The telegram was dated April 14, 1918; the time stamped 2:34 a.m.

It was addressed to Henry E. Battle, a prominent physician in Andalusia, Ala. The contents would cause Battle’s wife, Jessie, to go into, as the local newspaper described it, “a state of collapse.” The telegram said: “The Navy Collier Cyclops on which your son, Lee Otis Battle, seaman second class, U.S.N., was a member of the crew is overdue at an Atlantic Port since March thirteenth. … Her disappearance cannot be logically accounted for in any way as no bad weather conditions or activities of enemy raiders have been reported in the vicinity of her route. Search for her is being continued by radio and by vessels…”