SS George Washington

USS George Washington in United States Navy service during World War I
History
Germany
Name:	SS George Washington
Namesake:	George Washington
Owner:	North German Lloyd
Port of registry:	Bremen
Route:	Bremen – Southampton – Cherbourg – New York
Builder:	AG Vulcan Stettin Stettin, Germany
Cost:	US$6,000,000
Yard number:	286
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
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:	1921: United States Mail Steamship Line 1921–1931: United States Lines
Port of registry:	New York
Fate:	Laid up, 1931
United States
Name:	USS Catlin (AP-19)
Namesake:	Albertus W. Catlin
Operator:	US Navy
Commissioned:	13 March 1941
Decommissioned:	26 September 1941
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 GT
Length:	213.07 m (699 ft 1 in) (between perpendiculars)
Beam:	23.83 m (78 ft 2 in)
Draft:	33 ft (10 m)
Depth:	54 ft (16 m) (from upper saloon deck) 80 ft (24 m) (from awning deck)
Propulsion:	twin coal-fired quadruple-expansion steam engines twin propellers
Speed:	18 to 19 knots (33 to 35 km/h)
Capacity:	Passengers: 520 first class 377 second class 2,000 third class
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)
Complement:	749
Armament:	World War II: 4 × single 5"/38 caliber gun gun mounts 4 × single 3"/50 caliber gun gun mounts 8 × .50-caliber machine guns

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.