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WWI troops ships converted from captured german vessels


mccooper
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Recently found a little YMCA booklet entitled "Troopships;" a hand-out to troops returning home after the war. What I liked about it was the appendix showing the names of captured German vessels refurbished to be troops ships. Add this to your WWI trivia file.

 

mccooper

 

 

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Recently found a little YMCA booklet entitled "Troopships;" a hand-out to troops returning home after the war. What I liked about it was the appendix showing the names of captured German vessels refurbished to be troops ships. Add this to your WWI trivia file.

 

mccooper

 

 

IIRC correctly Humphrey Bogart served aboard USS Leviathan

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Linedoggie-

 

Great memory! Bogie was aboard the Leviathan as a coxswain 11/27/18 until February of 1919. Here is a doughboy postcard of the USS Leviathan, found on the Internet.

 

mccooper

 

 

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Salvage Sailor
The troopship USS PRESIDENT LINCOLN (ex-Hamburg-American Line SS LINCOLN) was sunk by the German submarine U-90


Search for MOH recipient Edouard Izac, USNA 1915 - First Lieutenant of the USS PRESIDENT LINCOLN taken aboard the U-90 which was standard practice by the German navy. He later escaped from a POW camp and swam across the Rhine river. At the time of his death in 1990, he was the last living Medal of Honor recipient from the Great War


If ever a WWI Hollywood movie needed to be made, it would be "Prisoner of the U-90"



Edouard_Izac's_Medal_of_Honor.jpg

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izac.jpg

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RustyCanteen

Very nice! I'm a little puzzled why they did not include the U.S.S. Von Steuben, the former S.S. Konprinz Wilhelm. Under the Kaiser's flag, Konprinz Wilhelm was a famous marine raider.

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Woodymyster

I have a grouping of a man who served on the "USS Zeppelin", the captured German liner SS Zeppelin. What I like most about his uniform, is his hat, which has the ship's name on it. Unfortunatly, the tally on the hat is well worn and does not lend to good pictures, but here it is.

 

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Here is an excerpt from a letter written by one of the men from my hometown of Raymond, IL. Earl Chapman wrote a number of letters (as did many other local soldiers) that were published in the local paper, the Raymond Independent. His letter to Mr. C.W. Yerkes written from Tenafly, NJ on September 24, 1917 and published on October 11, 1917 in Volume 37, Number 21, Page 1 of the Raymond Independent is as follows.

 

“Letter from Earl Chapman”

Tenafly, N.J., Sept. 24, 1917

Mr. C.W. Yerkes,

Raymond, Ill.

 

Dear Mr. Yerkes:

 

"My friend was in New York City yesterday and he said the German prize ship “Vaterland” was there and was being loaded with supplies. He also said it was repainted in war color a steamed up ready to go; so the 49th may get a ride soon. We all hope so any way, as the majority of us are very anxious to go across. I guess I am the only one left out of the bunch that came from Raymond in the U.S. as the rest left with the 23rd regiment."

 

 

In the October 18, 1917 edition of the Raymond Independent (Volume 37, Number 22, Page 5), Earl Miller wrote a letter from one of these ships. It is as follows.

 

“Letter from Earl Miller”

On Ship 5:30, September, 1917

My dear Mother:

Will now try to write you a few lines to let you know that your U.S. Son is very well and doing fine.

I left Syracuse Sept. 6, at 6 p.m. and got into New York City on the morning of the 8th. We then got on a large transport at 11 a.m. This transport is a large interned German vessel, the name of which I can’t tell. The ship sailed at 5:30 p.m. the 8th day of September. We passed the statue of Liberty at 5:40 p.m. and every man was beneath deck. No one but the crew could be seen. The sea was some rough at first but now it is very smooth. I was a little sea sick at first but am o.k. now.

I worked in the kitchen Tuesday and it wasn’t a bad job at all. We sure are getting good grub and are also well protected, so do not worry.

There are lots of adventures that I cannot write to you but will tell you when I get home.

Well, mother, we have now been on the water for five days, but I’d be willing to stay here a year if I thought I could get the Kaiser. The Yanks will get ‘em.

Saturday, September 15. All o.k. No land in sight yet. Tell all hello for me. I must close, hoping to hear from you soon.

 

Your loving son,

Earl E. Miller

M.G. Co. 23rd U.S. Inf, Somewhere in France"

 

This is a very interesting piece and thank you for sharing it.

 

-Mike

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BILL THE PATCH

Is the list complete? I know my grandfather served aboard the USS DeKalb( troop ship), a former german ship interned in the Brooklyn navy yard. It was renamed the USS DeKalb. Not sure what the german name was. Any info on this?

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Bill--the Dekalb had been the Prinz Eitel Fredrich (spelling should be close but I'm away from my references)---the amazing story is truly the number of Doughboys the impounded German ships carried to France---the Leviathan alone made 9 trips and carried some 120,000 soldiers---that's over 4 compete 1917 era 28,000 man divisions---and the others were no slouch either---8 out of the top 10 soldier-carrying ships were impounded German ships.

 

Al

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