Original subtitles

[dramatic music]

- It just looks like a bomb went off.

♪ ♪

- Whatever sank the "Cyclops"

was quick, it was tragic, and it was catastrophic.

♪ ♪

narrator: Tonight

on "The Bermuda Triangle: Into Cursed Waters"...

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

narrator: The team is racing the clock...

- We have two storms closing in on us.

narrator: To solve the biggest

Bermuda Triangle mystery of them all.

♪ ♪

- Over 300 people disappeared.

- This could be "Cyclops."

- That is a significant wreck.

♪ ♪

narrator: Was she a victim of a deadly predator?

- There's massive damage to the stern.

narrator: Or did something drive her crew mad?

- Potentially psychiatric symptoms, schizophrenia.

♪ ♪

- This makes no sense.

♪ ♪

narrator: There is a place

that evokes fear and fascination.

♪ ♪

Bounded by Florida, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico,

the Bermuda Triangle has swallowed countless ships,

planes, and people.

♪ ♪

Now an elite team is on the hunt...

- Dive, dive, dive.

narrator: And making big finds.

- We've discovered "Challenger."

narrator: Their secret weapon...

a wreck map decades in the making.

♪ ♪

- These are dangerous dives.

- Oh!

- Any sane person would not be doing this.

narrator: Their mission...

solve the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle

one wreck at a time.

- Dude, are you seeing this?

- Mother Nature is gonna take these wrecks away.

The clock is ticking.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- A huge Bermuda Triangle mystery

that we've been chasing for a long time

is 65 miles offshore.

♪ ♪

narrator: Wreck hunter Jimmy Gadomski

and his dive team are hustling

to load gear for a midnight sail.

- We're gonna sleep on the boat on the way out,

if you call that sleep.

♪ ♪

By the time we get on the site, the sun should be coming up.

♪ ♪

narrator: Their destination...

an unidentified shipwreck off the Virginia coast.

It's called JT's Mystery Wreck.

♪ ♪

First discovered 17 years ago

and never fully explored,

it's long been on Mike Barnette's radar.

- This is a massive shipwreck on the bottom.

And it had a lot of very unique and curious features on it.

♪ ♪

narrator: The team thinks

it's a strong suspect

for the Bermuda Triangle's single deadliest incident...

♪ ♪

The loss of the USS "Cyclops."

- The USS "Cyclops" holds this special place

in the Bermuda Triangle.

♪ ♪

Over 300 people disappeared without a trace.

It was the greatest loss of life

for any U.S. Navy ship outside of combat.

♪ ♪

narrator: March 1918.

It's about one year

after the U.S. entered World War I.

The USS "Cyclops" is a 540-foot freighter

carrying manganese, a heavy ore used to make steel

for America's war effort.

♪ ♪

- The "Cyclops" traveled to Rio de Janeiro

with about 10,000 tons of coal

in exchange for 11,000 tons of manganese ore.

♪ ♪

- The "Cyclops" put in to Barbados,

and when they left on March 4th,

they gave basically an all-clear,

and they were heading for Baltimore.

And that was the last time anyone

ever heard of the "Cyclops."

♪ ♪

narrator: The U.S. Navy spent months searching for the ship

without finding one piece of debris.

President Woodrow Wilson said, "Only God and the sea

know what happened to the great ship."

♪ ♪

- Whatever sank the "Cyclops" was quick, it was tragic,

and it was catastrophic.

♪ ♪

narrator: Wild speculation began

almost as soon as the ship was lost.

- There are some pretty crazy ideas

on how "Cyclops" disappeared,

from giant squids to meteorites falling from the sky

and destroying the ship.

- There was even rumors of the first German U-boats

making their way across the Atlantic

and setting up shop in the Caribbean.

♪ ♪

narrator: The conventional theory is that the "Cyclops"

was lost somewhere in the heart of the Bermuda Triangle.

But with no hard evidence, it's possible the ship escaped

and made it further north than anyone realized.

JT's Mystery Wreck lies on the ship's

intended route to Baltimore.

Initial sonar readings suggest the wreck is over 500 feet,

making it a candidate for "Cyclops."

Intriguingly, a sailor on another ship

supposedly saw "Cyclops" in a storm

near this exact location.

Many doubt that sighting took place.

But what if it were true?

- Discovering the "Cyclops" would be huge.

And this could be the "Cyclops."

We don't know.

♪ ♪

narrator: But before they even hit the water,

the mission faces challenges.

♪ ♪

There are two hurricanes gaining strength

around the Bermuda Triangle.

♪ ♪

And those storms have already put the team a man down.

Lead wreck hunter Mike Barnette

is stuck back in Tampa trying to protect his house.

- We got Hurricane Idalia bearing right down at us.

And you never know if these are gonna take

a left or right turn at the last second.

narrator: Mike's decades of research and instant analysis

are invaluable.

So, to stay in the fight, Mike will be connected

to the team via satellite...

if his power doesn't go out.

- It's gonna be frustrating, but I'm hoping we'll get

some good data out of this.

♪

narrator: But those storms are also a looming threat

to the dive team off Virginia.

- So we have a two-day weather window right now

before that second storm from Florida

gets up here and comes down on us.

♪ ♪

narrator: After a seven-hour journey,

the RV "Explorer II" has reached the target.

Captain Ross Baxter has a clear reading

of a wreck on the ocean floor.

- There's something here.

- Looks like a big wreck.

♪ ♪

- We're in about 275 feet of water,

and the structure comes up

slightly shallower than 250 feet.

So I'm super excited to get in the water and dive this.

♪ ♪

narrator: In Mike's absence,

Jimmy's called on two trusted wreck divers for backup...

underwater imaging specialist Evan Kovacs

and salvage diver John Baker.

- Jimmy and I have been diving together

for about five years now.

- When you get to these depths,

there's not a lot of people that you could call out to.

♪ ♪

- The conditions out here today

are pretty good, considering we are literally in the middle

of two hurricanes converging.

♪ ♪

- So, on a new shipwreck,

we're always looking for those key features,

like what's the length?

What kind of machinery is on the boat?

We could have the wreck written on the bow.

So that's a key place to start looking for any kind of clues.

♪ ♪

narrator: Since the seafloor here is 275 feet down,

Jimmy decides on 30 minutes of bottom time to explore,

which will require about a 90-minute

decompression ascent.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

narrator: They follow the shot line down.

♪

narrator: After descending for three minutes,

Jimmy's light catches something beneath him...

♪ ♪

narrator: A wall of metal.

♪ ♪

Jimmy catches sight of what could be

a collapsed cargo hold.

♪ ♪

narrator: They swim...

♪ ♪

And swim.

♪ ♪

They don't know whether they're going

to the stern or the bow.

♪ ♪

All they know for now is,

this ship...

is huge.

narrator: Three elite wreck divers

are off the coast of Virginia,

exploring a massive shipwreck

275 feet below the surface

that may be the Bermuda Triangle's

single deadliest disappearance...

the USS "Cyclops."

[dramatic music]

narrator: After swimming some 200 feet in one direction,

they're still not sure if they're headed

to the bow or the stern.

♪ ♪

Then there are the openings to cargo holds.

Those indicate this was a freighter,

just like "Cyclops."

♪ ♪

Jimmy swims above metal rails on the deck,

possibly a remnant of the cranes

that once towered over "Cyclops."

♪ ♪

John Baker pries loose a large porthole.

It may hold telltale clues to ID this ship.

narrator: He attaches it to a lift bag

and sends it up to the surface.

♪ ♪

- The glass is completely intact.

It's amazing that something like that

is so well preserved.

♪

Based on what I'm seeing,

I would say definitely probably closer

to World War I than World War II, for sure.

Really looks old.

♪ ♪

narrator: With just minutes left on the dive clock,

Jimmy finally reaches the end of the ship.

narrator: The bow emerges in front of him.

♪ ♪

narrator: There's no ship name to be seen.

Jimmy calls out something else...

narrator: Rivets...

♪ ♪

Another clue to the ship's age.

Metal ship hulls were held together with rivets

before World War II, when the faster

and stronger process of welding steel was introduced.

♪ ♪

Jimmy gives the thumbs-up signal,

indicating the dive is over.

♪ ♪

[lift whirring]

♪ ♪

- It's big. It's a big, big, big wreck.

I don't know, we probably traveled 300, 400 feet.

- You could tell, like, a lot of the walls

were just kind of caving in and stuff.

♪ ♪

narrator: The team dials in shipwreck guru Mike Barnette.

- Looks like we have a freighter

sitting on the bottom, but we got a huge wreck.

We didn't even cover the whole thing.

- Any initial impressions?

A riveted hull, welded hull?

- I think the impression was riveted.

narrator: The riveted hull and that porthole

both confirm this wreck is from the early 1900s...

♪ ♪

Like "Cyclops."

- Did you happen to see any obvious signs of cargo?

- No obvious signs of cargo, but it seems like

the cargo holds are very low-lying.

narrator: "Cyclops" was carrying

11,000 tons of manganese ore.

♪

The team saw no sign of the heavy ore.

♪ ♪

That doesn't mean it wasn't there.

♪ ♪

- I mean, if it's manganese, though,

you know, that ore, it's so dense.

If it's pancaked down, maybe it's covered up a little bit.

narrator: A closer look at the cargo holds

may reveal whether manganese is present.

Mike also wants the team to get to the stern,

or rear section of the ship.

He believes that area will hold the richest evidence.

- This is a big wreck.

And if you didn't see any machinery, obviously,

it seems to me, it'd be aft machinery.

So all the engine, the boilers will be in the stern,

which is consistent with, you know, the "Cyclops"

and other colliers. - Yeah.

narrator: A collier is a freighter

built to carry coal

but capable of transporting other ores.

♪ ♪

Along with the age and the size,

everything is lining up.

But if this is "Cyclops,"

how did she end up in this watery grave?

♪ ♪

Jimmy calls out to the team's research muscle...

[line trilling]

David O'Keefe and Wayne Abbott.

- Hey, Jimmy, I'm here with Wayne.

How'd the dive go?

- Really?

- But the one question I know Dave and I have

is the location.

I mean, you're off of Virginia right now, right?

♪ ♪

narrator: If "Cyclops" passed through the Bermuda Triangle

along its intended path, it could lie here.

♪ ♪

And then there's the fact that at least one person

claimed to see her in this area.

- There was an alleged sighting of the "Cyclops"

by a crew member on the "Amolco,"

which was a molasses carrier.

And apparently he sighted it on March 9th

making for Baltimore.

Now, the interesting part is, if true,

this would put the "Cyclops" four days ahead of schedule.

narrator: Making that kind of time

would have dangerously strained the ship's engines.

- And if that's the case, then it would take

a real hard-driving kind of captain

to make the crew push that vessel that far.

- Well, if there's one captain that would push his crew,

that would be Worley.

♪ ♪

narrator: George Worley was the captain of the "Cyclops."

And ever since he disappeared with his ship,

some have blamed him.

♪ ♪

It's thought he pushed the ship so hard,

the engines broke down...

♪ ♪

Leaving "Cyclops" unable to ride out

heavy seas and storms.

♪

Some pin the blame on the ship's cargo of manganese ore.

If mishandled, manganese dust is combustible.

And there was another theory in 1918...

German U-boats had come to the U.S. coast,

and "Cyclops" was their first victim.

Dave and Wayne will dig into these theories.

♪ ♪

narrator: It will be a few hours more

until the dive team's rested enough

to make another deep dive.

♪ ♪

So Jimmy makes the call to utilize another tool

in the team's kit... the ROV,

a remotely operated vehicle with a camera.

- Getting the ROV in the water

is basically saving us a whole dive.

We get more of the layout of the ship,

and we know right where to go.

♪ ♪

narrator: Back on land, Wayne and David investigate

the theory that Captain Worley pushed the "Cyclops" too hard.

♪ ♪

Historian Marvin Barrash has a very personal

connection to the lost ship.

- Great to see you again. - Great to see you gentlemen.

narrator: Marvin's great-uncle Lawrence Merkel

was among the 309 navy sailors lost

aboard "Cyclops."

- One of the things we want to ask you about

is Captain Worley...

- Mm. - And his personality.

- I think he was always pushing the ship and the crew.

All these ships were the supply ships or fuel ships.

It's gritty, dirty work, dangerous work.

He would have to be a tough sort of officer

to keep things in line and to deliver on time,

which is the ultimate goal.

narrator: But that goal may have come at a terrible cost.

A maintenance report reveals "Cyclops" was already dealing

with engine trouble in the weeks

leading up to her disappearance.

If Worley drove the engines to a breaking point,

"Cyclops" would have been a sitting duck

in surging seas.

♪ ♪

So why would Worley have done this?

Marvin thinks he may have had a good reason...

German U-boats.

- I do have coordinates

of where one U-boat was sighted

to the east of South America.

- Really?

- There were congressional hearings

that talked about a lot of sinkings

off the coast of the U.S.

narrator: According to Barrash, by March of 1918,

U-boats were sighted just off the coast of Brazil.

"Cyclops" had just come from Brazil.

A large U.S. naval vessel

would have been an attractive prize.

- And this is at the time "Cyclops" was sailing?

- Yes.

- So we can't rule out the U-boat either.

♪

narrator: 65 miles off the coast of Virginia,

the dive boat is anchored over a mystery wreck

they expect to be the USS "Cyclops"...

a navy freighter lost with 309 men

over 100 years ago.

To this day, it remains the single deadliest

Bermuda Triangle area mystery.

[dramatic music]

- We have a limited time out here.

We have two storms closing in on us right now.

♪ ♪

narrator: The clock is ticking.

The current forecast gives them

about 10 hours to explore the site.

The team launches an ROV,

or a remotely operated vehicle,

to get more intel on the wreck.

- The ROV can scope this out for us

prior to getting in the water.

Now when we jump in the water,

we know exactly where to find any identifiable features.

♪

narrator: Jimmy, John Baker, and Evan Kovacs

watch the image on Ross' computer.

narrator: The divers could only cover

the front part of the ship during their first dive.

♪ ♪

Now Captain Ross maneuvers his ROV

toward the back half of the wreck.

♪ ♪

- Wow. - We didn't go that way.

- Nope.

♪ ♪

- That looks like the raised stanchions

and cross supports of that. - Sure does.

narrator: The USS "Cyclops" had 24 distinctive cranes

used for loading heavy ore.

♪ ♪

This structure could be part of a crane.

But there only seems to be one.

- That just might be one of the only ones

that's, like, left on the wreck.

Maybe the others are laying in the sand, maybe.

- Mm-hmm.

♪ ♪

narrator: Ross sends the ROV inside a cargo hold.

♪ ♪

- Look at this.

- Yeah.

- It's an interesting-looking hold, fellas.

I hate to say it, but, like, you'd put ore in there.

- Yeah.

♪ ♪

narrator: The "Cyclops" was carrying

11,000 tons of manganese,

but there's still no sign of it.

Mike Barnette theorized that the dense ore may be hidden,

sitting low inside the cargo holds.

Evan Kovacs sees another possibility.

- Maybe 'cause it's listed, something settled,

but you saw how it all slopes. - Yep.

♪ ♪

narrator: The ROV proceeds slowly toward the stern...

some 200 feet.

But...

♪ ♪

All it finds is a mess...

♪ ♪

Of bent and broken metal.

♪ ♪

- Things are pretty banged up back here, I can tell you that.

- Like, twisted, almost. - Yeah.

- Looking at this, the bow is pretty much intact

compared to this.

- I'm at 35%, so I'm just gonna bug out.

- Yep.

narrator: With batteries low,

Ross drives the ROV back to the surface.

The wreck remains a strong match for "Cyclops,"

as long as they can confirm the presence of manganese ore

and find the other cranes.

♪ ♪

But now there's a new mystery.

♪ ♪

What catastrophe destroyed her stern?

- This wreck, it's so big.

There's so much ground to cover.

We absolutely need to get on the bottom for another dive.

narrator: The destruction suggests combat damage.

♪ ♪

Could it be the result...

♪ ♪

Of a U-boat attack?

♪ ♪

Dave rushes to meet Richie Kohler,

a legendary wreck diver

whose specialty is German U-boats.

♪ ♪

- Our divers have found a wreck off of Virginia

which is over 500 feet in length.

- That's a big ship. - Yeah, it is.

One of the hypotheses we're working on is,

this could be "Cyclops."

- That is a significant wreck.

- Big ship, cargo vessel, First World War.

And the reason we think it's war-related

is because the stern is essentially gone.

- Well, if it was combat-related

and it's World War I,

the only way that could have happened was by U-boat.

And the way that a U-boat would damage a ship

is one of three different ways...

torpedo, which is most obvious,

the deck gun,

and the third is mines.

German U-boats were used to lay minefields

off the coast of the United States

and were actually very successful.

♪ ♪

narrator: But Richie spots holes in the theory

that a German U-boat took out the "Cyclops."

♪ ♪

- If it was a German U-boat and they torpedoed it,

well, then there would have been a record.

The Germans kept meticulous records.

There are no records that says

a U-boat attacked the "Cyclops."

And although the Germans were laying minefields,

they wouldn't do it until April.

narrator: And "Cyclops" went missing in March 1918,

a month before the first U-boats

reached American shores,

at least according to the official record.

- So, if a U-boat didn't cause this kind of damage

that we have on this wreck,

what possibly could, then?

narrator: The team is over a 500-foot wreck

that they suspect may be one of the biggest

Bermuda Triangle area disappearances...

the USS "Cyclops,"

which steamed into the Triangle in 1918

and vanished.

While the size and position of the wreck

suggest it's "Cyclops," there is a problem.

"Cyclops" was carrying manganese ore,

and the dive team has not found any on the wreck.

But there may be good reason for this.

[dramatic music]

Wayne Abbott meets with Dr. Tomás Guilarte

of Florida International University,

a manganese expert.

- Our divers, they looked into a hold,

and on the first investigation, it looked empty.

After 100 years, would it still be intact?

- It would dissolve.

So the likelihood that there will be

manganese ore in the ship after 100 years is very low.

♪ ♪

narrator: So the mystery ship could still be "Cyclops."

And not only that; Tomás thinks the manganese

could have played a role in her loss.

- First of all, it's very dense.

And if you don't have the correct distribution,

it could potentially tip the ship one way or the other.

♪ ♪

narrator: Colliers like "Cyclops" were designed

to carry coal, not manganese.

Coal is lighter.

♪ ♪

Manganese is so dense,

it must be carefully distributed across the ship.

If the center of gravity was too low,

the heavy ore would act like a pendulum,

making "Cyclops" susceptible

to dangerous pitching in heavy seas.

♪

But that's not the only danger that manganese poses.

- The second thing is the fact that it's so combustible.

- Can it explode?

- If you're in a confined space,

it could potentially explode.

♪ ♪

narrator: If improperly stowed,

ground manganese ore can create fine dust particles

which, when exposed to air, become dangerously explosive.

♪ ♪

Then Guilarte reveals something

the team didn't know.

- The interesting thing about manganese is that it's toxic.

♪ ♪

narrator: The health risks of inhaling manganese

were well-known in the early 20th century.

It had a name...mine madness.

- What kind of symptoms would you see on somebody?

- Potentially psychiatric symptoms

similar to schizophrenia, uncontrollable laughing.

- So it could affect the decision making

of anybody who showed these signs.

- Absolutely.

♪ ♪

narrator: Back on the dive boat,

Jimmy is reviewing the ROV footage

and taking screen grabs.

- And I was shooting them back to Barney.

So he's at home doing the research.

♪ ♪

narrator: With Hurricane Idalia

now safely north of Tampa,

Mike checks in for an update.

- This is from the ROV.

He just sent me this frame grab.

This is, he said, the stern, what's left of it.

♪ ♪

We've got a very large vessel.

Two boilers, and the stern is all broken up.

♪ ♪

narrator: Mike notices that the metal is smashed inward,

crushed like a tin can.

It's not bent outward

in a way that would indicate an explosion.

♪ ♪

Is it possible the damage came from the ship

smashing into the seafloor stern-first?

♪ ♪

- Perhaps that would explain

the demolished stern on this vessel.

♪ ♪

narrator: The size and layout

still look right for "Cyclops."

But other aspects of the images

aren't making sense.

- There are some consistencies

and a lot of inconsistencies there.

narrator: One feature draws his attention...

a large winch.

The "Cyclops" had a winch to hoist

the ship's massive anchors on heavy chains.

But something doesn't look right.

- He's coming up next to the winch.

You can see the gear.

That is so weird. It's not anchor chain.

It's cable.

Not what you'd be using out in the Atlantic.

♪ ♪

This makes no sense. This is very curious.

♪ ♪

narrator: The evidence is pointing Mike...

towards a bizarre theory.

narrator: 65 miles off the coast of Virginia...

[dramatic music]

The dive team is trying to identify a 500-foot wreck.

♪

But with two hurricanes closing in,

they have less than six hours

before conditions are bound to deteriorate.

♪ ♪

- I think this weather window is closing pretty fast.

The swells are getting bigger by the hour.

♪ ♪

narrator: It will take the team

at least seven hours to get to shore.

♪ ♪

So if they're going to ID this wreck,

they need to go now.

♪ ♪

- Ooh, it's hot. - Warm yet?

- Yep. - Very hot.

♪ ♪

narrator: They plan to explore the back half of the wreck...

narrator: And hope to find machinery

that could distinguish this ship.

♪ ♪

Visibility has diminished substantially

since their last time in the water.

♪ ♪

The currents are picking up power

from the approaching hurricanes.

♪

narrator: They knew from the ROV

that the back of the ship was completely destroyed.

♪ ♪

But seeing the scale of the destruction firsthand

is sobering.

♪ ♪

It looks like a ten-story building

crushed on the seafloor.

♪ ♪

narrator: The divers penetrate into the wreck,

looking for more clues.

♪ ♪

They locate part of the ship's steering mechanism.

♪ ♪

But something is missing.

♪ ♪

There's no sign of any engine.

♪ ♪

They can't even find a propeller or driveshaft.

♪ ♪

The dive clock runs down,

and the divers make their way back up to the surface.

♪ ♪

- We did not see an engine.

It's just a mangled mess in the back.

Not very diagnostic yet.

♪ ♪

- We don't have a prop.

We don't have, like, the stern section of the ship.

So it's hard to say where the stern ended

because it seems like it ended in a debris field.

♪ ♪

- Besides that big superstructure,

it just looks like a bomb went off.

narrator: Mike Barnette thinks the ship hit the seafloor hard

when it sank.

But what can explain the missing engine?

- Think it'd take a couple more dives

in order to figure everything out.

♪ ♪

narrator: But there's no time for more dives.

- You can see the storms coming up in the Atlantic.

And this other storm's coming up from the Gulf.

They're gonna be right on top of us, so it's time to go.

♪ ♪

narrator: Back on land,

Mike is on the road to follow a new hunch.

He thinks he's closing in on the true identity

of JT's Mystery Wreck.

- And these are exactly like we see on our wreck.

This is phenomenal.

This is what we see in the footage.

I mean, Jimmy was scootering right down this wreck.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

narrator: Mike Barnette needs to confirm a hunch.

♪ ♪

The team has been diving a massive wreck

they suspected to be the USS "Cyclops."

But Mike's analysis of key details on the wreck

has led him to a different conclusion

and a different part of the country.

He has come to Ohio to examine

the "Colonel James M. Schoonmaker"...

a Great Lakes bulk carrier.

♪ ♪

- We're seeing everything that Jimmy and the dive team

saw on their dive.

♪ ♪

Right here, the gantry crane.

This would run up and down this track

on either side of the vessel

to basically take off these hatch covers

so it could be loaded and unloaded.

♪ ♪

Yeah, this is incredible.

♪ ♪

narrator: Then there's the clue

that first tipped Mike off...

the distinctive winch.

- This is not what you typically see.

You don't see these kind of, you know, winches

point off to the side.

♪

narrator: Great Lakes bulk carriers are long and skinny

to travel through canals.

These winches wind up steel cables

to hold the ship in the locks.

♪ ♪

- So this was a key feature that really told me

we're dealing with something quite unique.

♪ ♪

Now we're seeing it all together

in the proper context.

♪ ♪

narrator: Mike meets up with Jimmy, Wayne, and Dave

to share his analysis.

♪ ♪

- This was a very strange wreck.

So no machinery at all, no apparent engine.

- What do you mean no engine?

- No engine. Like, it's not there.

And there's no propulsion.

We couldn't find a prop or anything in all this debris.

♪ ♪

- Why is it there?

I mean, could this have been pressed into service

during the Second World War maybe?

- That's the question we had, too.

What the hell is this doing in the Atlantic?

- Yeah, no kidding.

- This is supposed to be in the Great Lakes.

And so I started researching vessels.

And so I found some databases of all

these Great Lakes freighters going to scrapping yards.

narrator: These are not databases

one would normally check for a ship in the Atlantic.

But eventually they revealed the identity

of JT's Mystery Wreck.

♪ ♪

- So we actually know the name of this wreck.

It's the "Lac des Iles."

- "Lac des Iles"? - Yeah.

And she was actually built in 1805 in Michigan.

♪ ♪

narrator: From 1905 to 1979,

the "Lac des Iles" hauled cargo in the Great Lakes.

She was retired from service,

then her engine and propeller removed.

♪ ♪

On June 1, 1981, the "Lac des Iles"

was being towed to Tampico, Mexico,

to serve as a floating grain warehouse.

The cargo holds were emptied for the journey south.

♪ ♪

While under tow, she was caught in bad weather.

♪ ♪

- They kind of worked their way back closer to Cape Henry

until the battle was finally lost.

♪ ♪

narrator: She sank stern-first off the coast of Virginia.

There was no one on board at the time.

- We have documentation.

All the wreck fixtures,

all the diagnostic features match,

and now the position matches.

- This is amazing.

♪ ♪

narrator: It's another mission accomplished for the team.

JT's Mystery Wreck finally has a name.

♪ ♪

And while they didn't find "Cyclops"...

♪ ♪

The investigation opened new inroads

into what may have taken her out,

including her hazardous manganese cargo,

which may have destabilized the ship,

exploded, or even driven the crew mad.

There's even the possibility that the skipper

pushed her too hard and too fast into a storm.

- Well, you know what?

It's not the "Cyclops,"

which would have been the ultimate.

- Yeah, to say the least.

- Your investigation into this, Mike and Jimmy,

is amazing.

- This whole experience has been a roller coaster.

We've identified JT's Mystery Wreck.

We've solved that mystery.

The mystery of the "Cyclops" persists.

- Mystery's still out there.

♪ ♪

narrator: The mystery of the "Cyclops" remains unsolved.

♪ ♪

But the team will carry on their search

for the mighty ship.

♪ ♪