U.S. soldiers cheering aboard the USS Agememnon upon arriving at Hoboken, New Jersey from France, 1919.
U.S. soldiers cheering aboard the USS Agememnon upon arriving at Hoboken, New Jersey from France, 1919.
The USS Agamemnon was initially a German vessel by the name of SS Kaiser Wilhelm, built and launched in modern-day Poland on August 12, 1902.
The SS Kaiser Wilhelm was designed for high-speed transatlantic crossing, making her maiden voyage to New York on April 14, 1903. Up until the First World War, the SS Kaiser Wilhelm made many crossings between Bremerhaven in Germany and New York.
Under Captain Dietrich Högemann the SS Kaiser Wilhelm won the Blue Riband in 1904 for the fastest eastbound crossing of the Atlantic to date, with a top speed of 23.58 knots (43.67 km/h), completing the voyage in a week between June 14 - 20, 1904.
On August 4, 1914, Britain and Germany found themselves at war, meaning crossing the Atlantic was no longer safe for the German SS Kaiser Wilhelm, but the ship was already heading towards the states at the time.
After evading patrolling British cruisers in the Atlantic, the SS Kaiser Wilhelm arrived safely in Hoboken, New Jersey on August 6. Another source claims the ship was already docked in Hoboken upon the outbreak of war.
The SS Kaiser Wilhelm planned its return journey to Germany on August 11, but never left dock as it was deemed too unsafe, remaining in Hoboken for almost 3 years.
On April 6, 1917, the United States declared war on Germany and immediately confiscated the SS Kaiser Wilhelm. The ship was renovated for the U.S. Navy as a troop ship, carrying U.S. soldiers to France, being renamed to the USS Agamemnon in September 1917.
The USS Agamemnon soon set off for its "second maiden voyage", and would transport some 38,000 U.S. soldiers to France during the First World War. In December 1918 the ship began carrying soldiers back to the states, making 9 crossings by August 1919 and bringing home some 42,000 soldiers, such as the ones pictured.
Later in August 1919, the USS Agamemnon was decommissioned and never saw service again, being scrapped in 1940.

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