Aeolus (also spelled Æolus) is a name borne by multiple ships throughout history, named after Aeolus, the god of wind in Greek mythology. The most notable vessels include:
USS Aeolus (ID-3005) — Originally the German North German Lloyd liner Grosser Kurfürst, launched on 2 December 1899 at Danzig, Germany (now Gdańsk, Poland). She sailed regularly between Bremen and New York. Interned by the United States at the outbreak of World War I, she was seized upon the U.S. entry into the war in 1917, converted into a troop transport, and commissioned as USS Grosser Kurfürst on 4 August 1917. Renamed USS Aeolus on 1 September 1917, she carried approximately 24,770 troops to France during the war and returned over 27,000 servicemen (including wounded) after the Armistice. Decommissioned on 22 September 1919, she was turned over to the United States Shipping Board, refitted at a cost of nearly $3 million, and operated by the Munson Steamship Line on South American routes. In 1922 she was transferred to the Los Angeles Steamship Company, renamed City of Los Angeles, and served the Los Angeles–Honolulu route until being sold for scrap in Japan in 1937.
Æolus (1783 ship) — A snow (sailing vessel) built at Åbenrå, Denmark, in 1783, originally used as a West Indiaman. Captured by the British Royal Navy in 1807 during the Gunboat War, she was purchased as a prize by Buckle & Co. In 1808–1809 she transported 79 female convicts to Port Jackson, New South Wales (Australia). She later engaged in whaling and general trade. She was last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1816.
Aeolus (attack cargo ship / cable repair ship) — A U.S. Navy attack cargo ship built in the 1940s, later converted to a cable repair ship in 1955. After many years of service, she was scuttled in 1988 off the coast of North Carolina as part of an artificial reef program. The wreck lies at a depth of approximately 33 metres (108 ft) and was broken apart by a hurricane in the 1990s. The site is a popular scuba diving destination, known for its population of sand tiger sharks (raggedtooth sharks), which frequent an area of the wreck informally called the "shark ballroom" or "Club Aeolus."
Other vessels named Aeolus include:
- Æolus (1787 ship) — Built in Liverpool, made 13 voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade between 1787 and 1806; last listed in 1808.
- Aeolus (1795 ship) — Built by James Walmsley, North Shields; wrecked on 28 May 1860 near Winterton, Norfolk, while carrying coal from Sunderland to London.
- Aeolus (1850) — A wooden ketch built at Pyrmont, New South Wales, Australia; lost at Hole in the Wall, Jervis Bay, on 24 October 1867 while carrying timber to Sydney.
Modern usage — The name Aeolus is also used for a modern offshore wind installation vessel operated by Van Oord, designed for the construction of offshore wind farms.
See also: HMS Aeolus — five vessels of the British Royal Navy bearing the same name.
