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Photo # NH 68750:  USS DeKalb underway, circa 1918

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS DeKalb (ID # 3010), 1917-1919

USS DeKalb, a 14,180-ton (displacement) troop transport, was built at Stettin, Germany, in 1904 as the passenger liner Prinz Eitel Friedrich. She was a German Navy auxiliary cruiser during the first seven months of World War I, then was interned in the United States. Seized when the U.S. entered the conflict in 1917, she was turned over to the Navy, converted to a troopship at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and renamed DeKalb. She was commissioned in May 1917 and a month later helped carry the first contingent of U.S. troops to the European war zone. Later registered as ID # 3010, she continued in her vital work until the fighting ended in November 1918. During this time DeKalb made a total of eleven trans-Atlantic voyages, transporting over eleven-thousand men. After the Armistice, she reversed the process, bringing home more than twenty-thousand troops in eight trips. USS DeKalb was decommissioned in September 1919 and transferred to the U.S. Shipping Board. Subsequently refitted for commercial employment, she operated as SS Mount Clay during the early 1920s and was scrapped in 1934.

This page features, or provides links to, all the views we have concerning the World War I troop transport USS DeKalb (ID # 3010).

For other views related to this ship, see:

  • USS DeKalb (ID # 3010) -- On Board and Miscellaneous Views, and
  • Prinz Eitel Friedrich (German Passenger Liner, 1904).


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 54654

    USS DeKalb
    (later ID # 3010)

    Moored at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, on 11 June 1917, the day before she sailed to transport U.S. troops to the European war zone.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 62KB; 740 x 610 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 54652

    USS DeKalb
    (later ID # 3010)

    Taking U.S. Marines on board for transportation to Europe, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, 6:00 A.M., 12 June 1917.
    Note the automobiles in the foreground.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 103KB; 740 x 605 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 54653

    USS DeKalb
    (later ID # 3010)

    Leaving the pier at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, 6:09 A.M., 12 June 1917, en route to the European war zone with U.S. troops on board.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 80KB; 740 x 595 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 54655

    USS DeKalb
    (later ID # 3010)

    Tied up at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, after returning from France, 1917.
    Note sign on the lamp post in the foreground, marking the intersection of 2nd Street West and Preble Avenue.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 112KB; 740 x 575 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 54662

    USS DeKalb
    (later ID # 3010)

    Tied up at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, 18 February 1918.
    Note her camouflage scheme, ice in the Delaware River, and battleships in the left background.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 131KB; 740 x 600 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 68750

    USS DeKalb
    (ID # 3010)

    Underway, circa 1918, probably in New York Harbor.
    Note the pattern camouflage she wore during the latter part of World War I.

    Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation, Washington, D.C., 1969.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 96KB; 740 x 485 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 100562

    USS DeKalb
    (ID # 3010)

    In port, circa 1917-1919, with U.S. battleships in the background.
    Built as the German passenger liner Prinz Eitel Friedrich in 1904, she was seized when the U.S. entered World War I. She was renamed DeKalb and placed in commission on 12 May 1917.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 36KB; 740 x 290 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 105165

    USS De Kalb
    (ID # 3010)

    In port, with a small tug alongside, 1919.
    The original image was printed on post card ("AZO") stock as one of the "Ship That Brought Us Home" series produced as souvenirs for service personnel returning from Europe.

    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2007.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image size: 56KB; 740 x 445 pixels

     


    For other views related to this ship, see:

  • USS DeKalb (ID # 3010) -- On Board and Miscellaneous Views, and
  • Prinz Eitel Friedrich (German Passenger Liner, 1904).


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    Page made 3 June 2003
    New image added and page divided 11 December 2007