An attempt to find the mystery ship, Cyclops, which vanished in 1918 along with over 300 naval crewmen. May 1983.
Much has been written about how the U.S. Navy coal collier, Cyclops, vanished without a trace in the Bermuda Triangle during a voyage from Bahia, Brazil, to Baltimore, Maryland, in February/March of 1918.
Vincent Gaddis and Charles Berlitz have made fortunes touting barrel loads of bull shit from their books on the mythical triangle while Larry Kusche, a library researcher at the Arizona State, wrote an admirable, in-depth work called “The Bermuda Triangle Mystery – Solved” and barely made beer money.
Kusche has soundly demonstrated that the Cyclops most likely went down between Cape Hatteras and Cape Charles under a heavy gale that struck the east coast on the 9th and 10th of March. During the raging winds and high seas, the ship’s cargo of 10,000 tons of manganese probably shifted and she rolled over and sank without warning or time to send an SOS.
The Cyclops and her three sister coal colliers all met untimely fates. They were the largest navy ships of their time. The Jupiter was converted into our navy’s first aircraft carrier and renamed the Langley. She was bombed under the sea by Japanese planes off Java in 1942. Incredibly, the other two sister ships, the Nereus and the Proteus, which were sold by the navy, both disappeared with all hands in the Atlantic during World War II and were presumed sunk by German U-boats.
The Cyclops still remains the largest navy ship ever lost without leaving the slightest clue to her fate.
Interesting when you think about it. The only difference between a great sea mystery and a perfectly explainable ship sinking is one survivor.
No clue turned up until 1968 when master navy diver, Dean Hawes, descended on a large hulk lying in 180 feet of water about 40 nautical miles northeast of Cape Charles. Hawes was stunned. He found himself standing on a vessel unlike any he’d ever seen. The bridge sat on steel stilts above the deck and huge arms stretched upward along the main deck into the liquid gloom.
Hawes finally surfaced with the intention of going down again with his dive team, but bad weather forced the navy salvage ship to abandon the wreck and sail back to Norfolk. The dive exercise was rumored to be a searching for the then missing nuclear submarine, Scorpion that was later found on the bottom west of the Azores, and the navy felt no need to spend unnecessary time investigating the wreck further.
Years later, Hawes happened to read an article on the mystery of the Cyclops. Included was a picture of the ship, exactly what Hawes had explored.
Hawes managed to convince the navy to return and check out the site again, but a different wreck was located and nothing resembling the Cyclops was found.
Dean was about to give up when NUMA and I entered the picture and offered to fund an attempt to relocate the vessel he’d discovered. I flew to Norfolk and stayed with Dean and his lovely wife. We went over the coordinates from the log book of Hawes’ former salvage ship, the Killiwake, and I thought it odd that the Cyclops had missed entering Chesapeake Bay and steamed past, sinking almost 40 miles to the northeast. (see Hawes’ coordinates on chart).
He and Kusche both thought that the ship, only operating on one engine and thrown about by the storm, was simply driven off course and missed the entrance to the bay.
Dean Hawes’ coordinates from the navy salvage ships in the area at the time he found the wreck are listed below.
Log book position of U.S.S. Killiwake, the ship Hawes dove From in 1968:
37 26′ 06″
74 42′ 07″
Log book position of U.S.S. Sunbird, nearby salvage ship on day of dive:
37 27′ 05″
74 41′ 08″
Wreck position Hawes dove during NUMA expedition of 1983.
37 27′ 04″
74 42′
Wreck of the Ethel C.
37 26′
74 41′
Wreck of the Merida.
37 02′
74 47′
Where is the Cyclops? As an article on the Hawes and the expedition suggests, it remains a sunken puzzle. Dean Hawes died a few weeks after the search and I have yet to make another attempt. Did Dean really step onto the deck of the Cyclops, or did he find the missing Nereus or Proteus instead.
Perhaps someday, when technology permits us to view the bottom of the sea with the same clarity that we can on land, the three ships will be discovered. Until then we can only wish.
After nearly 3 decades of technology advances it my be time for another look. Sounds like an important discovery. Just curious did numa ever use scat hovercrafts?
Of all the disaperances belamed on the Bermuda Triangle, it is nice to hear that someone is slowly solving those tales. There must be some family members who would like to find out that thier loved ones boat, plane or remains have been discouvered. Technology is advancing at a rapid rate there must be something new to help your next search. As for the Cyclops maybe it is time to have another look sometime very soon. Hopefully the Navy has updated its underwater maps and you have a little extra help for next time.
Finding the Cyclops wreck would be like finding the wrecks of the four Japanese Carriers lost at Midway. It would mean an end to crazy speculation. The legends of the Captain strolling the bridge in his long underwear and wearing non regulation headgear. Other stories of possible espionage and Imperial German spies. There has to be near as many stories and ideas about her as the Titanic. Another true legand of the seas. Besides, her sister was converted to our first carrier. By all means she should be located and explored if possible.
Interesting. I love reading about the adventures of finding wrecks you have written about. ( And the fictional exploits of Dirk, Juan, Kurt and Isaac) Thanks for your time and efforts.
Time to find Cyclops & mark with bouy & use Mini Subs for extensive diving.
Bring up objects near hull.
Awesome Find.
I’ve heard an interesting theory that some wreckage lost in the Gulf Stream or other underwater currents may actually “drift” along the sea floor with time due to the strong current and it’s movement of the sandy bottom. Don’t know enough to know if this is even plausible, but it sounded interesting. Might account for changes in coordinates from one dive in the ’60s to wherever she’s eventually found.
Fascinating article and story. I hope NUMA gets a chance again to search.
i was on holiday once a few years ago and i was reading a book that i think was from you but cant be sure that argentina had help from a foreign source against the uk and started a second faulklands war do you think this is hapening now
Maybe in the not too distant future the defence dept. could employ the Sea-Based X-band (SBX) Radar system to track the sea bed in the particular co-ordinates where Hawes originally believed he may have located the Cyclops ??
somebody should make more movies based on Mr. Cussler’s books–particularly cyclops, night probe, and vixon 03. A remake of raise the titanic would be cool too
I wonder who wrote this. A coal collier? Isn’t that a little redundant?
I have read the book Bermuda Triangle – Solved and I believe the shifting of the cargo in a storm the most likely cause of her loss… or possibly a methane explosion from the depths that sunk her, either way I believe that one day she may well be found and if NUMA does not do it, someone else will ( possibly when coal is as valuable as pieces of 8
).. and when it comes to mysteries, I would rather NUMA found Flight 19, thats the big one Bermuda Triangle fanatics like to use.
What a great story. What it needs is and ending I hope NUMA will give it one in the near future and I agree that your stories need to put on film.
Very interesting story and I concur. Your books need to be adapted to film. Each time I think of Inca Gold, I see it as a movie and then remember it was a book. Also loved Raise the Titanic.
More than likely a hurricane could have moved silt and covered it over. Could a second ship sink in the spot of the first and settle on top? Is there a way to detect managanese? Anything is possible with time.
Todd, Read IMDB and Wikipedia about the movie Sahara. I am guessing Clive does not wish to go through the heartbreak of a director butchering his stories again to make another movie. Seeing an ironclad in action was the only good thing about that movie. A weekly TV series with Sam and Remie would also be awesome . To bad Hollywood has no integrity. Look how many times Romeo and Juliet has been done to death. The Bard himself would cry over what happened to a “rewrite” of his stories.
This info about the Cyclops is very interesting. And it is in America shore line.
Could this also be a new story?
I’ve been following NUMA for years, their history tells us the history from the past,
Thank you Mr. Cussler….
I enjoy your Books and share them with friends. They can’t believe that some one would do for history what NUMA does.
The adventures of Dirk Pitt inspired me to become a scuba diver at the age of 50!
I enjoy wreck diving and have Clive Cussler to thank for the excitement
which adds so much to my life.
having nearly all mr cussler’s book’s i agree that more of them should be made into movie’s but as close to the storyline as possble not a bit slapstick (like sahara).keep typing mr cussler.
How many stories of sailors throughout history have we seen, that the last time loved ones were last seen leaving port? To me is unbelievable that the oceans are so vast that even to discover a wreck or a war sinking is amazing to say the least.
I also think were ready for another Clive Cussler movie. NUMA found a Civil war submarine, should be able to find the Cyclops.
I agree that NUMA should help finding her… but I also think it would be a fantastic opportunity for cooperation with the Discovery channel or National Geographic to join in for a spectacular documentary highlighting Clive’s and NUMA’s work.
Keep up the great adventure writing. Hopefuly NUMA is the one to settle the Cyclops mystery.
Other than my family; two people have truly brought a lot of enjoyment to my life.
They are Elvis and his music and Clive with his books and NUMA. AT 65 years old
I’m hoping there’s still a chance the mysteries of the Cyclops and Flight 19 will be solved in my lifetime. I rather think Clive and NUMA are my best chance.
Good Luck
My late father, a former British merchant seaman, was fascinated by the unexplained loss of several ships in the early part of the twentieth century – the SS Waratah (between Durban and Capetown off the coast of South Africa in July 1909) and the loss of the USS Cyclops off the eastern coast of the United States in March or April 1918 were two of those with which he was most interested.
A very great deal of rubbish has been written about the loss of the latter – from all accounts structurally unsound (either from building or as a result of slipshod maintenance) – and on her last voyage overloaded with a poorly secured cargo of manganese ore, commanded by a captain of alleged pro-German sympathies and decidedly eccentric in his behaviour.
I find it somewhat surprising that a US Navy diver would claim that he had stood on the deck of the wreck of the USS Cyclops, if he had not done so, albeit I believe he did not recognise what he had allegedly come into contact with until someone showed him a photograph of the missing vessel. This, if true, I find rather odd. I would have thought that just as every British sailor has heard of HMS Victory, so anyone connected with the US Navy would have heard of the USS Cyclops – which, like her sister ships, was of enormous size and very distinctive in her appearance.
It is also the case that many accounts of the loss of the USS Cyclops make mention of the fact of the dive made in 1969(?) in connection with the missing US submarine – USS Scorpion – but then fail to say that there was a subsequent dive (in 1983) to virtually the same co-ordinates which found no trace of the Cyclops.
It is time for a further expedition to try and locate this missing vessel, if only to put to bed the nonsense of the Bermuda Triangle and the more fanciful explanations for her disappearance – little green men, mutiny, rogue waves and whirpools. The truth is, I suspect, far more prosaic; lost in a storm off what you term the Capes, the badly maintained ship breaking its back and sinking very quickly with the loss of all hands. That two of her sister ships were lost in similar circumstances (in the early part of the Second World War) again with there being no distress calls, no survivors, and no wreckage found, suggests that whatever ultimately befell these three vessels, it was the same kind of misfortune, and was something which happened very quickly indeed.
I love your books. As I read them, I can visualize and feel the emotion of the scenes. My brother in-law, Bill Salter, gave me my first book by you and I’ve been hooked ever since. I not long ago finished reading “The Clyclops”. Wonderful, and as always packed full of action and mystery. When I go to the thrift stores, the first thing I check out is the book department to see if any of your books are there. Some times I get lucky. Any way, I just wanted to let you know that I am a big fan. Thank you for all the great reads.
One think I love about NUMA and Mr. Cussler is their willingness to call storytellers like Berlitz on the crap they’ve sold for years. This is especially true for the props they give to Mr. Kusche and the hard work he has done on the subject.
One of my favorite quotes from Mr. Kusche:
“If Berlitz were to report that a boat were red, the chance of it being some other colour is almost a certainty.”
Sums it up nicely, IMO.
Anyway, back to the Cyclops. Thanks to NUMA for a factual accounting of the Cyclops’ loss and the search for her wreck. I have no doubts that someday soon, someone will find the final resting place of the USS Cyclops. Part of me is surprised that it hasn’t happened yet.
Now, as was brought up earlier, if someone would just find Flight 19….. (I know, I know, that’s the REAL trick….)
A long time ago I read the books by the various Triangle authors, and none of them mentioned the storm of early March, 1918. Would ruin a good ghost story, or so they must have thought!
George Worley was the Cyclops’ commanding officer, and he was recorded several times as having “overshot” his port of call, meaning he’d have to turn right around and sail the extra dozen miles or so that he missed it by. The reported spot where Dawes said he stood on the wreck in 1968 fits Worley’s character, and I’m convinced the ship is there. What is needed is a calm summer week at sea on a boat with side-scan sonar; a sunken wreck with a bridge “on stilts” shouldn’t be too hard to find.
I believe it should be the salvage ship: USS Kittiwake not Killiwake.
It would be nince to have a section or update on the search for Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501. Of course, I would like the Cyclops mystery to be solved as well.
As for movies, my son and I loved “Sahara”, though it wasn’t the book at all. Great cast! Perhaps the better solution is not to have any more books made into movies, yet have a new Dirk Pitt story / script written specifically to be a movie. No movie short of an epic trilogy could do justice to a full Cussler book!
Best regards!
A young sailor from my hometown was lost on the U.S.S. Cyclops. I have often wondered how sad this must have left his family. Not knowing what happened to their loved one. I hope you find her soon.
Everyone who has ever been in the U.S. Navy and trained underwater off the coast of Cuba has trained on the wreck of the Cyclops, it sits in restricted waters off the coast of Cuba, the deck has collapsed now over the years.
I find NUMA’s comments quite interesting, in the regard that in 1976 as a high school junior I wrote a term paper on the so-called Burmuda Triangle, and reached the same conclusions — i.e. that Mr. Berlitz was engaging in sensationalist journalism (at best), and that Mr. Kusche’s work was well researched and drew logical, supportable conclusions.
One other thing that I recall about this topic is that while researching said paper, I compared the dates of loss (sometimes estimated by the original sources) against a perpetual calendar, and noted that significantly more than 1/7th of these dates occurred on a Friday, including a few on various Friday-the-13ths.
This impressed my English teacher, but probably just represents a statistical anomoly, or what the Six Sigma types tend to call an “outlier”.
If anyone is going to find the Cyclops it going to be Clive Cussler and numa. He found the Hunley.