inexperienced officer in charge of loading cargo on the ship while the more experienced man was under arrest; in Rio de Janeiro, one such man was assigned to oversee the loading of [[manganese]] ore, something a collier was not used to carrying, and in this instance the ship was overloaded, which may have contributed to its sinking. The phrase "damned Dutchman" (from ''Deutch'', i.e. ''German'') stood out immediately, leading to the most serious accusation against Worley: that he was pro-German in war time and may have colluded with the enemy; indeed, his closest friends and associates were either German or Americans of German descent. "Many Germanic names appear" Livingston stated, speculating that the ship had many German sympathizers on board. One of the passengers on the final voyage was Alfred Louis Moreau Gottschalk, the consul-general in Rio de Janeiro, who was as roundly hated for his pro-German sympathies as was Worley, and Livingston stated he believed Gottschalk may have been directly involved in collaborating with Worley on handing the ship over to the Germans.<ref>http://www.bermuda-triangle.org/html/letter_on_gottschalk.html</ref> After [[World War I]], German records were checked to ascertain the fate of the ''Cyclops'', whether by Worley's hand or by submarine attack. Nothing was found.
Naval investigators discovered information from former crewmembers about Worley's habits. He would berate and curse officers and men for minor offenses, sometimes getting violent; at one point, he had allegedly chased an ensign about the ship with a gun. Saner times would find him making his rounds about the ship dressed in long underwear and a derby hat. Worley sometimes would have an inexperienced officer in charge of loading cargo on the ship while the more experienced man was under arrest; in Rio de Janeiro, one such man was assigned to oversee the loading of [[manganese]] ore, something a collier was not used to carrying, and in this instance the ship was overloaded, which may have contributed to its sinking. The phrase "damned Dutchman" (from ''Deutch'', i.e. ''German'') stood out immediately, leading to the most serious accusation against Worley: that he was pro-German in war time and may have colluded with the enemy; indeed, his closest friends and associates were either German or Americans of German descent. "Many Germanic names appear" Livingston stated, speculating that the ship had many German sympathizers on board. One of the passengers on the final voyage was Alfred Louis Moreau Gottschalk, the consul-general in Rio de Janeiro, who was as roundly hated for his pro-German sympathies as was Worley, and Livingston stated he believed Gottschalk may have been directly involved in collaborating with Worley on handing the ship over to the Germans.<ref>http://www.bermuda-triangle.org/html/letter_on_gottschalk.html</ref> After [[World War I]], German records were checked to ascertain the fate of the ''Cyclops'', whether by Worley's hand or by submarine attack. Nothing was found.


=== Prisoners of the ''Cyclops'' ===
===Prisoners of the ''Cyclops''===
Several months before the ''Cyclops'' had arrived in Rio, a murder was commited onboard the armored cruiser USS ''Pittsburgh'' while anchored with the South American Squadron, and in the resulting court-marshal five individuals were sentenced to many years in prison at hard labor; one was given a life sentence, and one was sentenced to death. Since the ''Cyclops'' was headed back to the United States, these prisoners were taken onboard as passengers, albiet in irons. It was rumored by Livingston in his letter that one of the men may have been executed on Worley's orders before they reached Barbados.<ref>http://www.bermuda-triangle.org/html/telegram.html</ref>
Several months before the ''Cyclops'' had arrived in Rio, a murder was commited onboard the armored cruiser USS ''Pittsburgh'' while anchored with the South American Squadron, and in the resulting court-marshal five individuals were sentenced to many years in prison at hard labor; one was given a life sentence, and one was sentenced to death. Since the ''Cyclops'' was headed back to the United States, these prisoners were taken onboard as passengers, albiet in irons. It was rumored by Livingston in his letter that one of the men may have been executed on Worley's orders before they reached Barbados.<ref>http://www.bermuda-triangle.org/html/telegram.html</ref>


== Bermuda Triangle connection ==
==Bermuda Triangle connection==
The loss of USS ''Cyclops'' with all 306 crew and passengers, without a trace, is one of the sea's unsolved mysteries, and is often "credited" to the [[Bermuda Triangle]]. It was the earliest documented incident linked to the Bermuda Triangle involving the disappearance of a U.S. vessel.<ref>http://www.bermudacruises.net/bermuda-information/myths_folklore.htm</ref> In his 1975 book ''The Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved'', author [[Lawrence Kusche]] investigated this mystery. He revealed that a diver off Norfolk, Virginia, in 1968, reported finding the wreck of an old ship in about 300 feet of water, stating that the bridge "appeared to be on stilts." He was later shown a picture of the ''Cyclops'' (which had that peculiar bridge structure) and was convinced it was the ship he had seen. This would have put the ''Cyclops'', according to Kusche, within 60 miles of the Virginia Capes and into the teeth of a storm that hit the area on March 9-10, 1918. The storm, combined with the unusual cargo of manganese, may have sunk her. However, further expeditions to the alleged wreck site failed to find anything.<ref name="usnsh-c/cyclops.htm"/>
The loss of USS ''Cyclops'' with all 306 crew and passengers, without a trace, is one of the sea's unsolved mysteries, and is often "credited" to the [[Bermuda Triangle]]. It was the earliest documented incident linked to the Bermuda Triangle involving the disappearance of a U.S. vessel.<ref>http://www.bermudacruises.net/bermuda-information/myths_folklore.htm</ref> In his 1975 book ''The Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved'', author [[Lawrence Kusche]] investigated this mystery. He revealed that a diver off Norfolk, Virginia, in 1968, reported finding the wreck of an old ship in about 300 feet of water, stating that the bridge "appeared to be on stilts." He was later shown a picture of the ''Cyclops'' (which had that peculiar bridge structure) and was convinced it was the ship he had seen. This would have put the ''Cyclops'', according to Kusche, within 60 miles of the Virginia Capes and into the teeth of a storm that hit the area on March 9-10, 1918. The storm, combined with the unusual cargo of manganese, may have sunk her. However, further expeditions to the alleged wreck site failed to find anything.<ref name="usnsh-c/cyclops.htm"/>


Line 87: Line 88:
Most serious investigators of the incident believe the ship was likely farther to the north of the Bermuda Triangle when it disappeared, but there is little evidence to either substantiate or dispute that.<ref>http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0005330.html</ref> An indepth look at the incident can be found in the book, ''Great Naval Disasters'', by authors Kit and Carolyn Bonner.<ref>http://www.destroyers.org/ShipsStore/SS-Pages/SS-Publications.htm</ref>
Most serious investigators of the incident believe the ship was likely farther to the north of the Bermuda Triangle when it disappeared, but there is little evidence to either substantiate or dispute that.<ref>http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0005330.html</ref> An indepth look at the incident can be found in the book, ''Great Naval Disasters'', by authors Kit and Carolyn Bonner.<ref>http://www.destroyers.org/ShipsStore/SS-Pages/SS-Publications.htm</ref>


== In fiction ==
==In fiction==
USS ''Cyclops'', and her unscheduled stop in Barbados, figure prominently in the [[1986]] book ''[[Cyclops (book)|Cyclops]]'' by [[Clive Cussler]].
* USS ''Cyclops'', and her unscheduled stop in Barbados, figure prominently in the [[1986]] book ''[[Cyclops (book)|Cyclops]]'' by [[Clive Cussler]].
⚫
* In the [[Quantum Leap]] episode "Ghost Ship," pilot Captain Cooper recounts to [[Sam Beckett]], how when he was rescued after crashing into the sea by the USS ''Cyclops'' when he served in the Navy during World War II. The USS ''Cyclops'' was then torpedoed by a U-boat, leaving Cooper the only survivor to be later picked up again by another ship. [[Al Calavicci|Al]] explains to Sam how this is impossible since the USS ''Cyclops'' was lost in 1918, implying that the the ''Cyclops'' had been a ghost ship.
⚫
*In [[Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy!]], as the pirate ship travels into the Bermuda Triangle, ghosts of doomed ships and planes appear. At one point, the ''Cyclops'' steams alongside the pirate ship. [[Velma Dinkley]] mentions that this vessel had been missing for "a very long time."{citation}


⚫
==See also==
The ''Cyclops'' appears in a series of books in which she appears without crew in a parallel universe in which the stories are set. She apparently steams into a big port, stopping only after running into a quayside; investigation finds that she is another ship that built itself, revealing that this is the place many ships and aircraft missing in the Triangle end up. According to this tale, ''Cyclops'' is put to work as a freighter and is still working at present.{{citation needed}}<!-- What series of books? -->
⚫
* [[USS Cyclops|USS ''Cyclops'']] for a list other ships bearing the name.


⚫
==References==
⚫
In the [[Quantum Leap]] episode “Ghost Ship”, pilot Captain Cooper recounts to [[Sam Beckett]], how when he was rescued after crashing into the sea by the USS ''Cyclops'' when he served in the Navy during World War II. The USS ''Cyclops'' was then torpedoed by a U-boat, leaving Cooper the only survivor to be later picked up again by another ship. [[Al Calavicci|Al]] explains to Sam how this is impossible since the USS ''Cyclops'' was lost in 1918, implying that the the ''Cyclops'' had been a ghost ship.
⚫
{{DANFS}}
This exact plot line was used in a 80's comic book also .


* {{cite web|title=''Cyclops ''|work=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c16/cyclops-ii.htm|accessdate=January 3|accessyear=2007}}
⚫
In [[Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy!]], as the pirate ship travels into the Bermuda Triangle, ghosts of doomed ships and planes appear. At one point, the ''Cyclops'' steams alongside the pirate ship. [[Velma Dinkley]] mentions that this vessel had been missing for 'a very long time.'
* {{cite web|title=AC-4 ''Cyclops''|work=Service Ship Photo Archive|url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/0291.htm|accessdate=January 3|accessyear=2007}}


==Trivia==
The ''Cyclops'' was the sister ship of [[USS Jupiter (AC-3)|USS ''Jupiter'' (AC-3)]], [[USS Proteus (AC-9)|USS ''Proteus'' (AC-9)]], and [[USS Nereus (AC-10)|USS ''Nereus'' (AC-10)]]. ''Proteus'' and ''Nereus'' both disappeared early in World War II. Jupiter was converted into the Navy's first aircraft carrier, USS ''Langley''.

⚫
== See also ==
⚫
* [[USS Cyclops|USS ''Cyclops'']] for other ships of this name.
* [[List of ship launches in 1910]]
* [[List of ship commissionings in 1917]]
* [[List of World War I ships]]
* [[Bermuda Triangle]]

⚫
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
⚫
{{DANFS}}


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c16/cyclops-ii.htm history.navy.mil: USS ''Cyclops'' AC-4]
* [http://www.bermuda-triangle.org/html/u_s_s__cyclops.html The Disappearance of the U.S.S. ''Cyclops'']
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/0291.htm navsource.org: AC-4 ''Cyclops'']
* [http://www.bermuda-triangle.org/html/u_s_s__cyclops.html The Disappearance of the U.S.S. Cyclops]



{{Proteus class collier}}
{{Proteus class collier}}


[[Category:Colliers|USS Cyclops (AC-4)]]
[[Category:Bermuda Triangle|USS Cyclops (AC-4)]]
⚫
[[Category:Colliers|Cyclops (AC-4)]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean|USS Cyclops (AC-4)]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean|USS Cyclops (AC-4)]]
⚫
[[Category:Bermuda Triangle|USS Cyclops (AC-4)]]
[[Category:Unexplained disappearances|USS Cyclops (AC-4)]]
[[Category:Unexplained disappearances|USS Cyclops (AC-4)]]


Revision as of 18:44, 3 January 2007

File:USS Cyclops (1810).jpg
Career United States Navy Jack
Laid down:
Launched: 7 May 1910
Commissioned: 1 May 1917
Fate: Lost at sea, March 1918
Struck:
General Characteristics
Displacement: 19,360 tons (full)
Length: 542 feet
Beam: 65 feet
Draught: 27 feet 8 inches
Propulsion:
Speed: 15 knots
Range:
Complement: 236 officers and enlisted
Armament:

The USS Cyclops (AC-4) was one of four Proteus Class colliers built for the United States Navy during World War I. Named for the Cyclops, a primordial race of Giant (mythology)giants from Greek mythology, she was the second U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name. The loss of the ship and 306 crew and passengers without a trace sometime after March 4 1918 remains the single-largest loss of life in U.S. Naval history not directly involving combat.

History

Cyclops was launched 7 May, 1910, by William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and placed in service 7 November 1910, with George W. Worley, Master, Navy Auxiliary Service, in charge. Operating with the Naval Auxiliary Service, Atlantic Fleet, she voyaged in the Baltic from May to July 1911 to supply Second Division ships. Returning to Norfolk, Virginia, she operated on the east coast from Newport, Rhode Island, 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 U.S. State Department for cooperation in bringing refugees from Tampico to New Orleans, Louisiana.

With American entry into World War I, Cyclops was commissioned 1 May 1917, her Master, George W. Worley, promoted to Lieutenant Commander. She joined a convoy for Saint-Nazaire, France, in June 1917, returning to the U.S. 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 CINCPAC.[1][2]

She put to sea from Rio de Janeiro 16 February 1918. On 20 February, Cyclops entered Bahia. Two days later, she departed for Baltimore, Maryland, with no stops scheduled. She made an unscheduled stop in Barbados on 3 March and 4 March, where Worley called on the United States Ambassador to the Barbados, and took on additional supplies. Cyclops then set out for Baltimore, and was never seen or heard from again.[3]

A complete list of the crew and passengers lost in the incident are available from the Department of the Navy-Naval Historical Center.[1]

Accusations

At about the time the search for the Cyclops was called off, an alarming telegram was received by the State Department from Brockholst Livingston, the U.S. consul on Barbados:

Secretary of State
Washington, D.C.
April 17, 2 p.m.
Department's 15th. Confidential. Master CYCLOPS stated that required six hundred tons coal having sufficient on board to reach Bermuda. Engines very poor condition. Not sufficient funds and therefore requested payment by me. Unusually reticent. I have ascertained he took here ton fresh meat, ton flour, thousand pounds vegetables, paying therefore 775 dollars. From different sources gather the following: he had plenty of coal, alleged inferior, took coal to mix, probably had more than fifteen hundred tons. Master alluded to by others as damned Dutchman, apparently disliked by other officers. Rumored disturbances en route hither, men confined and one executed; also had some prisoners from the fleet in Brazilian waters, one life sentence. United States Consul-General Gottschalk passenger, 231 crew exclusive of officers and passengers. Have names of crew but not of all the officers and passengers. Many Germanic names appear. Number telegraphic or wireless messeges addressed to master or in care of ship were delivered at this port. All telegrams for Barbadoes on file head office St. Thomas. I have to suggest scrutiny there. While not having any definate grounds I fear fate worse than sinking though possibly based on instinctive dislike felt towards master.
LIVINGSTON, CONSUL..[4]

Investigations by the Office of Naval Intellegence revealed that Captain Worley was born Johan Frederick Wichmann in Sandstadt, Hanover Province, Germany in 1862, and that he had come to America by jumping ship in San Francisco in 1878. By 1898 he had changed his name to Worley (after a seaman friend), and succeeded in owning and operating a saloon in San Francisco's Barbary Coast. He also got help from brothers whom he had convinced to emigrate. During this time he had qualified to the position of ship's master, and had commanded several civilian merchant ships, picking up and delivering cargo (both legal and illegal; some accounts say opium) from the Far East to San Francisco. Unfortunately, the crews of these ships reported that Worley suffered from a personality akin to HMS Bounty captain William Bligh: the crew was often brutalized by Worley for trivial things.

File:Worley1.jpg
George W. Worley.

Naval investigators discovered information from former crewmembers about Worley's habits. He would berate and curse officers and men for minor offenses, sometimes getting violent; at one point, he had allegedly chased an ensign about the ship with a gun. Saner times would find him making his rounds about the ship dressed in long underwear and a derby hat. Worley sometimes would have an inexperienced officer in charge of loading cargo on the ship while the more experienced man was under arrest; in Rio de Janeiro, one such man was assigned to oversee the loading of manganese ore, something a collier was not used to carrying, and in this instance the ship was overloaded, which may have contributed to its sinking. The phrase "damned Dutchman" (from Deutch, i.e. German) stood out immediately, leading to the most serious accusation against Worley: that he was pro-German in war time and may have colluded with the enemy; indeed, his closest friends and associates were either German or Americans of German descent. "Many Germanic names appear" Livingston stated, speculating that the ship had many German sympathizers on board. One of the passengers on the final voyage was Alfred Louis Moreau Gottschalk, the consul-general in Rio de Janeiro, who was as roundly hated for his pro-German sympathies as was Worley, and Livingston stated he believed Gottschalk may have been directly involved in collaborating with Worley on handing the ship over to the Germans.[5] After World War I, German records were checked to ascertain the fate of the Cyclops, whether by Worley's hand or by submarine attack. Nothing was found.

Prisoners of the Cyclops

Several months before the Cyclops had arrived in Rio, a murder was commited onboard the armored cruiser USS Pittsburgh while anchored with the South American Squadron, and in the resulting court-marshal five individuals were sentenced to many years in prison at hard labor; one was given a life sentence, and one was sentenced to death. Since the Cyclops was headed back to the United States, these prisoners were taken onboard as passengers, albiet in irons. It was rumored by Livingston in his letter that one of the men may have been executed on Worley's orders before they reached Barbados.[6]

Bermuda Triangle connection

The loss of USS Cyclops with all 306 crew and passengers, without a trace, is one of the sea's unsolved mysteries, and is often "credited" to the Bermuda Triangle. It was the earliest documented incident linked to the Bermuda Triangle involving the disappearance of a U.S. vessel.[7] In his 1975 book The Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved, author Lawrence Kusche investigated this mystery. He revealed that a diver off Norfolk, Virginia, in 1968, reported finding the wreck of an old ship in about 300 feet of water, stating that the bridge "appeared to be on stilts." He was later shown a picture of the Cyclops (which had that peculiar bridge structure) and was convinced it was the ship he had seen. This would have put the Cyclops, according to Kusche, within 60 miles of the Virginia Capes and into the teeth of a storm that hit the area on March 9-10, 1918. The storm, combined with the unusual cargo of manganese, may have sunk her. However, further expeditions to the alleged wreck site failed to find anything.[3]

Most who link the disappearance to the Bermuda Triangle cite the fact that the vessel disappeared having sent out no distress signal. However, ship-board communications were in their infant stages in 1918, and it would not be unusual for a vessel, sinking fast, to have little or no opportunity at a distress call.[8] As to date, no trace of the wreckage has been found.

Most serious investigators of the incident believe the ship was likely farther to the north of the Bermuda Triangle when it disappeared, but there is little evidence to either substantiate or dispute that.[9] An indepth look at the incident can be found in the book, Great Naval Disasters, by authors Kit and Carolyn Bonner.[10]

In fiction

  • USS Cyclops, and her unscheduled stop in Barbados, figure prominently in the 1986 book Cyclops by Clive Cussler.
  • In the Quantum Leap episode "Ghost Ship," pilot Captain Cooper recounts to Sam Beckett, how when he was rescued after crashing into the sea by the USS Cyclops when he served in the Navy during World War II. The USS Cyclops was then torpedoed by a U-boat, leaving Cooper the only survivor to be later picked up again by another ship. Al explains to Sam how this is impossible since the USS Cyclops was lost in 1918, implying that the the Cyclops had been a ghost ship.
  • In Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy!, as the pirate ship travels into the Bermuda Triangle, ghosts of doomed ships and planes appear. At one point, the Cyclops steams alongside the pirate ship. Velma Dinkley mentions that this vessel had been missing for "a very long time."{citation}

See also

References

Public Domain This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

  • "Cyclops ". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Retrieved January 3. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  • "AC-4 Cyclops". Service Ship Photo Archive. Retrieved January 3. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  1. ^ a b http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c/cyclops-1.htm
  2. ^ http://freepages.military.rootsweb.com/%7Ecacunithistories/hr_mallory.htm
  3. ^ a b http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-c/cyclops.htm
  4. ^ http://www.bermuda-triangle.org/html/telegram.html
  5. ^ http://www.bermuda-triangle.org/html/letter_on_gottschalk.html
  6. ^ http://www.bermuda-triangle.org/html/telegram.html
  7. ^ http://www.bermudacruises.net/bermuda-information/myths_folklore.htm
  8. ^ http://byerly.org/BTcyclops_death_list.htm
  9. ^ http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0005330.html
  10. ^ http://www.destroyers.org/ShipsStore/SS-Pages/SS-Publications.htm
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=USS_Cyclops&oldid=98225784"