Moving the U.S. Troops in 1917-19

This page is part of my web pages concerning the picture postcards of WW I troopships. This page describes the troopships themselves and a bit about their history.

I have a copy of a book entitled A History of the Transport Service by Vice Admiral Albert Gleaves, U.S.N. It was published in 1921 and describes the incredible effort needed to transport millions of American troops both over to France and back home again. Several tables and illustrations from the book are available from my web account, by following the links on this page. This information may help if you are looking for a particular ship or wish to see the statistics behind this major war effort.

Note that this book's contents are available online: Online copy of A History of the Transport Service by Vice Admiral Albert Gleaves, U.S.N. You can download your own copy and learn more about this fascinating history, and the ships and men that were part of it.

Passenger Lists

Ancestry.com offers a search engine that may help connect a particular service person with a troopship.

In addition, I now can offer a partial passenger list of military officers carried by the USS George Washington to Europe during the War

Listings of Ships

The following images were scanned from the book mentioned above. These pages list the ships used to take troops over to France. These ships also took part in the return of the troops. Any of the German ships listed here were seized by the U.S. after it's entrance into the War in 1917. (Note that other German ships were used to return troops, but those ships were given to the U.S. as part of the post-War reparations.) Each line is formatted thus: NAME of SHIP [tonnage], Ship Origin, 'Turns:', Number of Turnarounds, 'Px:', Total Passengers Carried to Europe, Date this ship started to carry troops (Month, Day-Year as '17' or '18' for 1917 or 1918).

Aeolus [22000], Ex-German, Turns: 8, Px: 24770, Aug. 4-17

Agamemnon [30000], Ex-German, Turns: 10, Px: 36097, Aug. 21-17

America [41500], Ex-German, Turns: 9, Px: 39768, Aug. 6-17

Antigone [15000], Ex-German, Turns: 8, Px: 16526, Sep. 5-17

Calamares [10000], Am-Passenger, Turns: 5, Px: 7657, Apr. 9-18

Covington [41500], Ex-German, Turns: 6, Px: 21628, Jul. 28-17

De Kalb (Aux. Cruiser) [14280], Ex-German, Turns: 11, Px: 11334, May 12-17

Finland [22000], Am-Passenger, Turns: 5, Px: 12654, Apr. 26-18

Geo. Washington [George Washington] [39435], Ex-German, Turns: 9, Px: 48373, Sep. 6-17

Great Northern [14000], Am-Passenger, Turns: 10, Px: 28248, Nov. 1-17

Hancock [10000], Marine Transport, Turns: 2, Px: 1438, ---

Harrisburg [15000], Am-Passenger, Turns: 4, Px: 9855, May 29-18

Henderson [10000], Marine Transport, Turns: 10, Px: 16352, May 24-17

Huron [15000], Ex-German, Turns: 8, Px: 20871, Jul. 25-17

K. der Nederlanden [Koningin der Nederlanden] [13600], Dutch Chartered, Turns: 3, Px: 6283, Apr. 4-18

Kroonland [22000], Am-Passenger, Turns: 5, Px: 14125, Apr. 25-18

Lenape [7000], Am-Passenger, Turns: 6, Px: 8975, Apr. 24-17

Leviathan [69000], Ex-German, Turns: 10, Px: 96804, Jul. 25-17

Louisville [14000], Am-Passenger, Turns: 4, Px: 9247, Apr. 27-18

Madawaska [15000], Ex-German, Turns: 9, Px: 17931, Aug. 27-17

H. R. Mallory [11000], Am-Passenger, Turns: 6, Px: 9756, Apr. 17-18

Manchuria [26500], Am-Passenger, Turns: 4, Px: 14491, Apr. 25-18

Martha Washington [14500], Ex-German, Turns: 8, Px: 22311, Jan. 2-18

Matsonia [17000], Am-Passenger, Turns: 6, Px: 13329, Mar. 1-18

Maui [17500], Am-Passenger, Turns: 4, Px: 11042, Mar. 6-18

Mercury [16000], Ex-German, Turns: 7, Px: 18542, Aug. 3-17

Mongolia [26695], Am-Passenger, Turns: 5, Px: 19013, May 8-18

Mount Vernon [32130], Ex-German, Turns: 9, Px: 33692, Jul. 28-17

Northern Pacific [12500], Am-Passenger, Turns: 9, Px: 20711, Nov. 1-17

Orizaba [13000], Am-Passenger, Turns: 6, Px: 15712, May 27-18

Pastores [13000], Am-Passenger, Turns: 6, Px: 9928, May 6-18

Plattsburg [10000], Am-Passenger, Turns: 4, Px: 8776, May 25-18

Pocahontas [14500], Ex-German, Turns: 9, Px: 20503, Jul. 25-17

Powhatan [17000], Ex-German, Turns: 7, Px: 14613, Aug. 16-17

Pres. Grant [President Grant] [33000], Ex-German, Turns: 8, Px: 39974, Aug. 2-17

Pres. Lincoln [President Lincoln] [29000], Ex-German, Turns: 5, Px: 20143, Jul. 25-17

Princess Matoika [17500], Ex-German, Turns: 6, Px: 21216, May 27-18

Rijndam [22070], Dutch Chartered, Turns: 6, Px: 17913, May 1-18

Siboney [11250], Am-Passenger, Turns: 7, Px: 20219, Apr. 8-18

Sierra [10000], Am-Passenger, Turns: 1, Px: 1712, Jul. 1-18

Susquehanna [16950], Ex-German, Turns: 8, Px: 18345, Sep. 5-17

Tenadores [10000], Am-Passenger, Turns: 13, Px: 15698, Apr. 17-18

Von Steuben [22000], Ex-German, Turns: 9, Px: 14347, Jun. 9-17

Wilhelmina [13500], Am-Passenger, Turns: 6, Px: 11053, Jan. 26-18

Zeelandia [12950], Dutch Chartered, Turns: 5, Px: 8349, Apr. 3-18

Page Images:

Part 1 of a table describing the ships used at the start of the U.S. troop transport effort in WWI.

Part 2 of the table of troop transports used at the start of the U. S. effort in WWI.

Part 3 of the table of troop transports used at the start of the U. S. effort in WWI.

Map of North Atlantic showing routes and ports used by the United States for troopships in WWI.

The same table as above, but sorted by the number of troops handled. This information may be of use to collectors, since there may be a relationship between the number of troops, and the number of possible postcards and letters purchased and/or mailed from these ships. Some of these ships carried very, very few passengers during the War.