Four big ships. All lost at sea, only one with a known fate. They were Proteus, Nerieus , Jupiter and Cyclops, colliers built to carry coal and refuel navy ships at sea.
Cyclops gets all the ink. Jupiter was converted into an aircraft carrier, the Langley, and then into a seaplane tender. Badly damaged by enemy action at the start if WWII she was sunk by gunfire and torpedos to keep her out of Japanese hands.
When oil replaced coal, Proteus and Nereus were sold off to be used as cargo vessels-ore carriers. These were big ships, the size of cruisers, Cyclops is the largest loss of life in US Navy history not sustained in combat, the other two, after being decomissioned carried a crew of about sixty. No matter, there were no survivors of any but Langley.
Was it Little Green Men? Pirates? the Bermuda Triangle? There are some very strange facts in this case .
All three ships were lost in the 'Bermuda Triangle', a zone that can be expanded to any dimensions that suit the writer. Proteus and Nereus had been mothballed for years, until the war brought them back into service.
I've looked into this one many times, and I got fooled by the recent report of the discovery of the wreck underwater-Many investigators overlook the loss of Nereus on an almost identical course as Cyclops, decades later..
Some facts, and my conclusions.
Cyclops captain, Commander Worley was German born(much of his life is obscure) and had been a merchant mariner for many years. He was known to be bad at navigation, and reports of very erratic behavior were many.
My conclusion: Worley may have been in the third stage of syphilis. The facts fit.
Examine the design of the ships. To move coal at sea, there was a system of girders and machinery that amounted to some serious top hamper, and an unstable ship. It may well be that Worley was retained by the Navy because he was experienced in handling this ship, and the loss of the others in WWII may have be due to officers who knew little about such odd vessels
There were severe storms and heavy seas when each ship was lost. No distress calls were ever logged and no submarine claimed them.
My conclusion: They turned turtle and sank quickly during storms. The flotsam was scattered by the rough weather..
And where are the wrecks? My friends, the sea is a very big place, where things get lost. Especially in war time.
There are reports that the colliers were poorly constructed, however, the Jupiter/Langley had a long and active career-there was some difficulty in scuttling her. Perhaps there was modification during her conversions?
Feel free to disagree, please.
Cyclops gets all the ink. Jupiter was converted into an aircraft carrier, the Langley, and then into a seaplane tender. Badly damaged by enemy action at the start if WWII she was sunk by gunfire and torpedos to keep her out of Japanese hands.
When oil replaced coal, Proteus and Nereus were sold off to be used as cargo vessels-ore carriers. These were big ships, the size of cruisers, Cyclops is the largest loss of life in US Navy history not sustained in combat, the other two, after being decomissioned carried a crew of about sixty. No matter, there were no survivors of any but Langley.
Was it Little Green Men? Pirates? the Bermuda Triangle? There are some very strange facts in this case .
All three ships were lost in the 'Bermuda Triangle', a zone that can be expanded to any dimensions that suit the writer. Proteus and Nereus had been mothballed for years, until the war brought them back into service.
I've looked into this one many times, and I got fooled by the recent report of the discovery of the wreck underwater-Many investigators overlook the loss of Nereus on an almost identical course as Cyclops, decades later..
Some facts, and my conclusions.
Cyclops captain, Commander Worley was German born(much of his life is obscure) and had been a merchant mariner for many years. He was known to be bad at navigation, and reports of very erratic behavior were many.
My conclusion: Worley may have been in the third stage of syphilis. The facts fit.
Examine the design of the ships. To move coal at sea, there was a system of girders and machinery that amounted to some serious top hamper, and an unstable ship. It may well be that Worley was retained by the Navy because he was experienced in handling this ship, and the loss of the others in WWII may have be due to officers who knew little about such odd vessels
There were severe storms and heavy seas when each ship was lost. No distress calls were ever logged and no submarine claimed them.
My conclusion: They turned turtle and sank quickly during storms. The flotsam was scattered by the rough weather..
And where are the wrecks? My friends, the sea is a very big place, where things get lost. Especially in war time.
There are reports that the colliers were poorly constructed, however, the Jupiter/Langley had a long and active career-there was some difficulty in scuttling her. Perhaps there was modification during her conversions?
Feel free to disagree, please.
