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A Brief History of the U. S. S. Imperator, One of the Two Largest Ships in the U. S. Navy. By an Unknown Author. A Project Gutenberg eBook.
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<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43883 ***</div>
<div id="titlepage">
<h1><i>A BRIEF HISTORY<br />
<span class="small">OF THE</span></i><br />
<span class="inc letsp">U. S. S. IMPERATOR</span></h1>
<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;">
<img src="images/logo.png" width="200" height="88" alt="decorating element" />
</div>
<p class="big ma-top4 ma-bot1"><i>ONE OF THE TWO LARGEST<br />
SHIPS IN THE U. S. NAVY</i></p>
</div>
<hr class="brows" />
<div class="figcenter" style="width: 650px;">
<img src="images/img04.jpg" width="650" height="376" alt="" />
<p class="caption">The U. S. S. IMPERATOR, one of the two largest ships in the world.</p>
</div>
<hr class="brows" />
<h2><a name="THE_U_S_S_IMPERATOR" id="THE_U_S_S_IMPERATOR">THE U. S. S. IMPERATOR</a></h2>
<hr class="dec" />
<p>The Imperator was first commissioned
in 1913, at Hamburg, Germany, by the Hamburg-American
Steamship Line of Hamburg.
She made regular passenger runs from Hamburg
to New York from the time she was
commissioned by her original owners up until
the latter part of July, 1914. Her passenger
quota was: 700 first class, 600 second
class, 1000 third class and 1,800 fourth
class. And on account of her up-to-date
safety devices, she was one of the best patronized
steamers belonging to the Hamburg
American Line.</p>
<p>The Imperator was built by the Vulcan
Steel Works of Hamburg. She has a length
of 919 feet over all, a width of 98 feet 3 in.,
and a depth of 70 feet. She is electric lighted
throughout, and has a very powerful
wireless set—installed after being taken
over by the Navy, and supplanting the old
set—together with submarine signalling devices,
watertight bulkheads and doors, which
are opened and closed by hydraulic power.
She carries 2,000 tons of permanent ballast.</p>
<p>The maximum speed of the Imperator
is 22 knots, about 25 land miles, and she
burns about 850 tons of coal per day. Her
steaming radius is about 5,000 miles, and in
port, under ordinary circumstances, she
burns about 60 tons per day. The total
capacity of her coal bunkers is 8,550 tons.
The maximum draft when she is loaded and
ready for sea is 40 feet and 6 inches, and in
a single trip across the Atlantic her draft
diminishes to 36 feet and 4 inches.</p>
<p>Her troop carrying capacity is 1,000
officers, 966 non-commissioned officers, and
7,939 enlisted men of the Army. Her total
Naval complement is 2200 officers and enlisted
men of the regular Navy.</p>
<div class="figcenter ma-top3" style="width: 67px;">
<img src="images/img06.png" width="67" height="100" alt="decorating element" />
</div>
<hr class="brows" />
<div class="figcenter" style="width: 650px;">
<img src="images/img07.jpg" width="650" height="466" alt="" />
<p class="caption">Captain Casey B. Morgan, Commanding.</p>
</div>
<hr class="brows" />
<h2><a name="CAPTAIN_CASEY_B_MORGAN_U_S_N" id="CAPTAIN_CASEY_B_MORGAN_U_S_N">CAPTAIN CASEY B. MORGAN, U. S. N.</a></h2>
<hr class="dec" />
<p>The Commanding Officer of the Imperator
is Casey B. Morgan, Captain, U. S. N.
He graduated from the Naval academy in
1888, and his first cruise in a seagoing vessel
of the Navy was in the U. S. S. Atlanta.
He took part in a number of campaigns and
received his first commission, that of Ensign,
in 1890. While in this rank he served in
the Alert, Dolphin, and the Michigan—now
the Wolverine; the Raleigh during the Cuban
blockade. He sailed for the Asiatic in
the Raleigh in December, 1897, and arrived
at Hong Kong, China, on Feb. 18th, 1898,
and it was upon the arrival of the Dolphin
that the destruction of the Maine was learned.
He served with Admiral Dewey as a
Lieutenant (jg) during the Spanish-American
war, and took part in the Battle of
Manila Bay, also the bombardment of the
city of Manila and the capture of Subic Bay
and Corregidor.</p>
<p>Captain Morgan served in many vessels
since the war, his service has been both
varied and honorable. He was promoted
up the ladder of success steadily, and in
1910 he received his commission as a Commander
in the Navy. Captain Morgan was
the first officer in the Navy to take a ship
of the Navy through the St. Lawrence River
and canals to Chicago, that vessel was the
Dubuque. Captain Morgan was the senior
Naval officer present during the Cuban outbreak
in 1911, and was S. O. P. during the
Santa Dominican and Haitian Revolutions
in that year and the one following. He was
in command of the battleship Minnesota at
Vera Cruz in 1914, and was at the War College,
Newport, R. I., when we declared war
on Germany.</p>
<p>His first command during the war was
the Sixth Squadron, Patrol Force, with
Hampton Roads as its base, and the Albany
as the flagship. The patrol was ordered
to the other side, and Captain Morgan was
ordered to command the Agamemnon, the
ex-Kaiser Wilhelm II. In April, 1918, he
was ordered to the staff of Vice-Admiral
Gleaves as Force Transport Officer, and remained
in that capacity until May 23, at
which time he took command of the Great
Imperator.</p>
<hr class="brows" />
<div class="figcenter" style="width: 650px;">
<img src="images/img10.jpg" width="650" height="363" alt="" />
<p class="caption">The U. S. S. North Carolina which operated with the Force.</p>
</div>
<hr class="brows" />
<h2><a name="PLACING_HER_IN_COMMISSION" id="PLACING_HER_IN_COMMISSION">PLACING HER IN COMMISSION</a></h2>
<hr class="dec" />
<p>It was a big job, placing the Imperator
in commission for the first time by American
Navalmen. Fresh from the hands of
the enemy into the hands of proud Yankee
sailors was the fate of this great leviathan
of the deep. She had been tied up alongside
the docks at Hamburg, Germany, for
four years and nine months, and while her
engines and boilers were in fair condition,
they were, nevertheless new to the men who
were first to sail her under the Stars and
Stripes.</p>
<p>Getting a crew to man her was also a
big proposition. Without men she would
not serve us our purpose, so her first commanding
officer had to draw his crew from
several naval bases in France, London, and
Cardiff, Wales. The Imperator was brought
to Brest by a German crew, including
a commodore, two captains and a score of
other German officers. She was officially
placed in commission with Old Glory flying
proudly at her flagstaff on the 5th day of
May, 1919. Captain John K. Robison, U. S.
Navy, was her first commanding officer, and
Commander Laird, U. S. Navy, was her first
executive officer, and 2500 Yankee fighting
men comprised her crew.</p>
<p>Many of the Imperator's officers and
enlisted men had been on foreign station
for some time, and her commanding officer
was ordered from Admiral Sims' headquarters
in London.</p>
<hr class="brows" />
<h2><a name="SHE_SAILS_FOR_THE_UNITED_STATES" id="SHE_SAILS_FOR_THE_UNITED_STATES">SHE SAILS FOR THE UNITED STATES</a></h2>
<hr class="dec" />
<p>She sailed from Brest on May 15, with
1500 officers of the Army, 300 enlisted men
of the Army, many distinguished civilians
and 500 nurses on board. She left in company
with the Leviathan, and the two vessels
had an exciting trip across the Atlantic.
While it was not officially announced as a
race, it was a close run all the way over. The
Leviathan won by a few hours, but be it remembered
that the "Levi" had made about
twenty trips over, they were hardened to
the transport duty, and they knew their
ship. When we get a little more accustomed
to the packet, we'll show 'em how to put
the old Imperator through the water!</p>
<p>The Imperator arrived in New York on
the 22nd of May, after a delightful passage
over, and she tied up to the dock along with
her sistership, the Leviathan. Two of the
world's greatest ships—Leviathan and Imperator—at
the same dock, and best of all
the dock was in the good old U. S. A., and
greatest of all, they had the American flag
floating over them.</p>
<p>The Imperator lay at the dock at Hoboken
until June 3rd, at which time she sailed
for Brest. During her stay in port she
was given a complete overhauling, standee
bunks were installed by the thousands, a
new wireless outfit was placed on board, as
was a complete and up-to-date printing department,
installed by John F. Kennedy,
chief printer, who was sent to her from
the staff of Admiral Sims. She also took
on board tons and tons of fresh provisions
and supplies.</p>
<p>It was the next day, after her first arrival
in the United States after an absence
of nearly five years, that the Imperator received
her present commanding officer, C. B.
Morgan, Captain, U. S. Navy, and her
present executive officer. Commander R. A.
White. Many other officers to head important
departments were also received.</p>
<hr class="brows" />
<h2><a name="THE_CRUISER_AND_TRANSPORT_FORCE" id="THE_CRUISER_AND_TRANSPORT_FORCE">THE CRUISER AND TRANSPORT FORCE</a></h2>
<hr class="dec" />
<p>The Force to which the U. S. S. Imperator
belongs and with which she has operated
since being taken over by the U. S. Navy
is the greatest force of vessels ever operated
under any nation's flag. At the time the
Cruiser and Transport Force was first commissioned,
early in April, 1917, there were
only a handfull of vessels ready to carry the
thousands of soldiers who were then being
assembled all over the country, to France.
However, by the time the first sailing date
arrived—June 14th, 1917—we had equipped
and ready to sail thirty odd vessels.</p>
<p>The Force has been, and is to-day, under
the command of Vice-Admiral Albert
Gleaves, U. S. Navy, who commanded all of
our troopships, transports and cruisers
during our two years of war against the
Central Powers of Germany; the untiring
efforts of Admiral Gleaves, his staff of officers
and enlisted men is now known to the
world. Before the armistice was signed,
and before the Force begun to diminish,
there were one hundred and thirty-nine vessels
in commission and extending their efforts
in bringing our soldiers back to their
homeland.</p>
<p>There are ships operating in six different
divisions, the largest of which is the
New York Division, with headquarters at
Hoboken, N. J. To transport safely approximately
1,750,000 troops to France and
England, together with their fighting equipment,
their food and supplies and food
for our Allies, who had been three years
at war, was no small undertaking—it required
hundreds of ships and thousands of
officers and enlisted men to accomplish the
feat, but it HAS BEEN DONE!</p>
<p>Not too much praise can be given to
the officers and men of the Navy and especially
those of the Cruiser and Transport
Force, whether they made one trip or a
dozen. Every man who had his shoulder
to the great wheel which was pushed ahead
until that spoke arrived which had inscribed
upon it VICTORY, deserves a like amount
of credit for the glorious accomplishments
in the world's greatest struggle for humanity,
justice and the final eradication of militarism
and autocracy.</p>
<hr class="brows" />
<div class="figcenter" style="width: 650px;">
<img src="images/img16.jpg" width="650" height="378" alt="" />
<p class="caption">The "Y" gun, one of the valuable developments during the war.</p>
</div>
<hr class="brows" />
<h2><a name="HER_SISTER_SHIP" id="HER_SISTER_SHIP">HER SISTER SHIP</a></h2>
<hr class="dec" />
<p>The sister ship to the Imperator, and
largest vessel in the world, is the Leviathan.
The Leviathan is 954 feet in length, and has
a beam of one hundred feet. She displaces
68,000 tons of water and has a mean draft
of 40 feet of water; has a speed of 24 knots,
and carries 8,750 tons of coal when loaded
and ready for sea. She was also one of the
Hamburg-American Line steamers, and was
known as the Vaterland before being taken
over by the Navy.</p>
<p>The Leviathan was more fortunate in
the cause of the Allied nations, as she was
on this side of the Atlantic when war was
declared. The Imperator was on the other
side and she never ventured to sea again.</p>
<p>The "Levi," as she is affectionately
known by her crew, transported more than
110,000 troops to France and England before
the armistice was signed, and has been
bringing them back at a 12,000 rate a trip
ever since. The Imperator was not taken
over—as has been said—and has only made
three successful trips with troops, civilians
and nurses since the armistice. There
is one redeeming feature about the "Imp"
and that is the fact that all the troops and
passengers she does carry—are homeward
bound! Home to their beloved land for
which they fought and for which they unstintingly
offered their lives to defend. The
fact that it is home matters not so much,
but the fact that their homes are in the
great United States means all to them!</p>
<hr class="brows" />
<h2><a name="SECRETARY_DANIELS_VISITS_SHIP" id="SECRETARY_DANIELS_VISITS_SHIP">SECRETARY DANIELS VISITS SHIP</a></h2>
<hr class="dec" />
<p>While in Brest, shortly after the ship
was placed in commission, and before she
sailed on her maiden voyage under the Red,
White and Blue ensign, Secretary of the
Navy, Josephus Daniels, visited the ship
and made an address to the ship's company.
He expressed himself as being sorry that he
could not make the first trip with the new
and all-American crew of one of the world's
greatest vessels. "It is up to us (the Navy)
to get the soldier boys home, and then we
will go home ourselves," said the Secretary.</p>
<div class="figcenter ma-top3" style="width: 250px;">
<img src="images/img18.png" width="250" height="120" alt="decorating element" />
</div>
<hr class="brows" />
<div class="transnote">
<p><b>Transcriber's note:</b></p>
<p>The following corrections have been made:<br />
"runs from Hambrug to New York" -> Hamburg<br />
"Ensign in 1890" -> Ensign, in 1890<br />
"is 1,000 offiicers" -> officers<br />
"Santa Domincan" -> Santa Dominican<br />
"be it reembered" -> remembered<br />
"packet, We'll" -> we'll<br />
"militarism and autrocracy" -> autocracy<br />
"since the the armistice" -> superfluous "the" removed<br />
"import-and departments" -> important<br />
</p>
<p>Spacing after punctuation standardized, inconsistent hyphenation
and archaic spelling retained.</p>
</div>
<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43883 ***</div>
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