Creative History

  Noon on the day after Christmas in the year 1900.   The crew of the Irish clipper ship Hesperus reached the coast of the Flannel Isles and prepared to dock alongside the desolate, rocky, archipelago's newly built lighthouse.  Upon arrival, the crew of the Hesperus discover that the lighthouse has no flag flying from its mast and no one greets the newly arrived clipper to welcome them ashore.  The Hesperus’ Captain Jim Harve, blows his ship’s whistle and fires a flare skyward hoping for a response, but the Flannel Isle and its lighthouse remain silent and seemingly abandoned. After a few tense moments a boat is launched from the Hesperus and a sailor named Joseph Moore, who himself is an experienced lighthouse keeper, is sent ashore. Moore arrives at the Flannan Isle Lighthouse and finds the gate closed; the beds unmade and all the clocks not set to the proper time-something very uncommon in the highly disciplined maritime world of the United Kingdom. A search ...

  On February 16, 1918 the naval collier USS Cyclops  set sail from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and headed north on her way to port in Baltimore, Maryland. She was carrying approximately 11,000 tons of manganese ore.  Manganese, designated Mn on the periodic table of elements, is a metallic chemical element.  It is an important element in the manufacture of stainless steel and a necessary part of munitions manufacture which was vital to the war effort of the United States and its allies during the First World War. At the time, there were conflicting reports regarding the cargo capacity of the USS Cyclops .  Some reports stated that the Cyclops could only safely transport approximately 8500 cubic tonnes of cargo, and that she was dangerously overloaded with 11,000 tonnes of manganese ore aboard upon leaving Rio on that fateful day of February 16, 1918.  Though, it must be noted that previously, the Cyclops had been documented as having safely carried cargo ...