The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1918-06-07
Loss OF CYCLOPS
LAST SEA MYSTERY
Complete Disappearance Oh
Big u. S. Vessel Untold
Secret.

Washington, June What I've
came of the missing collier, Cyclops
Is she prize of some German port
the victim of treachery? Does she Ii
disabled in some unfrequented GOV
of the tropical seas, driven there ant
helpless by accident?
Or has she made her last voyag
and with more than 800 souls turned
up in Port of Missing Men to join sew
euteen other ships of the American
navy which have disappeared just al
mysteriously since 1881?
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 sight
ed or reported By order of the Navy
Department all available navy craft
in southern waters have been making
q dragnet search for the vessel, but
daily the conviction among officials
grows stronger that the great modern
mystery of the sea will remain I'M
solved.
But the search for the ship still is
maintained with undated 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
clew. But the unremitting anxiety of
the searchers has failed to disclose
any trace of a ship apparently pluck
ed in a day from the busy lanes of
the South American trade routes.
Many Theories Advanced.
To account for the disappearance
of the Cylops there have been sug-
gested many theories-all possible,
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, be-
cause wreckage would have covered !
the sea for many miles around.
Was she torpedoed and sunk with |
out trace" by German submarine |
that had crossed the Atlantic to prey |
on comparatively unprotected ship
ping? That theory is discounted, be-
cause in such case. at least a few
S. o. S. calls could have been sent out
before the Cylops went under. More
over, 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
he British fleets? Even if attacked,
it is claimed, the Golfers wireless
would have put her in communication
with other neval vessels or merchant
shipping
Did enemy agents, carefully /,
planted" among the ships personnel, &.
seize control of the Cyclops in the /,
night and dismantle the radio to
make wireless communication with !.
the outside world impossible? This :
explanation had but little support, be-
cause il is claimed that small enemy
force hardly could be expected to re-
800 men, many of them naval reserv- -,
lists.
Again, if taken by an enemy force
abroad where is the Cylops now?
Every bay, every inlet capable of adj =,
hitting vessel of her draft, has been >
carefully searched. She had not
enough coal in her bunkers to make
the transatlantic trip to some Ger =
man port. Moreover, 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. :,
Was 1t Enemy Act? !
Did the crew succumb to the effects @
of a poisonous gas given off by her q
cargo of manganese? Hardly it is h
thought, because all shipping men
used to cargos of that character take g
to eliminate the danger, Il
Did the big vessel of 1900 tons T
constructed with view d
10 withstanding the heaviest weather, |;
founder in a severe tropical storm z
This theory sounds unreasonable TO
many who believe the ship capable W
of riding safely out of any storm she h
might encounter, yet in view OF all S
the known circumstances the expla- y
nation is accepted by most naval Of @
ficials as the most probable account
for the disappearance. Il
The Cyclops, although of deep draft ]
and broad beam, carried remark X
ably high and heavy superstructure. Il
Eight great steel derTicks lowered n
over her hull, and there was other f