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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
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Photo #  NH 45741:  German liner Kronprinzessin Cecilie entering Bar Harbor, Maine, August 1914


Online Library of Selected Images:
-- CIVILIAN SHIPS --

Kronprinzessin Cecilie (German Passenger Liner, 1906-1940).
Later USS Mount Vernon (ID # 4508)

Kronprinzessin Cecilie, a 19,503 gross ton passenger liner built at Stettin, Germany, was completed in 1906. She operated on the North Atlantic during the next eight years, making regular passages between Europe and the United States. The ship was at sea, en route to Germany, when World War I broke out in early August 1914. Since the risks of interception by British cruisers were very great, she turned back and found safety at Bar Harbor, Maine. Laid up soon afterwards, Kronprinzessin Cecilie was seized by the United States Government when the U.S. entered the conflict and was later renamed Mount Vernon. As such, she served as a U.S. Navy transport from mid-1917 until September 1919, and was subsequently a U.S. Army transport. Laid up in the early 1920s, Mount Vernon was too old to be of use during World War II and was scrapped in 1940.

This page features all the views we have of the German passenger liner Kronprinzessin Cecilie, which was USS Mount Vernon in 1917-1919

For pictures of this ship during and after her U.S. Navy service, see:

  • USS Mount Vernon (ID # 4508), 1917-1919; and
  • Mount Vernon (U.S. Army Transport).


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 45741

    Kronprinzessin Cecilie

    (German Passenger Liner, 1906)

    Entering Bar Harbor, Maine, in August 1914, shortly after the outbreak of World War I. She is wearing the funnel colors of the British White Star Line to deceive British cruisers.
    Seized by the U.S. Government in April 1917, Kronprinzessin Cecilie served as USS Mount Vernon from July 1917 until September 1919.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 104KB; 740 x 540 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 57750

    SS Kronprinzessin Cecilie
    (German Passenger Liner, 1906)

    Possibly photographed when she arrived in United States waters in early August 1914, just after the beginning of World War I.
    This ship served as USS Mount Vernon (ID # 4508) in 1917-1919.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 79KB; 550 x 740 pixels

     

    Two views, taken on board USS Mount Vernon in 1918, show the fancy interior decor originally applied to Kronprinzessin Cecilie. These are:

  • Photo # NH 45765: View in the ship's smoking room; and
  • Photo # NH 63110: View in the ship's hospital ward, obviously converted from a large and elegant First Class space.

    For pictures of this ship during and after her U.S. Navy service, see:

  • USS Mount Vernon (ID # 4508), 1917-1919; and
  • Mount Vernon (U.S. Army Transport).


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    Page made 13 October 2003