History of the U.S.S. Leviathan, cruiser and transport forces, United States Atlantic fleet. U.S.S. Leviathan History Committee
Sales Division
Roster of Officers (Alphabetically)
Gun Crew of the U. S. S. Leviathan
Comparison of the Fifteen Leading Transports
U. S. S. LEVIATHAN STATISTICS OF NUMBERS CARRIED Up To and Including 14th Trip
List of Sick and Wounded Carried by Leviathan
FOREWORD
This is the story of the Leviathan’s part in the Great World’s War. The story of her career since the Stars and Stripes displaced the three barred flag of Germany at her taffrail constitutes one of the most remarkable and brilliant chapters in the maritime history of the world.
She was seized by the U. S. Customs officials in the early morning of April 6, 1917, turned over to the Shipping Board to be manned and operated, but after nearly three months’ effort on their part without the ship leaving the dock, she was finally, on July 25, 1917, turned over to the Navy Department and regularly commissioned as a Naval vessel and assigned to transport duty under the command of Vice-Admiral Albert Gleaves, U. S. Navy, Commander of the Cruiser and Transport Force, United States Atlantic Fleet.
The Leviathan’s record for carrying human beings across the ocean has never been approached by any other vessel in the history of the world. Back and forth she went across the Atlantic, almost with the regularity of clockwork, passing unscathed a score of times through the war zone, though the German submarines made several attempts in force to get her. Her performance constitutes one of the greatest marine achievements of the world and it would seem that fate had designed her to fulfil a mission of retributive justice.
The Germans said it could not be done, but true to their nature, they had not figured on the ingenuity, initiative and pluck of the American sailor. When the Armistice was signed this three-funnelled colossus of the waves had made ten trips across the Atlantic as a naval transport and had landed a grand total of 110,591 American soldiers in France and England. In other words, this single ship had transported to Europe one twentieth of the total number of the American Expeditionary Force.
This tremendous achievement did not depend alone upon the great size and speed of the ship; it was accomplished also by the splendid spirit of the officers and men of the Leviathan and their unfailing devotion to duty. It was due to their pride in their ship and their personal loyalty to Vice-Admiral Gleaves, their Force Commander, that kept the Leviathan constantly straining to do her best, and this spirit remained with the ship after the Armistice and nowhere is it better illustrated than in the records of the 15th and 16th trips, on which she returned to the United States a total of 28,412 troops, which amounted to 2,217 more than were carried on her two best previous voyages. These two trips were made in the fastest time she had ever made, less than 37 days elapsing for the two voyages.
Thus during the war, in rushing troops to France, and after the Armistice in the great task of bringing them home again, the Leviathan proved herself of greatest value to the government and her great achievement will forever remain an undying credit to the United States Navy, and the men of the Navy who manned her.
DEDICATION TO SECRETARY DANIELS
To our leader—honored in the nation; To our friend—steadfast and true; To our shipmate—of happy memory;
The Bluejackets offer this dedication in gratitude and appreciation.
Secretary Daniels and Mrs. Daniels on Board the U. S. S. “Leviathan”
PREFACE BY SECRETARY DANIELS
The record of the U.S.S. Leviathan, queen of the troop transport fleet which made possible the successful participation of the United States in the war with Germany, is a record of consistent service and remarkable efficiency which upholds the best and noblest traditions of the United States naval service. The nation owes and gladly gives a great meed of praise to every officer and man, regular and reserve alike, who shared in the hardships, the dangers and the successes of the Leviathan’s great wartime service.
The potential strength of the 98,000 fighting men the Leviathan carried to the shores of France can never be estimated. We know that when the night was blackest, when the fortunes of the world hung in the balance and the eyes of all nations were turned toward the western continent, that the great Leviathan with her tremendous troop-carrying capacity was ready and that, trip after trip, without failures or accidents, the great transport plowed her way across the Atlantic, scornful alike of the submarine’s stilettos of the sea and the wrath of the elements, carrying to the shores of our nearly exhausted allies those inestimably precious cargoes of men who turned the tide and saved the day.
Although the Leviathan did not participate in any great naval engagement, although the battle flags never flew proudly at her mast-heads as she swept into the tempest of a modern naval engagement, her achievement in carrying across the sea more than three divisions of American soldiers entitles the gallant ship’s name to a place forever in the hall of American naval fame.
I cannot but feel a thrill of admiration for the efficiency, loyalty and devotion to duty of the officers and men of the Leviathan who repaired the damage wrought by the Germans, quickly and skillfully organized the ship for service at sea and who, week after week and month after month, “carried on” regardless of the lurking menace beneath the waves, in the face of an enemy who would have made any sacrifice to add the giant Leviathan to his list of victims.
On March 15, 1919, Mrs. Daniels and myself had the pleasure of going aboard the Leviathan with a party of naval officers who were accompanying me to Europe on important public business. The