Figure 1: S.S. New York painted in Mackay "low visibility" camouflage while operating as a transport in 1917. Built in 1888 as the passenger liner City of New York and later renamed New York, this ship briefly served in the US Navy during the Spanish-American War as the auxiliary cruiser USS Harvard between 26 April and 2 September 1898. On 9 May 1918, following employment as a civilian-operated troop transport, S.S. New York was chartered by the Navy and, on 24 May 1918, placed in commission as USS Plattsburg. She was returned to her owners on 7 October 1919. Courtesy of International Mercantile Marine Company, New York. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 2: S.S. New York in dry dock at Liverpool, England, on 12 April 1917, showing mine damage received on 9 April, while she was approaching Liverpool at the end of a trans-Atlantic trip. Among the ship's passengers on this voyage was Rear Admiral William S. Sims, USN, who was assigned to the British Admiralty as the US Navy's representative. Note the large hole in New York's hull side below the waterline, the US neutrality flag marking (the United States had entered World War I after the ship began this trip), and her forward port side deck gun. Photographed by H. Dowden. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 3: Mine damage to S.S. New York's port side, forward, received on 9 April 1917, while she was approaching Liverpool, England, at the end of a trans-Atlantic trip. Photographed by H. Dowden on 12 April, while New York was in dry dock at Liverpool. The view looks aft from the dock's floor. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 4: USS Plattsburg (No. 1645) at the New York Navy Yard on 7 June 1918, shortly before her first trans-Atlantic voyage as a US Navy ship. She has been freshly painted in pattern camouflage and was formerly the passenger liner S.S. New York. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 5: USS Plattsburg (No. 1645) tied to a mooring buoy, circa 1918, while wearing pattern camouflage. The original image is printed on postal card. Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2005. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 6: The troop transport USS Plattsburg (No. 1645) at Brest, France, 23 September 1918. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 7: Halftone reproduction of a photograph of USS Plattsburg in a harbor, 1919. This view was published in 1919 as one of ten images in a "Souvenir Folder" concerning USS Plattsburg. Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2008. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure
8: Halftone reproduction of a photograph
taken on USS Plattsburg's promenade
deck, circa 1919. This view was published in 1919 as one of ten images in a
"Souvenir Folder" concerning USS Plattsburg.
Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2008. US
Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Click on photograph for larger
image.
Figure 9: Halftone reproduction of
a photograph taken in USS Plattsburg's
surgical operating room, circa 1919. This view was published in 1919 as one of
ten images in a "Souvenir Folder" concerning USS Plattsburg. Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2008. US Naval History and Heritage Command
Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 10: Halftone reproduction
of a photograph taken in USS Plattsburg's
sick bay, circa 1919. This view was published in 1919 as one of ten images in a
"Souvenir Folder" concerning USS Plattsburg.
Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2008. US
Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Click on photograph for larger
image.
Figure
11: Halftone reproduction of a
photograph taken in USS Plattsburg's
Naval Officers' ward room, circa 1919. This view was published in 1919 as one
of ten images in a "Souvenir Folder" concerning USS Plattsburg. Donation of Dr. Mark
Kulikowski, 2008. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Click on
photograph for larger image.
Figure 12: Halftone reproduction
of a photograph taken in USS Plattsburg's deck force mess hall showing crew
members seated for a meal, circa 1919. This view was published in 1919 as one
of ten images in a "Souvenir Folder" concerning USS Plattsburg.
Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2008. US Naval History and Heritage Command
Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
S.S. City of New York was a 10,499-ton passenger steamer that
was built by J. & G. Thomson at Glasgow, Scotland, in 1888. She had a
rakish appearance, with three smokestacks and a “clipper” bow, making her look
more like a large yacht rather than a passenger liner. The ship steamed between
England and the United States under the British merchant flag until 1893 and
then was transferred to US registry and re-named New York. The route she
sailed on remained the same until April of 1898, when she was chartered by the
US Navy for service during the Spanish-American War.
The Navy converted New York into an auxiliary cruiser and
renamed her USS Harvard. The ship was commissioned in late April 1898
and was assigned to scouting duties in the Caribbean and also served as a
transport. During the major 3 July 1898 naval battle off Santiago, Cuba, Harvard
rescued more than 600 survivors from wrecked Spanish warships. After carrying
American troops home from Cuba, Harvard was decommissioned in September
1898 and returned to her civilian owners.
Reverting back to her name New York, this ship spent the next 19
years as a civilian passenger liner. From 1901 to 1903, New York was
rebuilt, emerging from her major overhaul with only two tall smokestacks and
new engines. On 9 April 1917, a few days after the United States entered World
War I, New York was approaching Liverpool, England, when she struck a
German mine. The ship managed to make it into port and, after being repaired,
was employed under a US Army charter to transport US troops from the United
States to France and Britain.
On 9 May of 1918, New York was acquired by the US Navy and
converted for use as an armed troop transport. The now modified and heavier
15,390-ton vessel was approximately 565 feet long and 63 feet wide, had a top
speed of 19 knots, and had a crew of 565 officers and men. The ship was
commissioned into the US Navy on 24 May 1918 as USS Plattsburg (No.
1645) and was armed with three 6-inch guns, two 3-inch guns, two 1-pounders,
and two machine guns.
Plattsburg (which was
named after a city in New York State) made four round-trip voyages between the
United States and France, carrying nearly 9,000 troops before the 11 November
1918 armistice brought World War I to an end. The ship then began transporting
American servicemen back home, making seven more trips with more than 24,000
passengers by the end of August 1919.
USS Plattsburg was decommissioned on 6 October 1919 and returned
to her civilian owners the next day. Once again, the ship reverted back to her
old name, New York, and from 1920 to 1922 the now quite elderly liner
went through a series of owners, none of whom succeeded financially. The tough
passenger ship, veteran of two wars and many years of commercial service, was
scrapped in Genoa, Italy, in 1923.
