SS George Washington

Luxury steamer, George Washington as built for the Norddeutsche Lloyd in 1909.
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[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	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
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	54 ft (16 m) (from upper saloon deck)[3] 80 ft (24 m) (from awning deck)[3]
Propulsion	twin coal-fired quadruple-expansion steam engines twin propellers
Speed	18 to 19 knots (33 to 35 km/h; 21 to 22 mph)
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; 22 mph)
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.

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.