Franklin, Alabama sailor disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle in 1918

USS Cyclops

This March marks 106 years since the USS Cyclops disappeared without a trace in the Bermuda Triangle, and to this day its whereabouts remain unknown. The loss of the 309 people aboard the Cyclops remains the single largest non-combat loss of life in U.S. Naval history, and at least 12 of sailors on the ship were from Alabama. Of those 12, one seaman was from Franklin and another was from Andalusia.

The Cyclops vanished without a trace on or around March 4, 1918 while en route from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Baltimore, Maryland with a large cargo of manganese ore. The Navy officially declared the Cyclops lost and all hands deceased on June 1, 1918. For record purposes, everyone on board was officially given a death date of June 14, 1918.

Those aboard included 23-year-old Seaman Second Class Thomas Jackson McKinley of Evergreen and 17-year-old Seaman Second Class Lee Otis Battle of Andalusia. Records reflect that Thomas Jackson McKinley was born in Monroe County’s Franklin community on June 30, 1894 to Pinkney Shelton McKinley and Martha A. Gardner McKinley. At the time of Thomas Jackson McKinley’s death, his father was a resident of Owassa, a small community just outside of Evergreen. (Martha McKinley had passed away years before, in 1896.)

Lee Otis Battle was born in Andalusia in Covington County on Jan. 5, 1901 to Dr. Henry Elton Battle and Jessie Corine Battle. The Navy alerted this missing sailor’s parents by telegram, and that message said that the Cyclops was last reported in the West Indies on March 4. “Her disappearance cannot be logically accounted for in any way as no bad weather conditions or activities of enemy raiders have been reported in the vicinity of her route.”

The disappearance of the Cyclops is one of the most enduring mysteries in U.S. Naval history and there are many theories about what happened to this 542-foot-long vessel. Some sources say that the Cyclops was overloaded with cargo when it left Brazil and that one of its engines had a cracked cylinder. Perhaps this combination caused something to go wrong way out in the middle of the sea, causing the ship to sink.

Others say that the Cyclops sank in an unexpected storm. Being overloaded with a bad engine, the ship may have gone down in foul weather. Some also believe that the ship suffered from some type flawed structural design that basically caused it to come apart in rough seas.

Of course, we should also remember that World War I was raging in 1918, and many believe that the Cyclops was either captured or sunk by a German warship or submarine. However, German officials during the war and after the war have denied having anything to do with the disappearance of the Cyclops. It should be noted that the manganese ore aboard the Cyclops was en route to Baltimore to be used in the manufacture of war munitions.

In the end, 106 years later, the fate of the Cyclops remains a mystery. With that said, if anyone in the reading audience knows anything more about Thomas Jackson McKinley or Lee Otis Battle, please let me hear from you. While the fate of the Cyclops remains an unknown, it’s important that we keep the memories of these two Alabama sailors alive.