USS Cyclops: What most likely happened

USS Cyclops: What most likely happened

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#badthings #truecrime #mystery

[earlleeruhf]

I like it when people say, A ship that big couldn't just disappear without a trace! Do they not realize how Large the Ocean's are?

[alistairclarke]

I've read a theory that suggests that the bottom dropped clean out of the ship. After all those years the coal had worn through the plate. Also, structural disintegration was noted on one of the sister ships, when an engineer dropped a hammer that went through, when the ship was in drydock.

good subject material

[EngineTruck]

Lexington didn’t go “missing” in 1942. She was fatally damaged during the Battle of Coal Sea, and her crew scuttled her. My theory has always been that Cyclops and her sisters sank due to their cargo. The caustic ore eating through the hull is the only thing that makes sense. Though a rogue wave definitely could’ve been a contributing factor. The Jason data, in my mind, proves this theory. All three were in an area known for severe storms and hurricanes. If the three crews had known they were sailing into rough seas, they likely would’ve prepared the ship for it, hence is why there was very little wreckage found.

[garrymartin]

It may be tricky to find an oil slick from a coal fired ship.

[EJY]

My father was big into naval history when I was little, and I was very creeped out by this ship—-its name, how it looks, and the fact that it disappeared without a trace.

[enscroggs]

There is some confusion in this presentation. Firstly, the collier USS Proteus (AC-9) had been sold to a Canadian merchant line the year before her loss at sea. The photograph shown is an entirely different ship. USS Proteus (AS-19) was a Fulton-class submariner tender that served in the United States Navy for nearly 56 years before decommissioning and scrapping in 2007. Four ships were in the Proteus class, and all four were probably lost to enemy action, the first being Cyclops in WWI, the other three lost in WWII, Proteus and Nereus in November and December 1941 respectively. Proteus was sailing under Canadian colors when she was lost on or about 25/11/1941 and therefore was a legitimate target of a German U-boat. The fact that no claim was made for that sinking is not decisive because many other ships were lost without such a claim. The U-boats were by far the most deadly service in the German Wehrmacht. Barely 20% of the U-boat sailors survived. If a sub killed the Proteus, it may have been lost itself before it could report to its headquarters. Nereus was flying the Stars and Stripes when it was lost on or about 10/12/1941, two days after Hitler declared war on the United States, and therefore it was also a legitimate target for a prowling U-boat.

The fourth and last Proteus-class collier, USS Jupiter, was lost due to fatal damage wrought by Japanese Betty bombers on 25 February 1942. Renamed USS Langley in 1921, this converted collier was America's first aircraft carrier. She was attacked near Java and hit by numerous 250 and 500-pound bombs that utterly wrecked her. Langley was scuttled by American Mark 15 torpedoes fired by the destroyers USS Whipple and USS Edsall.

Calling the USS Lexington "lost at sea" is a stretch. That phrase only applies to ships whose fate is officially unknown. Lexington was scuttled by 5 torpedoes launched by the destroyer USS Phelps. Battle damage inflicted by Japanese torpedo and dive bombers ultimately caused a series of aviation fuel explosions which forced her to be abandoned. Lexington was later scuttled to prevent her from being taken by the Japanese. The site of her scuttling was accurately recorded, so finding her corpse on the sea bottom was relatively easy compared to locating Proteus, Cyclops, or Nereus. We have no final fix on those ships' position that are accurate to anything less than hundreds of miles of open sea. Finding any of them could only be accidental.

[thsealord]

I had read that the class had structural problems, but was previously unaware of the Jason data, which is extremely interesting. Add to that, Cyclops was having mechanical problems that would have limited her speed and maneuverability - neither of which was great in the first place. She was passing through open ocean, in an area known for rough seas, storms and (at the right time of year) hurricanes. Finally, Cyclops was overloaded with a cargo she was not fully designed for AND that the crew was unfamiliar with.

If she suffered major structural problems, and/or was overwhelmed in mid-ocean by a large wave (which have proven to be much more common than people previously thought), she could have gone down too fast to get off any lifeboats or even a radio signal. If she was rigged for rough seas in the first place, there likely would have been very little debris to float clear of the sinking..

[StellaDraco]

The fact that they stopped to ask if the cargo was stored correctly could also support the structural failure theory- if they heard creaking and groaning, they may have thought that the cargo was shifting more than it actually was, when in reality the noise was the ship beginning to fracture.

[Gyrocage]

The fourth in the class in the class, the USS Jupiter, didn’t break (well until the Japanese broke it in WW-2) and was converted into the first United States aircraft carrier and renamed USS Langley.

[AshleyHarleyman]

I would strongly support the view that USS Cyclops suffered a sudden and catastrophic hull failure due to corrosion of her structural support members exacerbated by her being overloaded when she began her final voyage. She obviously went down very quickly, giving the crew no time to send a distress signal or take to lifeboats. Take the case of HMAS Sydney II - her bow broke off and sank the ship in seconds, taking all of her 645 man crew with her.
Both of her sister ships still operating as ore carriers (which also went missing several decades later) did have documented evidence of severe corrosion due to the caustic nature of the cargoes they carried. They were, after all, designed to carry coal, not the mineral ore cargoes they subsequently carried. The fourth sister was the Jupiter (later renamed USS Langley) - she was converted into the US Navy’s first aircraft carrier. In an odd twist of fate, had Cyclops survived her final voyage, it might well have been she that became the first US aircraft carrier……

[spacebear]

I would argue the USS Lexington didn't go missing. It was sunk in battle and it's rough location was relatively well known.

[mattholland]

So, you've got a ship running on only one engine. It made an unscheduled stop a few days earlier at a port with 4000 tons of extra water on board. While at port the load was inspected to make sure it was properly secured. So I'm going to go out on a ridiculous theory that she sunk from taking on water. Now it could have been an attack from evil pixies, that happens so often you can never rule it out!!! But why does everything have to be a huge super natural mystery !!! Hehehe

[elennapointer]

My own theory: there was an intrinsic design flaw in all of the Proteus-class colliers - most likely, that they were top-heavy. Cyclops, Proteus and Nereus all disappeared in apparently calm(ish) seas when there wasn't much going on weather-wise and there was no enemy submarine activity where they were. So a ship that sinks in decent weather and with no identifiable outside source probably has something wrong with it. For three ships to go the same way seals it for me: they were most likely top-heavy, with a slow, lazy roll, and ships with slow rolls - while they might feel more comfortable to be on than a ship that snaps straight back upright between rolls - is a ship that is struggling to right itself again, and this generally happens when a ship is top-heavy. The result is that a wave makes the ship heel over a little bit and, before it can return to the upright another wave hits it, forcing it over again. Once more the ship struggles to right itself and then wave number three hits it it and over it goes again; a cascading effect. Eventually enough waves will hit it that no matter what the crew do to counter the effect, the cargo shifts and she capsizes and sinks very quickly. For reference, Claude Sawyer, the "sole survivor" of the vanished SS Waratah, was an experienced sea traveller and he was sufficiently unnerved by the Waratah's roll characteristics that he disembarked early, wasting his ticket but saving his life.

So, why do I think the Proteus-class colliers were top-heavy? Simple: the fourth Proteus-class collier, USS Jupiter, was converted into America's first-ever aircraft carrier, USS Langley. The conversion process stripped away every bit of superstructure, including and especially all those derricks and cranes, and replaced it with a flat-top flight deck. Lo and behold, USS Langley gave good service throughout its life. She reportedly did everything expected of her, up to the moment she was sunk by Japanese aircraft in WW2. So to my mind, the conversion of Jupiter into Langley completely changed the ship's weight distribution. Remember, below the waterline the ship was basically the same: sure, the cargo hold was "knocked through" to create a hangar deck, but the machinery and engines were all still the same. The only major difference is that her profile was lowered and, presto, she didn't vanish like her sister ships. No UFOs are required here; just competent ship designers.

[ernestnichols]

Im glad somebody mentioned the Puerto Rico Trench. Whatever transpired on the surface, finding anything sunken there would involve a cost-prohibitive search. This is most likely where she rests.

[lewisdoherty]

I don't understand the "caustic" theory. Usually iron/steel won't react with caustics, but rather acids. That is one reason lye is used as drain cleaner, because it won't attack metal pipes. Bauxite likely wouldn't attack steel. Elemental aluminum is used weld steel railway joints together in the Thermite Process, because the Aluminum will rip the oxygen atoms off iron-oxide leaving molten iron. It would tend to function as a sacrificial anode protecting the steel. Some of corrosion may well be the hard cargo grinding away the paint exposing the beams to saltwater.
Something not explained is the fact that the ship had to stop because it was overloaded. Did it spring a small leak and take on water? How was the fact that it must have been OK when it initially left after loading, but later went below the Pimsol line was resolved? That is something which warrants an explanation.
My thought is that these ships had "free surface problems" (bulk cargo shifting). There was a case of instability which occurring while loading. The only ship of the PROTEUS Class which survived until being intentionally scuttled by her crew was the USS LANLEY originally USS JUPITER which had been converted to be the first aircraft carrier. Even though its center of gravity was probably raised in the conversion, it no longer had a large possibly not well secured bulk cargo which could shift.
I figured in the day of computer modeling and the fact we have the plans of the ship, some naval architects would have loaded the information into a program, load it up with the various cargoes and see what type of wave action could cause a capsize or structural failure. I wonder if these ships have longitudinal dividers to help reduce shifting cargo?

[normancole]

I go with the giant octopus theory I'm sure that's what happened

[citystategov]

I can't beleive you didn't mention the rouge wave theory.

[sonorousbelchpipe]

"Shot down by a German U-boat"?
Those clever Germans! With all the technological marvels they developed, the Flying Submarine has got to be near the zenith! Then again, unbeknownst to everyone, we had flying colliers! Wonder at what altitudes the "dogfight" took place?

[mnoliberal]

It probably broke in half at night, near the holds containing the manganese, a very dense material compared to coal. The hull portions would have sunk quickly, taking everyone with it.

[macgyversmacbook]

“The theory isn’t as far fetched, the Captain was German and was friends with Germans and people of German descent”
No, that IS far fetched, it sounds like the anti-German propaganda at the time and I honestly take it personally because I am of German descent. The same people who said “ohhh, the Captain was pro-German and his friends helped him steal a ship” are the same ones from that time who drop kicked dachshunds