 Nereus loads coal atNagasaki, Japan in April 1916 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSNereus |
| Namesake | Nereus |
| Builder | Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company |
| Laid down | 4 December 1911 |
| Launched | 26 April 1913 |
| Commissioned | 10 September 1913 |
| Decommissioned | 30 June 1922 |
| Stricken | 5 December 1940 |
| Fate |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Proteus-classcollier |
| Displacement | 19,360long tons (19,670 t) (full load) |
| Length | 542 ft (165 m) |
| Beam | 65 ft (20 m) |
| Draft | 27 ft 9 in (8.46 m) |
| Speed | 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h) |
| Complement | 236 officers and enlisted |
USSNereus (AC-10) was one of fourProteus-classcolliers built for theUnited States Navy beforeWorld War I. Named forNereus, anaquatic deity fromGreek mythology, she was the second U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.Nereus was laid down on 4 December 1911, and launched on 26 April 1913 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company,Newport News, Virginia, and commissioned on 10 September 1913.
Detached from Naval Overseas Transportation Service on 12 September 1919,Nereus served with theAtlantic Fleet until decommissioned atNorfolk on 30 June 1922. She was laid up there until struck from the Navy List on 5 December 1940. Sold to the Aluminium Company of Canada on 27 February 1941,Nereus operated out ofMontreal carryingbauxite from theCaribbean to aluminum plants in theUnited States andCanada. Her master (commanding officer) was John Thomas Bennett of theCanadian Merchant Navy.
Nereus was lost at sea sometime after 10 December 1941 while steaming from St. Thomas in theVirgin Islands, along the same route where hersister ship,USSCyclops had disappeared towards the end ofWorld War I.Nereus carried a cargo of ore destined to make aluminum for Allied aircraft, and was presumed sunk after being torpedoed by aGermanU-boat. However, there are no German U-boat claims for this vessel.[1] It has been suggested that bothNereus andCyclops could have been lost toU-boats which were later lost themselves to Allied action or storms at sea. However, the record shows that in 1918 only four U-boats were active off the US coast[2] and in 1941 only five U-boats were lost in the Mediterranean.[3]
The wreckage has never been located, nor the actual cause of her disappearance determined.[4] A memorial listing for her crew can be found on theCWGC Halifax memorial.[5]
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
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