SS Kronprinzessin Cecilie

SS Kronprinzessin Cecilie was an ocean liner built in Stettin, Germany in 1906 for North German Lloyd that had the largest steam reciprocating machinery ever fitted to a ship. The last of four ships part of the kaiser class, she was also the last German ship to have been built with four funnels. She marked the end of the influence North German Lloyd had had in the Atlantic. She was engaged in transatlantic service between her homeport of Bremen and New York until the outbreak of World War I.

On 4 August 1914, at sea after departing New York, she turned around and put into Bar Harbor, Maine, where she later was interned by the neutral United States. After that country entered the war in April 1917, the ship was seized and turned over to the United States Navy, and renamed USS Mount Vernon (ID-4508). While serving as a troop transport, Mount Vernon was torpedoed in September 1918. Though damaged, she was able to make port for repairs and returned to service. In 1919, after the end of the war, she was laid up until 1940, when she was scrapped at Baltimore.

Concept
Kronprinzessin Cecilie, built at Stettin, Germany, in 1906 by AG Vulcan Stettin, was the last of a set of four liners built for North German Lloyd, and the last German liner to carry four smokestacks. She was the product of ensuing battle between Germany and the United Kingdom for supremacy in the North Atlantic. Her older sister, the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse had been introduced to the world in 1897 and was a great success. Her popularity prompted North German Lloyd to build three more superliners, namely the Kronprinz Wilhelm (1901), SS Kaiser Wilhelm II (1903) and finally the Kronprinzessin Cecilie.

The liner was and was 208.89 m long by 22.00 m abeam. She had two reciprocating, quadruple-expansion steam engines that powered two screw propellers. The Kronprinzessin sailed at a comfortable 23 knots.

German career
Named after Crown Princess Cecilie of Prussia, she was launched by her father in law Wilhelm II, German Emperor. In July 1907, the new Kronprinzessin Cecilie was planned to leave Bremerhaven on her maiden voyage. However, before the voyage could take place, the ship sank in Bremerhaven harbour. It was not until the next month on 6 July, had the ship been pumped out and repaired, before setting out one the 14 of the same month. Overall, her capacity was 1,741 at the time of her maiden voyage; this was 617 first class, 326 second class and a further 798 third class passengers. In comparison with a $2,500 first class suite ticket, the immigrant could sail on the Kronprinzessin Cecilie for a mere $25 – one hundred times cheaper.

The interiors of the "four flyers", as they were called, were special. The entire ship was fitted with the best of craftsmanship Germany could offer; the salons were full of ornamented wood and gilded mirrors. While her sister, the SS Kaiser Wilhelm II was thought by some to be too extravagant, the Kronprinzessin Cecilie was a popular ship. Some of her first class suites were fitted with dining rooms so the passengers who booked the suite could dine in private if they did not wish to take their meals in the main restaurant. Also, a fish tank was placed in the kitchen, providing first class passengers with the freshest of fish.

The liner operated on North German Lloyd's transatlantic route travelling from Bremen, with occasional calls at other ports, including Boston and New Orleans. The ship was steaming toward Germany from America with Captain Charles Polack, who had succeeded Dietrich Hogemann in 1913, when she received word of the outbreak of war. She was carrying some $10,000,000 in gold and $3,400,000 in silver. The ship headed back to the neutral United States to avoid capture by the British Navy and French cruisers and was interred at Bar Harbor, Maine, then moved to Boston. Captain Polack had had her normally all-buff funnels painted with black tops as a form of disguise, so as to resemble the RMS Olympic or another ship of the British White Star Line.

American career
Commandeered by the United States on 3 February 1917, the ship was transferred from the United States Shipping Board (USSB) to the U.S. Navy when America entered the war that April. She was renamed USS Mount Vernon, after George Washington's Virginia home. She was fitted out at Boston to carry troops and materiel to Europe and commissioned on 28 July 1917. Mount Vernon departed New York for Brest on 31 October 1917 for her first U.S. Navy crossing, and during the war made nine successful voyages carrying American troops to fight in Europe. However, early on the morning of 5 September 1918, as the transport steamed homeward in convoy some 200 nmi from the French coast, her No. 1 gun crew spotted a periscope some 500 yd off her starboard bow. Mount Vernon immediately fired one round at German U-boat U‑82. The U‑boat simultaneously submerged, but managed to launch a torpedo at the transport. Mount Vernon's officer of the deck promptly ordered right full rudder, but the ship could not turn in time to avoid the missile, which struck her amidships, knocking out half of her boilers, flooding the midsection, and killing 36 sailors and injuring 13. Mount Vernon's guns kept firing ahead of the U‑boat’s wake and her crew launched a pattern of depth charges. Damage-control teams worked to save the ship, and their efforts paid off when the transport was able to return to Brest under her own power. Repaired temporarily at Brest, she proceeded to Boston for complete repairs.

Mount Vernon rejoined the Cruiser and Transport Service in February 1919 and sailed on George Washington’s birthday for France to begin returning veterans to the United States. The ''Mount Vernon pulled out of port on March 3, 1919 at 11 PM to return to the United States. ''Some of her notable passengers during her naval service were: Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations; General Tasker H. Bliss, Chief of Staff of the United States Army; Col. Edward M. House, Special Adviser to President Wilson; and Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War. At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the Americans offered the former Kronprinzessin Cecilie to the British as a troop-transport, who refused on the pretext that she was too old. During the war, the Mount Vernon was laid up in the James River Reserve Fleet, before being scrapped in Baltimore, Maryland in 1940.