In 2007 the U.S. Naval Historical Center added a new feature to its Online Library of Selected Images, a page with links to images of all of the transport ships that were in temporary or permanent Naval service while the U.S. was a participant in World War I (1917-1919). The links to the images were arranged according to the configuration of the ships, the first group being ships with four smokestacks, the second those with three, etc. The page and its links were thus designed to allow the identification of any photograph of a Navy World War I transport in which certain basic recognition features were discernable. The following link will take you to the Online Library's World War I transport page:
World War I Era Transports. Or visit it on the Hyperwar mirror site: World War I Era Transports.
Shipscribe subsequently prepared similar pages for the Naval Historical Center covering the other four main types of auxiliaries in use in World War I: cargo ships, tankers, colliers, and supply ships. Of these the one on cargo ships is now posted on the Hyperwar site and all will hopefully follow on both sites. This Appendix provides links to stripped down versions of all five pages. These pages have been modified by the deletion of links to Online Library features not on the Shipscribe web site. (Some such links remain and will not work.) They will give the user an idea of the wealth of material on World War I ships that has recently become available on the Online Library and can also be used for ship recognition purposes. Full pages are available on the Online Library for most of the ships on these pages, usually with multiple photographs and with summary histories of the ships.
This reference does not include all auxiliary vessels that were in the Navy in 1917-19. Certain types that were used only in the regular Navy (Fleet Train) and not in the Naval Overseas Transportation Service or the Cruiser and Transport force, primarily repair ships and tenders, are not covered. The small number of auxiliaries that joined the Navy between late 1919 and 1922 are also not included.
The transport pages and all of the photographs were copied from the Online Library, the contents of which are in the Public Domain. Nevertheless, they are used here with the encouragement of the Naval History and Heritage Command, whom I sincerely thank.