SS Leviathan

SS Leviathan, originally built as the Vaterland, was an ocean liner which regularly crossed the North Atlantic from 1914 to 1934. The second of three sister ships built by Germany's Hamburg America Line for their transatlantic passenger service, she sailed as the Vaterland for less than a year before her early career was halted by the start of World War I. In 1917, she was seized by the U.S. government and renamed Leviathan. She would become known by this name for the majority of her career, both as a troopship during World War I and later as the flagship of the United States Lines.

German service
SS Vaterland, a 54,282 gross ton passenger liner, was built by Blohm & Voss at Hamburg, Germany, as the second of a trio of very large ships of Imperator class for the Hamburg-America Line's trans-Atlantic route. She was launched 13 April 1913 and was the largest passenger ship in the world upon her completion, superseding SS Imperator, but later being superseded in turn by the last ship of this class, SS Bismarck, the later RMS Majestic (1914).

Vaterland had made only a few trips when, in late July 1914, she arrived at New York City just as World War I broke out. With a safe return to Germany rendered virtually impossible by British dominance of the seas, she was laid up at her Hoboken, NJ, terminal and remained immobile for nearly three years.

World War I
She was seized by the United States Shipping Board when the United States entered World War I, 6 April 1917; turned over to the custody of the U.S. Navy in June 1917; and commissioned July 1917 as the USS Vaterland, Captain Joseph Wallace Oman in command. Redesignated SP-1326 and renamed Leviathan by President Woodrow Wilson on 6 September 1917.

The trial cruise to Cuba on 17 November 1917, prompted Captain Oman to order 241 Marines, on board to relieve a detachment of Marines, to station themselves conspicuously about the upper decks giving the appearance from shore that the great ship was headed overseas to increase American Expeditionary Forces. Upon her return later that month, she reported for duty with the Cruiser and Transport Force. In December she took troops to Liverpool, England, but repairs delayed her return to the U.S. until mid-February 1918. A second trip to Liverpool in March was followed by more repairs. At that time she was repainted with the British-type "dazzle" camouflage scheme that she carried for the rest of the war. With the completion of that work, Leviathan began regular passages between the U.S. and Brest, France, delivering up to 14,000 persons on each trip, carrying over 119,000 fighting men, before the armistice 11 November 1918. Amongst the ship's US Navy crew during this period was future film star Humphry Bogart.

After that date Leviathan, repainted grey overall by December 1918, reversed the flow of men as she transported the veterans back to the United States with nine westward crossings ending 8 September 1919. On 29 October 1919, USS Leviathan was decommissioned and turned over to the U.S. Shipping Board and again laid up at Hoboken until plans for her future employment could be determined.

American service
The U.S. Shipping Board was by the end of the war enamored with surplus tonnage and government sponsored shipping companies. On 17 December 1919 the International Mercantile Marine signed an agreement to maintain their intended acquisition until a final decision could be made. The Gibbs Brothers Inc., later named Gibbs & Cox in 1929, was hired to survey the vessel and her economic potential from every aspect when newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst objected the purchase by claiming British influence over I.M.M, riding on nationalistic sentiment to stop the deal.

The Gibbs brothers were allowed to continue by the Shipping Board even as the deal fell through, their first big task being the creation of a new set of blueprints. None had been forced from Germany by the Versailles Treaty and the price was deemed outrageous, instead an army of workers measured every part of the ship until a new set of prints had been made.

Having languished in political limbo at her Hoboken pier until April 1922 a decision was finally made and the $8,000,000 in funds allocated to sail Leviathan to Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia, for her 14 month reconditioning and refurbishment. War duty and age meant that all wiring, plumbing, and interior layouts were stripped and redesigned while her hull was strengthened and her engines converted from coal to oil while being refurbished; virtually a new ship emerged.

The decorations and fittings, designed by New York architects Walker & Gillette, retained much of her prewar splendor of Edwardian, Georgian, Louis XVI styles now merged with modern 1920s touches. The biggest deviation was an art deco night club transplanting the original Verandah Cafe. And in June 1923 she was given back to the Shipping Board. Leviathans measured tonnage had increased to 59,956.65 GRT and her speed trials showed an average of 27.48 knots. Thanks in part to Gibbs' clever accounting and the Gulf stream, she had become the world's largest and fastest ship. A claim that was immediately challenged by the Cunard Line who reminded them their RMS Mauretania (1906) still held the official speed record for trans-Atlantic crossing, as well as the White Star Line, who claimed the RMS Majestic as the world's largest ship as its length was longer, and its gross tonnage was higher as Gibbs used a skewed formula.

By this time United States Lines, which had interested I.M.M, had been sold and contractually obligated to run the Leviathan for a minimum of 5 return voyages on the Atlantic run per year. The Gibbs Brothers Inc would run her for her first voyages and train the crew until ownership officially changed hands. She immediately proved popular with the American public in the 20's, starting her career fully booked for her maiden voyage 4 July 1923. Her passenger average reached a strong 1,300 by 1926 and making her the #1 traveled ship on the Atlantic, but compared to her capacity of 3,000 it was too little to be profitable.

Her economic problems lay primarily in high labor and fuel costs which were compounded by the prohibition. From 1920 all US registered ships counted as an extension of US territory, making them “dry ships” according to the National Prohibition Act. With the Atlantic capacity oversaturated, especially after the Immigration Act of 1924, alcohol-seeking passengers readily chose other liners. But Leviathan was an American symbol of power and prestige, which despite her economic failings, made her a popular ship with loyal travelers. She attracted attention as the largest and fastest ship in the American merchant marine and featured in countless adverts. The only serious incident occurred one day out of Cherbourg on a winter crossing in 1924 where she met a fierce storm with 90 ft waves and winds up to 100 mph, at times forcing her to a 20 degree heel. Eleven portholes were smashed and 32 passengers injured by the time the storm abated.

The ship's orchestra, the S.S. Leviathan Orchestra under the direction of Nelson Maples, was also well regarded. Gramophone records were produced in 1923 and 1924 for Victor Records by the band, which would later become inspiration for the New Leviathan Oriental Fox-Trot Orchestra decades later.

But by 1927 the “good years” were over, during which time U.S. Lines had been sold and re-nationalized. In 1929 Leviathan was finally allowed to serve “medicinal alcohol” outside of US territorial waters to make her more competitive with foreign lines and was quickly sent on Booze Cruises to make money. The Great Depression was the final nail in the coffin and U.S. Lines actively lobbied for the Shipping Board to either take the Leviathan back or give them a subsidy for her operation. She was laid up at her pier in Hoboken, New Jersey, in June 1933, having lost $75,000 per round trip since 1929.

U.S. Lines had been acquired at auction by I.M.M. in 1931 who were just as eager to be rid of their white elephant. The government steadfastly stipulated that Leviathan should sail, and so she did after a refurbishment of $150,000, for another five round trips. The very first round trip sailed on 9 June 1934, high season on the Atlantic, and tallied a loss of $143,000. By Leviathans' fifth voyage she sailed at barely half capacity. The I.M.M. paid the U.S. government $500,000 for permission to retire her while keeping her in running order until 1936.

In 1937 she was finally sold to the British Metal Industries Ltd. On 26 January 1938 Leviathan set out on her 301st and last voyage, arriving at Rosyth, Scotland, 14 February. In the 21 years she served U.S. Lines she carried more than a quarter-million passengers, never making a cent.