USS Nereus (AC-10)

USS Nereus (AC-10) was one of four Proteus-class colliers built for the United States Navy during World War I. Named for Nereus, an aquatic deity from Greek 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.

Service history
Detached from Naval Overseas Transportation Service on 12 September 1919, Nereus served with the Atlantic Fleet until decommissioned at Norfolk 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, 27 February 1941, Nereus operated out of Montreal carrying bauxite from the Caribbean to aluminum plants in the United States and Canada.

Loss at sea
Nereus was lost at sea sometime after 10 December 1941 while steaming from St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands (along the same route her sister-ship, USS Cyclops (AC-4), had disappeared) with ore destined to be transferred to an Allied aircraft. Nereus was presumed sunk after being torpedoed by a German U-boat. However, there are no German U-boat claims for this vessel.

The wreckage has never been located nor the actual cause of her disappearance determined. A memorial listing for her crew can be found on the CWGC Halifax memorial. A Canadian website suggests Nereus's possible fate. A more outlandish theory is that the vessel's disappearance can be attributed to the Bermuda Triangle.