Global InformationSS George Washington information
 Luxury steamer, George Washington as built for the Norddeutsche Lloyd in 1909.
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| History | |
|---|---|
 Germany | |
| Name | SS George Washington |
| Namesake | George Washington |
| Owner | North German Lloyd |
| Port of registry |  Bremen |
| Route | Bremen – Southampton – Cherbourg – New York |
| Builder |
|
| Cost | US$6,000,000[2] |
| Yard number | 286[1] |
| Launched | 10 November 1908 |
| Sponsored by | David Jayne Hill, U.S. Ambassador to Germany |
| Maiden voyage | Bremen – Southampton – Cherbourg – New York, 12 June 1909 |
| Nickname(s) | Called Washington by crew[1] |
| Fate | Interned, 3 August 1914; seized by U.S. on 6 April 1917 |
 United States | |
| Name | USS George Washington |
| Operator | US Navy |
| Acquired | 6 April 1917 |
| Commissioned | 6 September 1917 |
| Decommissioned | 28 November 1919 |
| Fate | Turned over to United States Shipping Board |
| United States | |
| Name | SS George Washington |
| Owner | United States Shipping Board |
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry |  New York |
| Fate | Laid up, 1931 |
| United States | |
| Name | USS Catlin |
| Namesake | Albertus W. Catlin |
| Operator | US Navy |
| Commissioned | 13 March 1941 |
| Decommissioned | 26 September 1941 |
| Identification | Hull number: AP-19 |
| Fate | Lend-lease to United Kingdom for one voyage; to United States Army |
| United States | |
| Name | USAT George Washington |
| Operator | US Army |
| In service | 17 April 1943 |
| Out of service | 21 April 1947 |
| Fate | Laid up 1947; sold for scrap, 13 February 1951 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Type | Ocean liner |
| Tonnage | 25,570 GRT |
| Length | 213.07 m (699 ft 1 in) (between perpendiculars) |
| Beam | 23.83 m (78 ft 2 in) |
| Draft | 33 ft (10 m)[4] |
| Depth |
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| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 18 to 19 knots (33 to 35 km/h; 21 to 22 mph) |
| Capacity |
|
| Notes | two funnels, four masts |
| General characteristics (as USS George Washington) | |
| Type | transport |
| Displacement | 33,000 t |
| Length | 722 ft 5 in (220.19 m) (overall) |
| Beam | 78 ft (24 m) |
| Draft | 36 ft (11 m) |
| Propulsion | coal fired later converted to oil fired boilers, steam turbine |
| Speed | 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
| Complement | 749 |
| Armament |
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SS George Washington was an ocean liner built in 1908 for the Bremen-based North German Lloyd and was named after George Washington, the first President of the United States. The ship was also known as USS George Washington (ID-3018) and USAT George Washington in service of the United States Navy and United States Army, respectively, during World War I. In the interwar period, she reverted to her original name of SS George Washington. During World War II, the ship was known as both USAT George Washington and, briefly, as USS Catlin (AP-19), in a short, second stint in the U.S. Navy.
When George Washington was launched in 1908, she was the largest German-built steamship and the third-largest ship in the world. George Washington was built to emphasize comfort over speed and was sumptuously appointed in her first-class passenger areas. The ship could carry a total of 2,900 passengers, and made her maiden voyage in January 1909 to New York. In June 1911, George Washington was the largest ship to participate in the Coronation Fleet Review by the United Kingdom's newly crowned king, George V.
On 14 April 1912, George Washington passed a particularly large iceberg south of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and radioed a warning to all ships in the area, including White Star Line ocean liner Titanic, which sank near the same location. Throughout her German passenger career, contemporary news accounts often reported on notable persons—typically actors, singers, and politicians—who sailed on George Washington.
At the outbreak of World War I, George Washington was interned by the then-neutral United States, until that country entered into the conflict in April 1917. George Washington was seized by the United States and taken over for use as a troop transport by the U.S. Navy. Commissioned as USS George Washington (ID-3018), she sailed with her first load of American troops in December 1917.
In total, she carried 48,000 passengers to France, and returned 34,000 to the United States after the Armistice. George Washington also carried U.S. President Woodrow Wilson to France twice for the Paris Peace Conference. George Washington was decommissioned in 1920 and handed over the United States Shipping Board (USSB), who reconditioned her for passenger service. SS George Washington sailed in transatlantic passenger service for both the United States Mail Steamship Company (one voyage) and United States Lines for ten years, before she was laid up in the Patuxent River in Maryland in 1931.
During World War II, the ship was re-commissioned by the U.S. Navy as USS Catlin (AP-19) for about six months and was operated by the British under Lend-Lease, but her old coal-fired engines were too slow for effective combat use. After conversion to oil-fired boilers, the ship was chartered to the U.S. Army as USAT George Washington and sailed around the world in 1943 in trooping duties. The ship sailed in regular service to the United Kingdom and the Mediterranean from 1944 to 1947, and was laid up in Baltimore after ending her Army service. A fire in January 1951 damaged the ship severely, and she was sold for scrapping the following month.
- ^ a b Drechsel, p. 374.
- ^ "Steamship to cost $10,000,000 ordered by German company". The Christian Science Monitor. 29 April 1912. p. 14.
- ^ a b "Praises George Washington" (PDF). The New York Times. 20 June 1909. p. 4. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
- ^ "Great liner is launched" (PDF). The New York Times. 11 November 1908. p. 4. Retrieved 1 August 2008.