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Photo # NH 70166:  USS Leviathan entering New York Harbor, March 1919

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

USS Leviathan (ID # 1326), 1917-1919.
Briefly USS Vaterland in 1917.
Originally S.S. Vaterland (German Passenger Liner, 1914).
Later S.S. Leviathan (American Passenger Liner)

USS Leviathan, a 58,000 ton (displacement) troop transport, was completed at Hamburg, Germany, in 1914 as the German flag passenger liner Vaterland. Laid up at Hoboken, New Jersey, when World War I began, she was seized when the United States joined the conflict in April 1917. The Navy took custody of the ship soon afterwards, placing her in commission as USS Vaterland in late July 1917, while she was being refitted for service as a troop transport. In early September the ship was renamed Leviathan, an appropriate name considering that she was then the largest ship in the U.S. Navy, and in the World. The Navy would not operate a bigger ship until 1945, when the slightly longer and heavier aircraft carrier Midway entered service.

Leviathan's seagoing Naval career commenced in November 1917, when she made a trial trip from Hoboken to Cuba and back. In December she took troops to Liverpool, England, but repairs delayed her return to the U.S. until mid-February 1918. A second trip to Liverpool in March was followed by more repairs. At that time she was repainted with the British-type "dazzle" camouflage scheme that she carried for the rest of the war. With the completion of that work, Leviathan began regular passages between the U.S. and Brest, France, delivering up to 14,000 persons on each trip. In all, she transported nearly 120,000 servicemen to the combat zone before the November 1918 Armistice brought the fighting to an end.

Shortly afterwards Leviathan, repainted grey overall by December 1918, started to bring American war veterans home. She made nine round-trip voyages for this purpose, completing the last in September 1919. Late in October, USS Leviathan was decommissioned and turned over to the U.S. Shipping Board. She later became the U.S. Flag ocean liner Leviathan. The great ship was scrapped in 1938.

This page features selected views concerning USS Leviathan (ID # 1326) and provides links to all the other images we have related to this ship.

For more photographs, artworks, and other material concerning USS Leviathan, S.S. Vaterland and S.S. Leviathan, see:

  • USS Leviathan (ID # 1326) -- Camouflage Views, 1918;
  • USS Leviathan (ID # 1326) -- Views taken in late 1918 and in 1919;
  • USS Leviathan (ID # 1326) -- Artworks;
  • USS Leviathan (ID # 1326) -- On Board and Close Up Views;
  • USS Leviathan (ID # 1326) -- Miscellaneous Images; and
  • S.S. Leviathan (American Passenger Ship, 1914). Originally German S.S. Vaterland.


    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 51392

    USS Leviathan
    (ID # 1326)

    In New York Harbor, attended by several tugs on 8 July 1918. She is painted in "dazzle" camouflage.
    Photographed by the New York Navy Yard.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 615 pixels

    Note:
    An uncropped version of this image is available as Photo # 19-N-1707.

     
    Photo #: NH 51396

    USS Leviathan
    (ID # 1326)

    Halftone reproduction of a photograph showing the ship moored to a buoy in 1918. She is painted in "dazzle" camouflage.
    The original photograph was taken by Enrique Muller, New York.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 80KB; 740 x 545 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 66289

    USS Leviathan
    (ID # 1326)

    Underway at sea, 1918.
    The ship in the right distance is USS Northern Pacific.

    Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 515 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 103198

    USS Leviathan
    (ID # 1326)

    Halftone reproduction of a photograph taken from USS Northern Pacific as both ships were steaming through heavy seas en route to France during September 1918.
    This image was published in 1919 by the National Specialties Company of New York City, as one of ten photographs in a "Souvenir Folder" of views concerning USS Leviathan.

    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2005.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 78KB; 740 x 545 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 42690-KN

    "A Fast Convoy"


    Oil painting by Burnell Poole, depicting USS Allen (Destroyer # 66) escorting USS Leviathan (ID # 1326) in the War Zone, 1918.
    The original painting measures 60" x 33".

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

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 50KB; 740 x 420 pixels

    Note:
    See Photo # NH 42690-KN (extended caption) for the artist's comments on this painting.

     
    Photo #: NH 70166

    USS Leviathan
    (ID # 1326)

    Entering New York Harbor in March 1919, with 8,000 troops of the 27th Division on board.
    Photographed by Enrique Muller, Jr., New York.

    Courtesy of Harold B. Feile, 1970.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 77KB; 740 x 445 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 103126

    USS Imperator
    (ID # 4080), at left,
    and
    USS Leviathan (ID # 1326)

    At Hoboken, New Jersey, probably after Imperator's first trans-Atlantic voyage as a U.S. Navy ship, circa late May 1919. At that time, these were the World's largest ships, hence the photo's title: "The 'Giants' of the Sea".
    Panoramic photograph by Picot, 15 4th Avenue, Brooklyn, New York.
    Note the large decoration on Imperator's bow.

    Donation of Georgia Adams Grann and Caryl L. Adams, 2005. The original print came from the collection of their father, George W. Adams, who enlisted in the Navy in 1908.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 69KB; 1200 x 280 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 103160

    USS Leviathan
    (ID # 1326)

    Troops and Sailors relaxing on the ship's foredeck, while she was en route from the United States to France in 1918.
    Some of the Soldiers in the center are holding trumpets.
    Note collapsible life boats stowed atop the deckhouse, cowl and windsail ventilators, capstans and bitts, and camouflage paint on the face of Leviathan's bridge.

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

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 110KB; 740 x 585 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 51336

    USS Leviathan
    (ID # 1326)

    Returning from France with nearly nine thousand men on board, including about four thousand Sailors who had been on duty in the war zone. Photo shows scene on the deck of the ship, at its pier in Hoboken, New Jersey, with the men eagerly waiting the word to disembark, 16 December 1918.
    Note heavily riveted hull sides, six-inch gun, cargo boom and life rafts.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 117KB; 740 x 585 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 2422

    USS Leviathan
    (ID # 1326)

    Gun crew resting beside one of the ship's six-inch guns, 1918.
    Photographed by Zimmer.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 86KB; 740 x 530 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 103205

    USS Leviathan
    (ID # 1326)

    Halftone reproduction of a photograph taken in 1919, showing firemen cleaning coal cinders from one of the ship's boilers.
    This image, photographed by Paul Thompson, was published in 1919 by the National Specialties Company of New York City, as one of ten photographs in a "Souvenir Folder" of views concerning USS Leviathan.

    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2005.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 91KB; 740 x 530 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 51402

    USS Leviathan
    (ID # 1326)

    Crew members coaling the ship from a barge moored alongside, at Brest, France, in 1918.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 105KB; 740 x 575 pixels

     

    Note: Photo # NH 94 was originally identified as showing Leviathan. However, it shows her slightly older near-sister ship, Imperator, as a close examination of both ships' superstructures will reveal.


    For more photographs, artworks, and other material concerning USS Leviathan, S.S. Vaterland and S.S. Leviathan, see:

  • USS Leviathan (ID # 1326) -- Camouflage Views, 1918;
  • USS Leviathan (ID # 1326) -- Views taken in late 1918 and in 1919;
  • USS Leviathan (ID # 1326) -- Artworks;
  • USS Leviathan (ID # 1326) -- On Board and Close Up Views;
  • USS Leviathan (ID # 1326) -- Miscellaneous Images; and
  • S.S. Leviathan (American Passenger Ship, 1914). Originally German S.S. Vaterland.


    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 30 October 2005
    Minor correction to introductory text 9 March 2008