The U.S. Army Transport George Washington (of 23,788 gross tons) was launched in 1908 at Stettin, Germay, as the German commerical passenger ship George Washington. From 1917 until November 1919 she served as USS George Washington (ID # 3018) and for more than a year afterwards was operated by the Army. In 1921 the ship began commercial service under the U.S. flag. She was active for about a decade before being laid up in the Patuxent River, Maryland.
The World War II crisis brought her back into operation in March 1941 as USS Catlin (AP-19), but her second round of Navy service was short, as her coal-fired boilers and old machinery made her too slow. In September she was leased to the British, who used her briefly as S.S. George Washington before determining she was unsuitable for their needs. Returned to American custody in April 1942, the ship made a voyage to Panama, then began conversion to an oil-burning powerplant.
When this work, in which a single smokestack replaced her original two, was completed in April 1943, George Washington became part of the Army's fleet of troop transports. During the remainder of that year she made a round-trip voyage to Morocco, steamed from the West Coast to Australia and back, and, between September and December, travelled westbound from California to New York, calling at Bombay, India, Capetown, South Africa, Trinidad and Puerto Rico while en route. For three years, beginning early in 1944, USAT George Washington was employed on trans-Atlantic service between the U.S. East Coast and ports in Great Britain and France. She was turned over to the U.S. Maritime Commission in April 1947 and laid up at Baltimore, Maryland. Damaged by fire in January 1951, George Washington was sold for scrapping a month later.
This page features all the views we have concerning the U.S. Army Transport George Washington and USS Catlin (AP-19).
For additional views related to this ship, taken prior to
her U.S. Army service, see:
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.
For additional views related to this ship, taken prior to
her U.S. Army service, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 18 December 2005
New image added 8 May 2008