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Photo # NH 94:  USS Imperator off Manhattan Island, New York City, 1919

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Imperator (ID # 4080), 1919-1919.
Previously S.S. Imperator (German Passenger Liner, 1913).
Later the British Passenger Liner Berengaria

USS Imperator, a very large transport, was built in 1913 as the 52,117 gross ton German passenger liner of the same name. Taken over by the U.S. Navy after the World War I Armistice, she was placed in commission in early May 1919. During the next three months Imperator carried U.S. troops home from the former European war zone. During one westbound voyage in mid-June, she received the President of Brazil and his party from the disabled French passenger liner Jeanne D'arc and brought them to the United States. USS Imperator completed her seagoing Naval service in August 1919 and spent the following three months at New York, where she was decommissioned in late November 1919 and turned over to the British Government. Renamed Berengaria, she spent nearly two more decades as a civilian passenger liner.

This page features, and provides links to, all the views we have concerning USS Imperator (ID # 4080).

For other images related to this ship, see:

  • USS Imperator (ID # 4080) -- On Board, Close Up and Miscellaneous Views; and
  • S.S. Imperator (German Passenger Liner, 1913). Later the British Passenger Liner Berengaria.


    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 105815

    USS Imperator
    (ID # 4080)

    Assisted by tugs, probably at Hoboken, New Jersey, in mid-1919.
    Photographed by the Bain News Service, New York City.

    Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2008.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 103KB; 900 x 660 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 94

    USS Imperator
    (ID # 4080)

    Off Manhattan Island, New York City, in 1919.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 40KB; 740 x 275 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 85172

    USS Imperator
    (ID # 4080)

    Halftone reproduction of a photograph showing the ship underway in 1919, while she was employed bringing U.S. service personnel home from Europe.

    Courtesy of William H. Davis, 1977.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 455 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 99104

    USS Imperator
    (ID # 4080)

    In harbor, with tugs alongside, 1919.

    Donation of Staff Sergeant Craig Ingersoll, USMC, 1980.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 86KB; 740 x 455 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 105816

    Lighter Rin Tin Tin


    Coming alongside USS Mount Vernon (ID # 4508) to transfer troops for passage home to the United States, in Brest Harbor, France, circa May 1919.
    USS Imperator (ID # 4080) is in the background.

    Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2008.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 84KB; 740 x 535 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 107097

    USS Imperator
    (ID # 4080)

    In Brest Harbor, France, circa June-August 1919.
    Photographed from on board USS Philippines (ID # 1677). The view looks forward over the port bow from the ship's bridge.
    Original print from the USS Philippines Collection (Lot S-589-A).

    Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2009.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 122 KB; 900 x 645 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 103126-A

    USS Imperator
    (ID # 4080)

    At Hoboken, New Jersey, probably after her first trans-Atlantic voyage as a U.S. Navy ship, circa late May 1919.
    Panoramic photograph by Picot, 15 4th Avenue, Brooklyn, New York.
    This view is cropped from Photo # NH 103126.
    Note the large decoration on the ship's bow.

    Donation of Georgia Adams Grann and Caryl L. Adams, 2005. The original print came from the collection of their father, George W. Adams, who enlisted in the Navy in 1908.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 61KB; 740 x 395 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 103126

    USS Imperator
    (ID # 4080), at left,
    and
    USS Leviathan (ID # 1326)

    At Hoboken, New Jersey, probably after Imperator's first trans-Atlantic voyage as a U.S. Navy ship, circa late May 1919. At that time, these were the World's largest ships, hence the photo's title: "The 'Giants' of the Sea".
    Panoramic photograph by Picot, 15 4th Avenue, Brooklyn, New York.
    Note the large decoration on Imperator's bow.

    Donation of Georgia Adams Grann and Caryl L. Adams, 2005. The original print came from the collection of their father, George W. Adams, who enlisted in the Navy in 1908.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 69KB; 1200 x 280 pixels

     


    For other images related to this ship, see:

  • USS Imperator (ID # 4080) -- On Board, Close Up and Miscellaneous Views; and
  • S.S. Imperator (German Passenger Liner, 1913). Later the British Passenger Liner Berengaria.


    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".


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


    Return to Naval History and Heritage Command home page.

    Page made 13 December 2007
    New image added 26 November 2010