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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE
COMMAND
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --
USS Madawaska (ID # 3011), 1917-1919.
Originally the German steamship König Wilhelm II (1907).
Was briefly USS König Wilhelm II in 1917.
Later U.S. Army Transport Madawaska and U.S. Grant,
1919-1941; and
USS U.S. Grant (AP-29), 1941-1945
König Wilhelm II, a 9410 gross ton passenger liner,
was built at Stettin, Germany, in 1907. She operated for the Hamburg-Amerika
Line between Europe and South America until the outbreak of World
War I in August 1914, at which time she was laid up at Hoboken,
New Jersey. The ship was seized when the U.S. entered the "Great
War" in April 1917. Though her German crew had sabotaged
her machinery, she was repaired and entered U.S. Navy commissioned
service as USS König Wilhelm II late in August 1917,
while undergoing conversion to a troop
transport. Renamed Madawaska at the beginning of September,
and later assigned the registry number ID 3011, for more than
a year she was actively engaged in carrying U.S. service personnel
to the European war zone. During this time, Madawaska made
ten trans-Atlantic voyages, transporting nearly 12,000 men.
With the signing of the Armistice on 11 November 1918, Madawaska's
routing was reversed, and she made seven more trips to bring home
some 17,000 veterans of the European fighting. Her last such voyage
was completed in August 1919. She was decommissioned in early
September and transferred to the War Department. She then began
more than two decades as an Army Transport, serving as USAT Madawaska
until 1922 and thereafter as USAT U.S.
Grant.
In June 1941, the ship was given back to the Navy and commissioned
as USS U.S. Grant (AP-29). For the next three and a half
years she operated in the Pacific, primarily between the U.S.
West Coast and Alaska, but also making trips to Hawaii. On 20
July 1942 she avoided an submarine torpedo attack while en route
to Dutch Harbor, and in 1943 she participated in the operations
to recapture the Aleutians islands of Attu and Kiska. U.S.
Grant served in the Caribbean area during the first part of
1945, then returned to the Pacific in September. She made one
round-trip passage between San Francisco, California, and Okinawa
during the next two months. Decommissioned in mid-November, soon
after completing that voyage, she was returned to the War Department,
who turned her over to the Maritime Commission for layup. U.S.
Grant was sold in February 1948 and scrapped at Baltimore,
Maryland.
This page features, and provides links to, all the views
we have concerning USS König Wilhelm II, Madawaska
(ID # 3011) and U.S. Grant (AP-29), and provides links
to images of her while in U.S. Army service.
For other images related to this ship, see:
USS Madawaska (ID # 3011)
-- On Board, Close Up and Miscellaneous Views;
USS Madawaska (ID # 3011)
-- Interior On Board and Close Up Views;
USAT U.S.
Grant (1919-1941). Named Madawaska until 1922; and
Donald R. Cochran's Photo Album, 1917-1919, especially pages 9-16 and pages 17-20 and 23.
Click on the small photograph to prompt
a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 94204
SS König Wilhelm II (German Passenger Liner,
1907)
Probably at Hoboken, New Jersey, circa April 1917, after she
had been seized by the United States. Note sentry in the foreground.
She was turned over to the Navy and commissioned on 27 August
1917 as USS König Wilhelm II. Her name was changed
to Madawaska on 1 September 1917 and she later received
the identification number 3011.
She was transferred to the War Department in September 1919 and
subsequently served as USAT Madawaska, USAT U.S. Grant
and, after 1941, USS U.S. Grant (AP-29).
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
Online Image: 109KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 83124
USS Madawaska (ID # 3011)
At sea during a trans-Atlantic trooping voyage, November 1917.
Collection of Chief Warrant Officer J.B. Dofflemeyer, 1972.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
Online Image: 65KB; 740 x 470 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 83125
Convoy at sea, November 1917
Photographed from USS San Diego (Armored Cruiser # 6).
The troopship Madawaska (ID # 3011) is at right, and USS
Rowan (Destroyer # 64) is at left.
Collection of Chief Warrant Officer J.B. Dofflemeyer, 1972.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
Online Image: 90KB; 740 x 475 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 106288
World War I Troop Transport Convoy at Sea
The most distant ship, in left center, is USS Mongolia
(ID # 1615). The nearer ship, mis-identified on the original
print as USS Mercury (ID # 3012), is actually USS Madawaska
(ID # 3011).
Photographed by "V.J.M.".
Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2008.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
Online Image: 61KB; 740 x 445 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 85171
USS Madawaska (ID # 3011)
Halftone reproduction of a photograph taken circa 1918, showing
the ship painted in "dazzle" camouflage.
Courtesy of William H. Davis, 1977.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
Online Image: 72KB; 740 x 470 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 105376
USS Madawaska (ID # 3011)
Underway at sea in 1918, while she was painted in "dazzle"
camouflage. A "1000-ton" type destroyer, also in camouflage
paint, is in the left background.
Photographed by "HF Co".
The original image is printed on postcard ("AZO")stock.
Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2007.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
Online Image size: 61KB; 740 x 470
pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 98556
USS Madawaska (ID # 3011)
At the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, 19 February 1919.
Panoramic photograph, taken by the G.L. Hall Optical Co., Norfolk,
Va.
Note Navy Yard railway crane in the right center foreground,
with two very large crates beyond.
Madawaska is still wearing World War I "dazzle"
camouflage, more than three months after the Armistice.
Most of the clutter seen in the upper part of the image is the
coaling gear and other upperworks of a Navy collier tied up off
Madawaska's opposite (port) side.
Donation of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard Museum, Portsmouth, Virginia.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
Online Image: 122KB; 1200 x 285
pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 103145
USS Madawaska (ID # 3011)
In port, with much of her crew on deck, circa late 1918 or early
1919.
Photographed by Holladay, Newport News, Virginia.
Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2005.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
Online Image: 91KB; 740 x 465 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 103145-A
USS Madawaska (ID # 3011)
Halftone reproduction of a photograph showing the ship in port,
circa late 1918 or early 1919.
This image was published in 1918-1919 by A.M. Simon, 324 E. 23rd
St., New York City, as one of ten photographs in a "Souvenir
Folder" of views concerning USS Madawaska. The original
photo was taken by Holladay, Newport News, Virginia.
Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2005.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
Online Image: 71KB; 740 x 480 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 107071
USS Madawaska (ID # 3011)
At St. Nazaire, France in May 1919.
This panoramic view was assembled from two separate photographs.
Copied from the Donald R. Cochran album (Lot S-591), page 11.
Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2010.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
Online Image: 113KB; 1200 x 440 pixels |
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USS Madawaska is partially visible in the background
of the following photograph of another ship:
Photo #: NH 93896
USS Zeelandia (ID # 2507)
Steaming at sea with a troopship convoy, 25 October 1918.
Photographed from USS Little (Destroyer # 79).
The ship in the center of the view, partially visible beyond
Zeelandia's bow, is USS Madawaska (ID # 3011).
U.S. Army Signal Corps Photograph, from the collections of
the Naval History and Heritage Command.
Online Image: 95KB; 740 x 585 pixels |
 |
In addition to the images presented above, the National
Archives appears to hold at least one other view of this ship,
taken when she was USS U.S. Grant (AP-29). The following
list features this image:
The image listed below is NOT in the
History and Heritage Command's collections.
DO NOT try to obtain it using the procedures described in our
page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."
Photo #: 80-G-457903
USS U.S. Grant (AP-29) in harbor during World War II,
possibly off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California.
Port broadside surface view, with land visible in the right background.
Reproductions of this image should be available through
the National Archives photographic
reproduction system for pictures not held by the History and
Heritage Command.
The image listed in this box is NOT
in the Naval History and Heritage Command's collections. DO NOT
try to obtain it using the procedures described in our page "How
to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."
|
For other images related to this ship, see:
USS Madawaska (ID # 3011)
-- On Board, Close Up and Miscellaneous Views;
USS Madawaska (ID # 3011)
-- Interior On Board and Close Up Views;
USAT U.S.
Grant (1919-1941). Named Madawaska until 1922; and
Donald R. Cochran's Photo Album, 1917-1919, especially pages 9-16 and pages 17-20 and 23.
NOTES:
To the best of our knowledge, the pictures referenced here
are all in the Public Domain, and can therefore be freely downloaded
and used for any purpose.
Some images linked from this page bear obsolete credit lines
citing the organization name: "Naval Historical Center".
Effective 1 December 2008 the name should be cited as: "Naval
History and Heritage Command".
Return to Naval
History and Heritage Command home page.
Page made 18 June 2003
New image added 17 October 2010