On the 29th of September 1918, the transport ship Leviathan left the docks of Hoboken New Jersey on its voyage to Brest, France carrying troops and medical personnel. Laconia was then used as a headquarters ship for the operations to capture Tanga and the colony of German East Africa (Tanzania). This included increased numbers of berths; often in cargo holds and conditions on board were cramped to say the least. Aquitania: Commissioned by the Royal Navy in 1914 the Aquitania first patrolled the Western Approaches but after colliding with a cargo ship it was decided that she was too big to be an armoured merchant cruiser. Caronia: The Caronia was the Carmania's sister-ship and was the first to be turned into an armoured merchant cruiser. It was built by the German Government in 1910 and was christened the Princess Alice in honor of the Kaiser's eldest daughter. She was employed as a hospital ship and had her cross lights on when she was torpedoed without warning by a German submarine. Franconia: At the start of the war Franconia continued her regular service from Liverpool to New York. Ancestry.com offers a search engine that may help connect a particular service person with a troopship. In early 1917 there was a great need for troop ships and work started again on the Ormonde. ORIGINAL MATCHING PAIR WW1 US Army Pin-back Engineer Collar Disc 59TH REGIMENT . The inadequacy of motor transport was cruelly exposed during the Somme campaign from July 1916 onwards. Purpose built planes called Fairy Campanias were built and the ship had room for ten on her decks. U.S., Army Transport Service Arriving and Departing Passenger Lists, 1910-1939. Serving in the Great War. Any ideas? The ships used for transport were owned by steamship companies. About U.S., World War I Troop Transport Ships, 1918-1919 This collection includes photographs of the many troop transport ships from WWI. REGISTER OF SHIPS OF THE U. S. NAVY: AUXILIARY VESSELS. English: RMS Aquitania was a British ocean liner that served as a troop ship in World War I and World War II, and also as a hospital ship in World War I. In the summer of 1915 both the ships were involved in the Gallipoli campaign. The following transport ships were used to convey the troops of the 5th/22nd, the 22nd Battalion plus other key elements of the AIF during the First World War. The numbers below give an idea of the sco… She carried troops to Colombo and then 40 prisoners to Egypt before being discharged from service in February 1915. In mid-September 1914 she sunk the German liner Cap Trafalgar. In 1918 Ascania ran aground off Cape Ray. The arrival of the first convoy carrying the soldiers and Marines of the American Expeditionary Force at Saint-Nazaire, France, on 26 June 1917 surprised the world and provided much-needed encouragement to the allies. Only 24 people survived out of the 258 people on board. Carmania: Three days after war was declared, Carmania was converted into a armoured merchant cruiser. The combination of heavy rainfall, inadequately built roads and the pounding caused by large numbers of heavy lorries on narrow, solid-rubber tyres caused … Only a hand full of men survived out of the 400 which were still onboard. On the 31st October 1914 she confronted Admiral von Spee's powerful fleet of German cruisers and two of the three ships with her, Good Hope and the Monmouth, sank but luckily she and the Glasgow escaped. Then in February 1915 she was turned into a troopship and was sent straight to Gallipoli where she took casualties to the safety of the Egyptian port. Researching WW1 Troopships. Shortly after the United States entered World War I, the commander of U.S. Convoy Operations was ordered to organize and begin escorting the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) to France. However she was used in the Gallipoli landings. On the 19th August 1914 she captured the German ship Odessa carrying a cargo of nitrate. Ormonde: The Ormonde was being built when the First World War started and her completion was delayed because the ship builders were needed by the British Navy. Matson placed her in service between the United States West Coast and Hawaii. Use the browse to easily search by the ship name. commissioned ships to transport American service personnel across All but the regular Navy's Hendersonand Hancock(later AP-1 and AP-3, not included here) were former merchant passenger liners, sixteen of them German vessels that had been laid up in U.S. ports since the great conflict began in 1914. A French brigade landed on the Anatolian coast opposite, at Kum Kale, but was later withdrawn. In the year after the war she was used to take Australian and South African troops home from England. Harrisburg, a troop transport, was built as a steel threemasted schooner in 1888 as City of Paris by J. The Admiralty came to the rescue as they were looking for a ship which could be converted to carry seaplanes. Troopships in the First World War Alaunia: In 1914 the Alaunia and the Andania, were used as troop ships carrying Canadian troops across the Atlantic. Alaunia: In 1914 the Alaunia and the Andania, were used as troop ships carrying Canadian troops across the Atlantic. Information on troopships of WW I at: my troopship pages. I have looked at every source I could find online on WWI transport dates but am coming up empty. The vast majority of troops followed these routes. 1514, and commissioned her the same day as USS Maui . WWI Ship Name Index Site Quick Links Menu. The Transport Princess Matoika (10,421 Tons) was a vessel with quite an interesting history. The map is part of a book written about the U.S. transport activities. Otranto: On the 1st August 1914 the Otranto was requested to become hospital ship but in the end became an armed merchant cruiser. The Carmania was the first Cunard liner to have turbines. Ascanius was part of the first convoy of ships carrying troops for overseas service to leave Australia in November 1914. Later that year the Alaunia carried troops to Bombay. As an example Plymouth became a major landing port for US troops deployed from the continental US prior to embarking for France. This map shows the main troop-carrying routes in the North Atlantic during the First World War. Operationally, standard troopships–often drafted from commercial shipping fleets–cannot land troops directly on shore, typically loading and unloading at a seaport or onto smaller vessels, either tenders or barges. On the eastward journeys, the third class areas were occupied by Canadian troops. Ascania: When the war broke out the Ascania worked on the North Atlantic. In some instances, troops from other countries traveled on U.S. Army ships as well. Then 40 miles SW of Cape Spartivento in Sardinia, she was hit by a torpedo and sank. With the threat of enemy submarines, American ships crossing the Atlantic needed protection. She was then used for troop transport between Liverpool to New York. The Carmania was going to help at Gallipoli but she ran aground on the way and ended up just picking up survivors from three battleships torpedoed in the Dardanelles. Soldiers exercising on board the troopship Ruapehu. While managed by the Transport Branch of the Royal Australian Navy she made five journeys from Australia as a troop ship. No.) Remembering World War I: American Troop Ships First Arrive in France. Both ships survived the war and in June 1919 the Caronia was returned to Cunard. WWI US Army Ammunition Belt Set of Two (2) by Mills. The Laconia was handed back to Cunard in July 1916. They started at 10:00 A.M. and finished at 1:30 P.M. In October 1918 the Otranto was heading for Scotland with her convoy when she collided with the Kashmir. 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