SS Vaterland was an ocean liner launched on 3 April 1913 and began service in 1914 for Germany's Hamburg America Line. The ship, second of three running mates and then the largest passenger ship in the world, made her first voyage to New York arriving on 21 May 1914 under the command of a Commodore and four Captains of the German Naval Reserve to celebrations featuring German and American officials at the line's Hoboken facilities.
German ocean liner Vaterland, seen in 1914.
Launch of Vaterland, 3 April 1913
Vaterland (largest ship) and other German liners laid up in New York, 4 April 1917
USS Leviathan in dazzle camouflage
A troopship is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable to land troops directly on shore, typically loading and unloading at a seaport or onto smaller vessels, either tenders or barges.
Soldiers climb down netting on the sides of the attack transport USS McCawley on 14 June 1943, rehearsing for landings on New Georgia.
USS DuPage, a Bayfield-class attack transport underway with its complement of landing craft
Nicknamed the "Grey Ghost", RMS Queen Mary holds the all-time record for most troops on one passage, 15,740 on a late July 1943 run from the U.S. to Europe.
A U.S. General G. O. Squier-class troop transport