The Hawaiian gazette., 1918-06-04
cYCloPS MYSTERY
REMAINS UNSOLVED
Great Collier, Last Seen Three
Months Ago, Disappears g..
Without Trace

| ing OOllleF ONclOpSI
Is she a prize in some German port
| the victim of treacheryl Does she
! lie disabled in some unfrequpnted cove
of the tropical seas driven there and
! helpless by accidcntl
Or has she made her last voyage and
with more than 300 souls turned up
in Port of Missing Men to Join seven
teen other ships Of the American
! Navy which have disappeared just as
! mysteriOusly since 1857
Sailing from Barbados in the West
Indies March I with a complement of
1875 men, the great l9,OOO,ton naval
collier has not since been been sighted
or reported. BY order Of the navy de-
! partment all available navy craft in
southern waters have tbeen making q
draghet search for the vessel, but daily
! the conviction among officials grows
stronger that the great modern mys-
terry of the sea will remain unsolved
But the search for the ship still is
maintained with hnabated intensity.
| Cruisers and destrOyprs have retraced
her route. Every island among the
scores that dot that portion of the
sea is being carefully scrutinized for
any clue. But the unrpmitting anxiety
any trace of a ship apparently pmcked
in day from the busy lanes Of the
| South American trade routes.
May Theories
To account for this disappearance of
| the CvclOps thrr" have been suggested
many theories all possible, none en-
tireIy plausible.
Was she blown into fragments by
heavy charge Of explosives placed
in her hold before she left portH This
explanation is hardly acceptable be-
| cause wreckagr 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
ping9 That theory is discounted, be-
cause in such n case, at least few
S. o. s. calls could have been sent out
before the Cyrlops went under. More
over, floating wrecknge certainly
would have been found.
+ Was she attacked and captured by
marauding enemy raider that had
! slipped into the Atlantic after elud-
ing the British fleets Even if at
tackled, it is claimed the collier 3
wireless would have put her in com.
munication with other naval vessels or
merchant shipping.
Did enemy agents, carefully "plant-
ed among the ships personnel, seize
control of the CycIops in the night
and dismantle the radio to make wire
less communication with the outside
world 'impossiblcl This explanation
had but little support because it is
claimed that a small enemy force hard.
ly could be expected to reduce to pris
Oners force of nearly three hundred
men, many of them naval reservists.
Where Now, If Captured
Again; if taken by an enemy force
abroad where is the Cyclops 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 trans
Atlantic trip to some German port
Moreover, one engine was out of com.
mission, 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 lmping
gait would have made her an easy
victim for the fast Allied destroyers
or cruisers.
Did the crew suceumb to the effects
of poisonous gas given off by her
cargo of manganese Hardly. il is
thought, because all shipping men used
to rargOes of that character take pre-.
caution to eliminate the danger
Did the big vessel of 10000 tons dis
placement, CONSTRUCTED with view to
wlthstanding the heaviest weather,
founder in severe tropical storm. This
theory sounds unreasonable to many
who believed the ship capable of rid.
ing safely out of any storm she might
encounter, yet in view of all the known
circumstances the explanation is ar-
rrpted by most naval officials as the
most probable account for the dis
appearance.
Heavy Deck Load
The Cyclops although Of deep draft
and broad beam carried remarkably
hIEh and heavy supcrstructure. Eight
great steel derricks lowered over her
hull. and there was other heavy Frame
work placed above decks to give her
II maximum of efficiency in loading or
discharging coal.
In case of heavy list to port or
starhOard, perhaps to the extent of
forty five degrees, the Cyclops, burden
ed with her heavy derricks, was per
hnps unable to swing back into equilb
rum, crashed over to one side and
quickly settled. The heavy cargo Of
manganese might have shifted and hin
dered the vessel from righting after n
severe list.
Moreover, vessels which returned to
rAtlantic ports about the time the Cy-
rloPs was due, reported that unusually
stormy weather had been encountered
in southern waters. Caught in the
trough of heavy sea, the Cyclops
might have capsized and gone down,
quickly dragging down beneath her
hull all deck equipment which other
wise might have tlOated on the surface
ns an indication of her fate.
The theory that the Cyclops sudden
" went down in a storm is about the
only theory that adequately would eN
plain her failure to wireless in case of
danger. The fact that no radio calls
ever came from the vessel is one phase
that characterizes the disappearance of
the ship as one of the most mysterious
in modern sea annals.
Sailed March Fourth
Leaving the West Indian harbOr ON