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USS DeKalb (ID-3010)
Encyclopedia
USS DeKalb (ID-3010) was a German mail ship SS Prinz Eitel Friedrich (1904)
that served during the early part of the First World War as an auxiliary cruiser (Hilfkreuzer) in the German Navy and later after the US entry into the war, as US Navy troop ship. Post war she returned to civilian service as the US transatlantic liner SS Mount Clay.
, Germany
, and launched 18 June 1904 as SS Prinz Eitel Friedrich (1904)
. NDL had ordered her for the German Mail route between Germany and the Far East, for which she began her maiden voyage
on 13 October.
broke out on 1 August 1914 she was in Shanghai
, China and was ordered to Tsingtao
in the then German Kiaochow Bay concession
. There she was quickly converted to an auxiliary cruiser for the Imperial German Navy
by transferring the guns and crews of the German gunboats SMS Tiger and SMS Luchs to Prinz Eitel Friedrich.
For the next seven months she operated on the high seas with Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee
's squadron off South American and then as a detached commerce raider. She sank or captured eleven ships in the Pacific and the South Atlantic. Among these was the schooner
William P. Frye, captured on 27 January 1915 and scuttled the next day, the first U.S. flagged vessel sunk in World War I.
On 11 March 1915 Prinz Eitel Friedrich, now low on supplies and burdened by over 300 prisoners, arrived at Newport News, Virginia
. Allied warships were lying outside US waters and to avoid them she exceeded the time limit under international law
for a combatant ship to remain in a neutral port. As a result the US authorities interned
her. Later she was moved, still under the German flag, to Philadelphia Navy Yard. On 11 April another NDL liner that had been operating as an auxiliary cruiser, the , was interned alongside her.
officials seized her and she was transferred to the US Navy
. She was reconditioned and refitted as a troop transport and renamed USS DeKalb after General Baron Johann de Kalb
. She was commissioned 12 May 1917 with Commander W. R. Gherardi in command.
DeKalb was assigned to the Cruiser and Transport Force
, Atlantic Fleet
, and on 14 June 1917 sailed in the convoy carrying the first troops of the American Expeditionary Forces to France
. In the next 18 months DeKalb made 11 such voyages, carrying 11,334 soldiers safely. With the end of the war, she continued her transport duty returning 20,332 troops from Europe
in eight voyages. On 6 September 1919 she was turned over to the Commandant, 3rd Naval District.
for disposal the following day. She returned to civilian control, initially as DeKalb and, after 1920, as SS Mount Clay. She was operated by the United American Lines
on the transatlantic route making her first eastbound voyage from New York to Hamburg
on 26 December 1920 and her last westbound voyage from Hamburg via Queenstown, Ireland
to New York on 15 October 1925. She was then laid up until 1934 when she was scrapped.
SS Prinz Eitel Friedrich (1904)
SS Prinz Eitel Friedrich was a German passenger liner which saw service in the First World War as an auxiliary cruiser of the Imperial German Navy...
that served during the early part of the First World War as an auxiliary cruiser (Hilfkreuzer) in the German Navy and later after the US entry into the war, as US Navy troop ship. Post war she returned to civilian service as the US transatlantic liner SS Mount Clay.
German civilian service
The ship was a North German Lloyd (NDL) mail ship and ocean liner built by AG Vulcan, StettinSzczecin
Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and launched 18 June 1904 as SS Prinz Eitel Friedrich (1904)
SS Prinz Eitel Friedrich (1904)
SS Prinz Eitel Friedrich was a German passenger liner which saw service in the First World War as an auxiliary cruiser of the Imperial German Navy...
. NDL had ordered her for the German Mail route between Germany and the Far East, for which she began her maiden voyage
Maiden voyage
The maiden voyage of a ship, aircraft or other craft is the first journey made by the craft after shakedown. A number of traditions and superstitions are associated with it....
on 13 October.
German auxiliary cruiser
When the First World WarWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
broke out on 1 August 1914 she was in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, China and was ordered to Tsingtao
Qingdao
' also known in the West by its postal map spelling Tsingtao, is a major city with a population of over 8.715 million in eastern Shandong province, Eastern China. Its built up area, made of 7 urban districts plus Jimo city, is home to about 4,346,000 inhabitants in 2010.It borders Yantai to the...
in the then German Kiaochow Bay concession
Jiaozhou Bay concession
The Kiautschou Bay concession was a German colonial concession in Imperial China which existed from 1898 to 1914. It had an area of 552 km², it was located around Jiaozhou Bay on the southern coast of the Shandong Peninsula, which lay in the imperial province of Shandong in northern China.Jiaozhou...
. There she was quickly converted to an auxiliary cruiser for the Imperial German Navy
Kaiserliche Marine
The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...
by transferring the guns and crews of the German gunboats SMS Tiger and SMS Luchs to Prinz Eitel Friedrich.
For the next seven months she operated on the high seas with Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee
Maximilian von Spee
Vice Admiral Maximilian Reichsgraf von Spee was a German admiral. Although he was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the counts von Spee belonged to the prominent families of the Rhenish nobility. He joined the Kaiserliche Marine in 1878. In 1887–88 he commanded the Kamerun ports, in German West...
's squadron off South American and then as a detached commerce raider. She sank or captured eleven ships in the Pacific and the South Atlantic. Among these was the schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
William P. Frye, captured on 27 January 1915 and scuttled the next day, the first U.S. flagged vessel sunk in World War I.
On 11 March 1915 Prinz Eitel Friedrich, now low on supplies and burdened by over 300 prisoners, arrived at Newport News, Virginia
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
. Allied warships were lying outside US waters and to avoid them she exceeded the time limit under international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
for a combatant ship to remain in a neutral port. As a result the US authorities interned
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
her. Later she was moved, still under the German flag, to Philadelphia Navy Yard. On 11 April another NDL liner that had been operating as an auxiliary cruiser, the , was interned alongside her.
US troop ship
When the United States entered the First World War in April 1917, US CustomsUnited States Customs Service
Until March 2003, the United States Customs Service was an agency of the U.S. federal government that collected import tariffs and performed other selected border security duties.Before it was rolled into form part of the U.S...
officials seized her and she was transferred to the US Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. She was reconditioned and refitted as a troop transport and renamed USS DeKalb after General Baron Johann de Kalb
Johann de Kalb
Johann von Robais, Baron de Kalb , born Johann Kalb, was a German soldier who served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.-Early life:...
. She was commissioned 12 May 1917 with Commander W. R. Gherardi in command.
DeKalb was assigned to the Cruiser and Transport Force
Cruiser and Transport Force
The Cruiser and Transport Service was a unit of the United States Navy's Atlantic Fleet during World War I that was responsible for transporting American men and materiel to France.- Composition :...
, Atlantic Fleet
U.S. Atlantic Fleet
The United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...
, and on 14 June 1917 sailed in the convoy carrying the first troops of the American Expeditionary Forces to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. In the next 18 months DeKalb made 11 such voyages, carrying 11,334 soldiers safely. With the end of the war, she continued her transport duty returning 20,332 troops from Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in eight voyages. On 6 September 1919 she was turned over to the Commandant, 3rd Naval District.
United American Lines
She was decommissioned 22 September 1919 and returned to the United States Shipping BoardUnited States Shipping Board
The United States Shipping Board was established as an emergency agency by the Shipping Act , 7 September 1916. It was formally organized 30 January 1917. It was sometimes referred to as the War Shipping Board.http://www.gwpda.org/wwi-www/Hurley/bridgeTC.htm | The Bridge To France by Edward N....
for disposal the following day. She returned to civilian control, initially as DeKalb and, after 1920, as SS Mount Clay. She was operated by the United American Lines
United American Lines
United American Lines, the common name of the American Shipping and Commercial Corporation, was a shipping company founded by W. Averell Harriman in 1920. Intended as a way for Harriman to make his mark in the business world outside of his father, railroad magnate E. H. Harriman, the company was...
on the transatlantic route making her first eastbound voyage from New York to Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
on 26 December 1920 and her last westbound voyage from Hamburg via Queenstown, Ireland
Cobh
Cobh is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour. Facing the town are Spike Island and Haulbowline Island...
to New York on 15 October 1925. She was then laid up until 1934 when she was scrapped.