New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1918-04-15
HOPE ABANDONED
FOR U. S. COLLIER
CyclopS Has Not Been Heard
From Since March 4

washington, April lo.-Ihe Navy
Department announced last night
mat the United States naval collier
.STclops. bound from Brazil for the
United States with n crew of Is Off
GERS and 221 men, 81 passengers and
cargo of manganese, has been miss
ing since March 4, and has been over
due at an Atlantic port since March
IS. The announcement points to the
probability that a German raider 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
2A3 persons on board has been aban-
doned.
That the Navy Department is sat
isfod shat the Cyclops has been lost
is evident from the fact that before
announcing the names of the officers
and men on board the vessel the de-
partment in its messages to the next
of kin informed them Of it's belief
that the Cyclops was lost.
Among the passengers on board the
Cyclops was Alfred L. NJ. Gottschalk,
we'll known in New York City He
was the American Consul General at
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and was re-
turning to the United States from his
post of duty. The passenger list Civ
en- out by the Navy Department con-
tains the name Of Maurice Gott-
schalk, Consul General from the
Emitted States to Rio de Janeiro.' AS
there was only one Gottschall1 in the
Consular service, Alfred l.. NJ. Colt
schalk, and he was Consul General
ut Rio de Janeiro, officials are salts
fed that the name OF the Consul Gen
IN tyyjc in, hl1
decided to make it public as received.
Mine weather in the area which the
Cyclops was scheduled to traverse
from the West Indies. where she
touched on March 4, to the United
States has not been bad enough to
warrant the belief that the collier
toundered in a gale. If there had
been unusually heavy gales along the
path that the steamer was due to
f.llow that would have been the ma
raj assumption of the reason for
the. vessels delay in arriving. The
collier was well equipped with wire
less. If caught in a storm radio dis
tress calls could have been sent I'M
less the wireless mast went down sud-
denly.
Victim of Hostile Vessel.
It is considered highly probable
that the Cyclops was the victim of
raider, and perhaps of a German
submarine. The navy department, in
Announcing the loss of the steamer,
merely says, after limiting at the pos
sibility of raider or submarine hav-
ing been responsible for the loss, that
there have been no reports that
would indicate the presence Of either
An the locality in which the Cyciops
was
But it is known that German raid
ers during the last two years, gen
orally in the spring, have made sue
cessfui round-trip voyages from their
German homo ports to the coast Of
Brazil, and Germany now has sub
marines capable of going to the West
Indies and returning. The Jacob
Jones, an American destroyer, was
sunk by such a raider, which went
all the way to the Cape Verde Islands,
off the coast of Africa, a voyage al
most as long as to the West Indies or
the Brazilian coast
Another theory advanced in connec-
ton with the disappearance of the Cy
Clops is that the vessel may have
been destroyed by an explosion, either
Ct her own boilers or through the
lacing of a, bomb or explosives In
the cargo of manganese. Manganese
is considered first class cargo on ac
count Of its Importance in the manu-
facture of steel and it was suggested
that possibly German agents might
have placed explosives in it. This
suggestion was not made by an Of
fetal on the basis of any information
received, but merely as a speculative
explanation as to how the Cyclops
might have been lost.
The most significant feoture of the
Cyclops case is that no radio call of
distress has ever been received, and
no response has been made to the
radio calls sent out by hundreds of
American vessels in the Atlantic, in
Guiding vessels that have been on the
lookout for the missing collier.
Navy Department Statement.
The Navy Department issued the
following statement:
"T'he L. S. S. Clclops, navy collier
of $4,000 tons displacement, loaded
with a cargo of manganese, and with
a. personnel on board of Is officers
and 221 men of the crew and 81 pas
seneers, is overdue at an Atlantic port
since March 13. She last reported at
one of the West Indian islands or
March 4, and since her departure
from that port no trace or her nor
any information concerning her has
been obtained. Radio calls to the
c1clops from all possible points have
been made and vessels sent to search
for her along her probable route and
areas in which she might be, with no
success -
mo well-foNded reason can be
found to explain the Cyclops being
M ~ n q
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 given the
ryclops trouble. While a raider or