SS Leviathan was not only competing against that surplus but from lack of information such as blueprints, from Germany so that new ones had to be created by actual measurement of the ship.
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17 Facts About SS Leviathan
2.
SS Leviathan was the last of the German ships turned over to the Navy to complete repair and conversion.
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3.
SS Leviathan was commissioned by the USN in July 1917 as the USS Vaterland, Captain Joseph Wallace Oman in command.
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4.
SS Leviathan began regular passages between the Hoboken Port of Embarkation and Brest, France, delivering up to 14,000 persons on each trip.
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5.
SS Leviathan thus doubled its capacity from 7,000 to 14,000 troops.
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6.
The German Admiralty announced SS Leviathan was sunk with American troops when the British announced sinking of Justicia in June 1918.
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7.
Transports, including SS Leviathan underwent a needed overhaul after signing of the armistice before the major effort of returning the troops began.
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8.
On 29 October 1919, SS Leviathan was decommissioned and turned over to the US Shipping Board and again laid up at Hoboken until plans for her future employment could be determined.
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9.
SS Leviathan immediately proved popular with the American public in the '20s, starting her career fully booked for her maiden voyage departing on 4 July 1923.
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10.
On 21 December 1923 SS Leviathan grounded on the west side of the channel at New York near Robbins Reef Light at 10:44 in the morning remaining grounded until lifted by tide and pulled by tugs at 5:30 in the afternoon.
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11.
Ship's orchestra, the "SS Leviathan Orchestra" directed by Nelson Maples, was well regarded enough that in 1923 and 1924 Victor Records engaged it to record eleven selections at their New York studios, of which eight were commercially released.
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12.
SS Leviathan attracted attention as the largest and fastest ship in the American merchant marine and featured in countless advertisements.
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13.
In 1929 SS Leviathan was finally allowed to serve "medicinal alcohol" outside US territorial waters to make her more competitive with foreign lines and was quickly sent on Booze Cruises to make money.
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14.
The sale was executed 21 March 1929 with SS Leviathan being the first ship delivered to the new line on 8 April.
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15.
The price of SS Leviathan was a significant portion of the sale at $6,782,000.
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16.
SS Leviathan was laid up at her pier in Hoboken, New Jersey, in June 1933, having lost $75,000 per round trip since 1929.
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17.
On 26 January 1938 SS Leviathan set out on her 301st and last transatlantic voyage under the command of Captain John Binks, retired master of the RMS Olympic, with a crew of 125 officers and men who had been hired to deliver the ship to the breakers.
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