Rear Admiral George van Deurs suggested that the loss of "Cyclops" could be owing to structural failure, as her sister ships suffered from issues where the I-beams that ran the length of the ship had eroded due to the corrosive nature of some of the cargo carried. This was observed definitively on , and is believed to have contributed to the sinking of another similar freighter, "Chuky," which snapped in two in calm seas. Moreover, "Cyclops" may have hit a storm with winds. These would have resulted in waves just far enough apart to leave the bow and stern supported on the peaks of successive waves, but with the middle unsupported, resulting in extra strain on the already weakened central area.