USS Mercury (ID-3012) was a United States 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...

 transport ship during World War I

World 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...

. She was formerly the Norddeutscher Lloyd

Norddeutscher Lloyd

Norddeutsche Lloyd was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on February 20, 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was instrumental in the economic...

 liner

Liner

Liner or LINER may refer to:In line drawing:* Eye liner, a type of makeup* Liner, a sable brush used by coach paintersIn linings:...

 SS Barbarossa built by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg, Germany, in 1897, and operated by the North German Lloyd Line.

At the outset of World War I

World 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...

 the ship was interned by the United States and, when that country entered the conflict in 1917, was seized and converted to a troop transport. After decommissioning by the U.S. Navy, the ship was turned over to the Army Transport Service and then to the U.S. Shipping Board. She was sold for scrapping in February 1924.

SS Barbarossa

SS Barbarossa was built by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg, Germany, in 1896, for the North German Lloyd Line. She operated on both North Atlantic crossings and the Bremerhaven

Bremerhaven

Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...

-Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 route.

With the outbreak of World War I

World 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...

, she took refuge in Hoboken, New Jersey

Hoboken, New Jersey

Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...

, and was interned by the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. She was seized when the United States entered the war 6 April 1917.

U.S. Navy transport

Damage inflicted by her crew prior to seizure was repaired and she was commissioned on 3 August 1917, with Cmdr. H. L. Brinser in command. Shortly after commissioning she was renamed USS Mercury.

Mercury got underway for her first transatlantic troop-ferrying mission on 4 January 1918. Before the armistice

Armistice

An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...

, she had completed seven voyages 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...

, carrying over 18,000 passengers. After the armistice, she reversed the flow of troops, making eight crossings to return more than 20,000 to the United States.

Postwar service

After completing her last crossing as a U.S. Navy ship on 19 September 1919, she decommissioned and on 27 September 1919 was turned over to the Army Transport Service for use as an Army transport. The Army in turn transferred her to the U.S. Shipping Board in August 1920. Mercury was chartered by the Baltic SS Corp of America for a proposed service between New York and Danzig, however the service never operated and the ship was returned to the Shipping Board in January 1921, when she was laid up. She was sold for scrapping in February 1924.

External links

• Photo gallery at Naval Historical Center