Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-04-15
j. s. COLLIER WITH
293 ABOARD, IS
LOST IN ATLANTIC
Raider or U-Boat Believed to Have
Sunk Cyclops on Her Voyage
From Brazil.
VESSEL MONTH OVERDUE

Washington, April I5,--The Nsvv
Department announced last night that the
United States naval collier Cyclops,
bound from Brazil for the United States
with a crew of fifteen officers and 22l
men. fiftv-seven passengers, and cargo
nf manganese. has been missing since
March 4, and has been overdue at an
Atlantic port since March Is. The an
nollnccncnt points to the probability
chat a German lraidcr or submarine has
been operating within the last month
somewhere between Cuba and the coast
of Brazil Hope for the safety Of the
Cyclops and the 293 persons on board
has been abandoned.
NAVY SURE VESSEL Is LOST.
That the Navy Department is salts
fed that the Cyclops has been lost Is
evident from the fact that before an
nouncing late this afternoon the names
nj the officers and men on board the
vessel the department in IFS messages TO
the next of kin informed them oi ITS
belief that the CyclopS was lost
Among the passengers on board the
C%cIot,s was Alfred l.. NJ Gottschalk.
lie WAS the American consul-generai at
Rio de Janciro. Brazil. and was returning
to the United States from his postiot duty
The weather in the area which the
Cvclops WAS scheduled 10 traverse from
the West Indies. where she touched on
March 1. 10 the United States has not
been bad enough 10 warrant the be
lief that the collier foundcred In a gale.
II there had been unusually heavy gales
along the path that the steamer was
due to follow that would have been the
natural assumption of the reason for
the vessels delay i'll arriving The
collier was well equipped with wireless
Ii caught in a storm radio distress calls
could have been sent unless the wireless
mast went down suddenly.
rRoRapIY VICTIM or RAIDER
II is considered highly probable that
the Cvclops was the victim Of . raider,
and perhaps of German submarine.
The Navy Department, IN announcing
the loss of the steamer. merely says,
after limiting NJ the possibility OF n
raider or submarine having been re-
gponsihle for the loss, that there have
bccn no reports that would indicate the
presence of either in the locality IN which
the CNclops was
But IL i known that German raiders
during the last two years, generally IN
the spring, have made successful round
trip voyages from their German
home ports 10 the coast of Brazil. and
Germany now has submarines capable
of going to the West Indies and returning.
The Jacob Jones, an American destroy
er. was sunk by such a raider, which
went all the way 10 the Cape Verde ISL
ands, of the coast of Africa, = voyage
almost as long as 10 the West Indies or
the Brazilisn coast.
Cd rod IN
tion with the disappearance Of the
Cvclons is that the vessel may have
been destroyed by an explosion, either
Of her own boilers or through the plac-
ing OF \ bomb or explosives in the cargo
of manganese. Manganese Is con-
sidered frst-class cargo on account Of
its importance IN the manufacture Of
steel. and it was suggested that possible
German agents might have placed cx-
plosives IN it. This suggestion was not
made by an official on the basis Of any
information received, but merely as a
speculative explanation as 10 how the
Cvclops might have been lost.
NO ANSWER TO RADIO CALLS.
The most significant feature Of the
Cvclops case l. that no radio call CT
distress has ever heen received, and no
response has been made 10 the radio
calls sent out by hundreds Of Amen
can vessels in the Atlantic, Including
vessels that have been on the lookout
for the missing collier.
The Navy Department issued the fol-
lowing statement
''The L. \ \ Cyclops navy collier
of $4,000 tons displacement, loaded with
"A cargo of manganese, and with a per-
sonnel on board of ID officers and 22l
men of the crew and 81 passengers, is
overdue st an Atlantic port since March
13 She last reported at one of the
West Indian islands on March i. and
since her departure from that port no
trace OF her nor any information con-
cerning her has been obtained. Radio
calls to the CvclopS from all possible
points have been made and vessels sent
to search for her along her probable
route and areas III which she might be
with no success
NO BAD WLATHER ENCOUNTERED.
No well-founded reason can be
found 10 explain the Cyclops being over
due, as no radio communication with or
trace Of her has been had since leaving
the West Indian port. The weather IN
the area in which the vessel must have
passed has not been bad, and could
hardly have gwen the Cyclops trouble
While q raider or submarine could be
responsible for her loss, there have
been no reports that would indicate the
presence Of either in the locality IN
which the Cyclops was.
1T was known that one Of the two
engines of the Cyclops was injured, and
that she was proceeding at a reduced
speed. with ono engine compounded
This fact would have no effect on her
ability to communicate by radio, foI
even if her main engines were totally
disabled the ship would still be capable
of using her rad 10 plant.
THE search for the Cyclops still
continues, but the Navy Department