View source for USS Nereus (AC-10)

{{short description|Collier of the United States Navy}}
{{other ships|USS Nereus}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[Image:AC-10 Collier Nereus.jpg|300px|USS Nereus AC-10 loading coal at Nagasaki, Japan in April 1916.]]
|Ship caption=''Nereus'' loads coal at [[Nagasaki, Nagasaki|Nagasaki, Japan]] in April 1916
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United States|merchant}}
|Ship name=USS ''Nereus''
|Ship namesake=[[Nereus]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding|Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company]]
|Ship laid down=4 December 1911
|Ship launched=26 April 1913
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=10 September 1913
|Ship decommissioned=30 June 1922
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=5 December 1940
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=*Sold, 27 February 1941
*Lost at sea, December 1941
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=''Proteus''-class [[Collier (ship type)|collier]]
|Ship displacement={{convert|19360|LT|t|lk=on|abbr=on}} (full load)
|Ship length={{convert|542|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|65|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|27|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed={{convert|15|kn|mph km/h|lk=on|abbr=on}}
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=236 officers and enlisted
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''USS ''Nereus'' (AC-10)''' was one of four [[USS Proteus (AC-9)|''Proteus''-class]] [[Collier (ship type)|colliers]] built for the [[United States Navy]] before [[World War I]]. Named for [[Nereus]], an [[Greek sea gods|aquatic deity]] from [[Greek mythology]], she was the second U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name. ''Nereus'' was laid down on 4 December 1911, and launched on 26 April 1913 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, [[Newport News, Virginia]], and commissioned on 10 September 1913.

==Service history==
Detached from Naval Overseas Transportation Service on 12 September 1919, ''Nereus'' served with the [[United States Fleet Forces Command|Atlantic Fleet]] until decommissioned at [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]] on 30 June 1922. She was laid up there until struck from the Navy List on 5 December 1940. Sold to the Aluminium Company of Canada on 27 February 1941, ''Nereus'' operated out of [[Montreal]] carrying [[bauxite]] from the [[Caribbean]] to aluminum plants in the [[United States]] and [[Canada]].  Her master (commanding officer) was John Thomas Bennett of the [[Canadian Merchant Navy]].

===Loss===
''Nereus'' 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 (AC-4)|USS ''Cyclops'']] had disappeared) with ore destined to make aluminum for Allied aircraft. ''Nereus'' was presumed sunk after being torpedoed by a [[Kriegsmarine|German]] [[U-boat]]. However, there are no German U-boat claims for this vessel.<ref>[https://uboat.net/forums/read.php?3,81272,95470#msg-95470 Uboat.net forum]</ref>   It has been suggested that both ''Nereus'' and [[USS Cyclops (AC-4)|''Cyclops'']] could have been lost to [[U-boat]]s which were later lost themselves to Allied action or storms at sea. However, the record shows that in 1918 only 4 U-boats were active off the US coast<ref>[https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/news/may18/world-war-i-on-the-homefront.html World war I on the home front]</ref> and in 1941 only five U-boats were lost in the Mediterranean.<ref>[https://uboat.net/ops/med-1941.htm Uboat.net]</ref>

The wreckage has never been located, nor the actual cause of her disappearance determined.<ref>[http://familyheritage.ca/Articles/merchant1.html Canadian Merchant Ship Losses of the Second World War, 1939-1945]</ref> A memorial listing for her crew can be found on the [[CWGC]] Halifax memorial.<ref>[http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/400620 Commonwealth War Graves Commission]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DANFS}}
*{{cite web|title=''Nereus''|work=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/n3/nereus-ii.htm|access-date=2 January 2007}}
*{{cite web|title=Collier No. 10 / AC-10 ''Nereus''|work=Service Ship Photo Archive
|url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/02/0210.htm|access-date=2 January 2007}}

{{Proteus class collier}}
{{Bermuda Triangle}}
{{December 1941 shipwrecks}}
{{coord missing|Atlantic Ocean}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nereus}}
[[Category:Ships built in Newport News, Virginia]]
[[Category:Colliers of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:World War I auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]
[[Category:Missing ships]]
[[Category:1913 ships]]
[[Category:Proteus-class colliers]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in December 1941]]
[[Category:Warships lost with all hands]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of Canada]]
[[Category:Fleet of the Canadian Merchant Navy]]