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Photo # NH 41893: German passenger liner President Lincoln underway, prior to World War I

U.S. NAVY TEMPORARY AUXILIARY SHIPS, 1917-1919

WORLD WAR I ERA TRANSPORTS --
with One Smokestack and Five or Six Masts

Two rather distinctive single-stack WWI era U.S. Navy transports carried six masts, one of them serving a cargo hold between the navigation bridge and the bulk of their superstructure. Built to identical design for the German immigrant trade, President Grant and President Lincoln were seized by the U.S. Government in 1917 and soon entered U.S. Navy service. One was torpedoed and sunk at the end of May 1918, while the other served into the autumn of 1919.

Artemis, a much smaller ship, had five masts in addition to her smokestack. She was of similar configuration to the six-masters, possibly reflecting her origins at Belfast's Harland & Wolff shipyard, which constructed all three. Also a former German ship, she was a U.S. Army transport from mid-1917 through early 1919, then was transferred to the Navy. Though presented here on the basis of mast configuration and previous transport use, Artemis' relatively short midships superstructure makes her appear rather more like a large freighter than a passenger ship.

This page features a table (with links to individual ships) of World War I era U.S. Navy transports with one smokestack and five or six masts, plus a photograph of each ship in this group.


Click the small photographs to prompt a larger view of the same image with a descriptive header.


Ships in this group:

TWO SHIPS -- ONE SMOKESTACK and SIX MASTS:

  • President Grant, USN 1917-1919 (ex-German S.S. President Grant, 1907).
    • 18,072 Gross Tons, Length 599.0', Beam 68.2', Comm. 2 Aug 17, Decom. 6 Oct 19, ID # 3014
  • President Lincoln, USN 1917-1918 (ex-German S.S. President Lincoln, 1907).
    • 18,168 Gross Tons, Length 598.8', Beam 68.2', Comm. 25 Jul 17, Lost 31 May 18, No ID #

    .

     USS President Grant:

     USS President Lincoln at sea:


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    ONE SHIP -- ONE SMOKESTACK and FIVE MASTS:

  • Artemis, USN 1919-1919 (ex-German S.S. Bohemia, 1902).
    • 8,414 Gross Tons, Length 500.5', Beam 58.3', Comm. 8 Apr 19, Decom. 18 Oct 19, ID # 2187
    This ship may have originated as a freighter, rather than as a passenger vessel.

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     USS Artemis, 1919:

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