USS Maui (ID-1514)

The first USS Maui (ID-1514) was a troop transport that served in the United States Navy from 1918 to 1919.

Construction, acquisition, and commissioning
Maui was built as the commercial passenger ship SS Maui in 1917 by Union Iron Works at San Francisco, California, for the Matson Navigation Company of San Francisco. Matson placed her in service between the United States West Coast and Hawaii. The U.S. Navy acquired Maui from Matson on 6 March 1918 for World War I service as a troop transport, assigned her the naval registry Identification Number (Id. No.) 1514, and commissioned her the same day as USS Maui.

United States Navy service
Assigned to the Cruiser and Transport Force, Maui made transatlantic voyages carrying United States Army troops to Europe on her outbound voyages and bringing passengers and sick and wounded military personnel back to the United States on her return voyages until the end of the war in November 1918. After the war, she conducted voyages to bring American troops back to the United States for demobilization.

In September 1919, Maui was decommissioned and returned to Matson.

Later career as SS Maui
The ship reentered commercial service as SS Maui and resumed passenger service between the United States West Coast and Hawaii. Due to the difficult economic circumstances prevailing during the Great Depression, she was laid up at San Francisco in 1933. In 1934, Maui was converted into a cargo ship and returned to commercial operations. In November 1941 she was involved in a collision in San Francisco Bay.

Career as a United States Army Transport
In December 1941, the United States Army purchased Maui for World War II service, converted her into a troop transport, and placed her in service as the United States Army Transport USAT Maui. Her first voyage in Army service was from the United States West Coast to Honolulu, Hawaii, in late 1941. She operated in the Pacific Ocean for the remainder of World War II, carrying personnel and cargo to Alaska, the South Pacific, the Southwest Pacific, the Philippines, and, after the end of the war in August 1945, to Japan.

Maui completed her Army service in early 1946 and was laid up in mid-1946 at Olympia, Washington. She eventually was transferred to the Maritime Administration for disposal and was scrapped in 1948.