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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 71: USS Leviathan in harbor, 1918

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIP TYPES --

WORLD WAR I ERA TRANSPORTS --
with Three Smokestacks

Only two WWI era U.S. Navy transports had three smokestacks. Both were originally German passenger liners completed in 1913-1914 as the then-largest ships in the World. One was seized by the U.S. Government in 1917. The other, which spent the war in Germany, was taken over early in 1919 to bring American service personnel home from Europe.

Though differing in detail, these ships were similar appearance, with bulky hulls and superstructures and large stacks spaced evenly amidships. While in Naval service, Leviathan was painted overall grey (1917 to early 1918, and 1919) or in pattern camouflage (most of 1918), while Imperator retained her civilian paint scheme (black hull and white superstructure).

This page features a table (with links to individual ships) of World War I era U.S. Navy transports with three smokestacks, plus one photograph of each ship in this group.


Click each ship name to access that ship's complete Online Library entry.

Click the small photographs to prompt a larger view of the same image, and the words "Picture Data" to access the Picture Data Sheet for that image.


Ships in this group:

TWO SHIPS -- THREE SMOKESTACKS and TWO MASTS:

  • Leviathan, USN 1917-1919 (ex-German S.S. Vaterland, 1914).
    54,282 Gross Tons; Length: 907.6'; Breadth: 100.3'
  • Imperator, USN 1919-1919 (ex-German S.S. Imperator, 1913).
    52,117 Gross Tons; Length: 882.9'; Breadth: 98.3'

     USS Leviathan, March 1919:

    Picture Data

     USS Imperator, 1919:

    Picture Data


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


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    Page made 23 March 2007
    Link changed 13 December 2007