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Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

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USS Cyclops (1910-1918) 

Please see below for item level images and donated collections containing photographs of USS Cyclops (1910-1918) 

USS Cyclops (1910-1918), was launched on 7 May 1910 by William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, Pa., and delivered and placed in service on 7 November 1910, George W. Worley, Master, Navy Auxiliary Service, in charge. Operating with the Naval Auxiliary Service, Atlantic Fleet, the new collier voyaged to the Baltic (May–July 1911) to supply 2nd Division ships. Returning to Norfolk, she operated on the east coast from Newport, R.I., to the Caribbean servicing the Fleet. During the troubled conditions in Mexico in 1914 and 1915, USS Cyclops (1910-1918) coaled ships on patrol there, and received the thanks of the State Department for her help in bringing refugees from Tampico, Mexico, to New Orleans, La.

With American entry into World War I, USS Cyclops (1910-1918) was commissioned on 1 May 1917, Lt. Cmdr. Worley in command. She joined a convoy bound for St. Nazaire, France, in June 1917, returning to the east coast in July. Except for a voyage to Halifax, Nova Scotia, USS Cyclops (1910-1918) served along the east coast until 9 January 1918 when she was assigned to Naval Overseas Transportation Service. She then sailed to Brazilian waters to fuel British ships in the South Atlantic, receiving the thanks of the State Department and Adm. William B. Caperton, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet. USS Cyclops (1910-1918) put to sea from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 16 February 1918 and, after touching at Barbados in the British West Indies on 3 and 4 March, was never heard from again. Her loss without a trace is one of the sea’s unsolved mysteries.