WWI Ship Name Index   Return to WWI Auxiliaries.

UNITED STATES NAVY
TEMPORARY AUXILIARY SHIPS
WORLD WAR I

Photo # NH 43544:  USS Susquehanna underway, circa 1917-1919

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

USS Susquehanna (ID # 3016), 1917-1919.
Originally the German steamship Rhein (1899)

USS Susquehanna, a 10,058 gross ton transport, was built at Hamburg, Germany, in 1899 as the North German Lloyd passenger liner Rhein. She operated commercially for the next fifteen years, but was interned at Baltimore, Maryland, after World War I began in August 1914. The ship was seized by the U.S. Government in April 1917, when the United States entered the conflict. Turned over to the Navy and converted to a troopship, she was commissioned as USS Susquehanna in early September 1917 and later received the registry number ID 3016. During the remainder of the First World War she regularly steamed across the Atlantic to France, carrying over 18,000 troops in eight round-trip voyages. Once the Armistice went into effect she began the work of bringing U.S. forces home, making seven more voyages with over 15,500 military personnel embarked. USS Susquehanna was decommissioned in late August 1919 and turned over to the U.S. Shipping Board. Reconverted for commercial use, she operated briefly in 1920-1922 but was then laid up. The now-elderly ship was scrapped in 1928.

This page features, and provides links to, all the views that are available concerning USS Susquehanna (ID # 3016).

For more pictures related to this ship, see:

  • USS Susquehanna (ID # 3016) -- On Board and Close-Up Views; and
  • USS Susquehanna (ID # 3016) -- On Board and Close-Up Views (part II).


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

    Photo #: None

    USS Susquehanna (ID # 3016)


    Underway, circa 1917-1918.
    This ship was originally the North German Lloyd steamer Rhein, built in 1899 and interned at Baltimore, Maryland, in 1914. She is shown carrying at least two and probably four 6-inch 40-caliber guns, most likely before mid-1918.

    Source: Shipscribe.

     
    Photo #: NH 43544

    USS Susquehanna (ID # 3016)


    Underway, circa 1917-1919.
    This ship was originally the North German Lloyd steamer Rhein, built in 1899 and interned at Baltimore, Maryland, in 1914. She is carrying four 6-inch guns and was photographed either during the war or soon after it.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 98KB; 740 x 585 pixels

    Note:
    This photograph has also been very incorrectly identified in published works as showing USS President Grant (ID # 3014). She was of very different appearance than Susquehanna, as comparison of photographs of both ships will demonstrate.

     
    Photo #: NH 58840

    USS Susquehanna (ID # 3016)


    Underway, circa 1919, with her decks crowded with troops returning home from France. She retains her armament.
    Photographed by O.W. Waterman, Hampton, Virginia.

    Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1972.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 72KB; 740 x 485 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 105839

    USS Susquehanna
    (ID # 3016)

    In port prior to the removal of her guns, circa early 1919.
    The original image is printed on post card ("AZO") stock.

    Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2008.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 63KB; 740 x 470 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 104120

    USS Susquehanna
    (ID # 3016)

    In port, 1919, with her armament still on board.
    The original image was printed on postal card ("AZO") stock.

    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2006.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 66KB; 740 x 475 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 105973

    USS Susquehanna
    (ID # 3016)

    Coaling, 1919, after removal of her armament.
    Note the coal barges alongside, one marked "A.T.S." and another with mechanical coaling apparatus installed.

    Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2008.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 75KB; 740 x 475 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 82951

    "The Original U.S. Troop Transports"


    Chart compiled 16 August 1919, showing the number of trans-Atlantic "turn arounds" and their average duration for thirty seven U.S. Navy troop transports employed during and immediately after World War I.

    Collection of the USS Pocahontas Reunion Association, 1974.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 157KB; 690 x 655 pixels

    Click here to rotate chart 90 degrees clockwise

     


    Related Image:

  • Photo # NH 103353, a view of USS President Lincoln at sea, was taken from USS Susquehanna.


    For more pictures related to this ship, see:

  • USS Susquehanna (ID # 3016) -- On Board and Close-Up Views; and
  • USS Susquehanna (ID # 3016) -- On Board and Close-Up Views (part II).


    NOTES:

  • To the best of our knowledge, the pictures referenced here are all in the Public Domain, and can therefore be freely downloaded and used for any purpose.

  • Some images linked from this page bear obsolete credit lines citing the organization name: "Naval Historical Center". Effective 1 December 2008 the name should be cited as: "Naval History and Heritage Command".


    Return to WWI Auxiliaries.

    Page made 8 July 2003