San Diego WWI sailor lost in Bermuda Triangle

POSTED BY: CARDENAS.AE@GMAIL.COM NOVEMBER 20, 2018

(This article appeared on the November 14, 2018, issue of The Enterprise, Duval County Edition. It is used here with permission.)

Poncho Hernandez Jr. The Enterprise

One hundred years after being lost in the Bermuda Triangle in the rough seas between Barbados and Norfolk, VA, the mystery of the U.S. Cyclops remains unsolved.

Leopoldo Esteban Garcia

Declared missing on March 4, 1918, after setting sail from the West Indies, the 19,000-ton cargo ship was eventually given up for lost by the Navy, with the relatives of the more than 300 officers, crew members and passengers notified.

Leopoldo Estaban Garcia, of San Diego, was among them.

Born in 1891 in Duval County, Garcia traveled at the age of 23, to Galveston to enlist as an Apprentice Seaman in the U.S. Navy in 1914. He later served as a Seaman aboard the USS Pittsburg before being assigned to the USS Cyclops.

The USS Cyclops was one of four Proteus-class colliers (cargo ships) built for the United States Navy several years before World War I.

The ship was named for the “primordial race of giants from Greek mythology,” and was the second U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

The loss of the ship and its 306 member crew; passengers; and German prisoners without a trace within the area known as the Bermuda Triangle sometime after March 4, 1918, remains the single largest loss of life in U.S. Naval history not directly involving combat.

The cause of the ship’s loss is unknown although she was sailing loaded with manganese ore. The modern theory is a coal bunker fire ignited the manganese causing a massive explosion resulting in her bottom being blown out or cut in half. The fire probably occurred in the middle of the night leading to no survivors from her sinking,” according to an article published by NavSource Naval History.

San Diego High School remembered Garcia’s contribution to America’s sovereignty during a celebration honoring Duval County veterans. Government teacher Sharon Wilson said Garcia’s contribution was a part of the Veterans Day observation.

Regrettably, an online search by The Enterprise was unable to produce a photo of Garcia, although we issued a request to the National Archives.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The Enterprise is requesting Mr. Garcia’s relatives, who may have a photograph available, consider the submittal of a digital copy to duvalpaper@aol.com for future publication. The Enterprise did, in fact, get a photo and generously shared it with us.)