History of the U.S.S. Leviathan, cruiser and transport forces, United States Atlantic fleet / Compiled from the ship's log and data gathered by the history committee on board the ship

by U.S.S. Leviathan History Committee

And bring with thee eternal peace.

Peace with honor, without stain,

And wear the crown “LEVIATHAN,”

Queen of the ocean’s vast domain.

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FOREWORD

This is the story of the Leviathan’s part in the Great World’s War. The story of her career since the Stars and Stripes displaced the three barred flag of Germany at her taffrail constitutes one of the most remarkable and brilliant chapters in the maritime history of the world.

She was seized by the U. S. Customs officials in the early morning of April 6, 1917, turned over to the Shipping Board to be manned and operated, but after nearly three months’ effort on their part without the ship leaving the dock, she was finally, on July 25, 1917, turned over to the Navy Department and regularly commissioned as a Naval vessel and assigned to transport duty under the command of Vice-Admiral Albert Gleaves, U. S. Navy, Commander of the Cruiser and Transport Force, United States Atlantic Fleet.