SS Vaterland (1913)

The US Shipping Board was by the end of the war encumbered with surplus tonnage and government sponsored shipping companies. On 17 December 1919 the International Mercantile Marine (IMM) signed a contract with the United States Shipping Board's Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) that IMM as agent would supervise the plans and specifications for complete rehabilitation of the ship. That work was done by the construction department of IMM assisted by two committees of leading ship yard representatives, one to address general reconditioning and the other to address conversion from coal to oil as fuel. The result was issued on 9 April 1920 to six commercial and two Navy yards. Only one bid was returned by Todd Shipbuilding Corporation[note 2] and the Boston Navy Yard responded with an estimate. Costs and work in yards were at a peak and the EFC decided to await a more favorable time to solicit new bids.[15]

The EFC directed the agents in March 1921 to prepare a new set of specifications for a fully operational ship, including all necessary articles such as table and silverware, linens and books. The IMM construction department was thoroughly familiar with the ship including specifications for machinery repair which were not in the original request for bids.[15] Blueprints for the original construction had not been received from Germany under the Versailles Treaty and the price now asked by the German builders, $1,000,000, was deemed outrageous so that an army of workers measured every part of the ship until a new set of prints had been made.[16][17] On 31 October 1921 the new solicitation went out with bids due on 29 December 1921. The EFC postponed the bid opening to 30 December and accepted the bid of the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia, for $6,135,575 which was $3,334,000 less than the Boston Navy Yard's estimate and $5,145,000 less than the commercial bid received for the original despite that not including any work on machinery or incidentals such as table service and linens. On 15 February 1922 the contract was awarded to include $515,000 for machinery repair, for a total of $6,116,000 with a separate award to Gimbel Brothers of New York of $546,366.63 for the equipping the Steward's department with the incidental items. The total awarded was $6,656,366.63. At the same time Gibbs Brothers Inc., later named Gibbs & Cox, hired to oversee the work leading to the contract, were awarded $1,518,058.37 for agency fees, inspection, audits and accounting and miscellaneous repairs leading up to awarding the contract.[15]

In agreement with IMM the EFC cancelled the agency contract and awarded it to Gibbs Brothers, who took over as agent and assumed on 28 February 1922 all functions and obligations previously assigned to IMM.[15] Newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst, riding on nationalistic sentiment, had objected to the IMM involvement by claiming British influence over IMM.[18] Despite the prolonged lay-up at Hoboken, the ship was quickly prepared with repairs and provision of necessary gear, fueled and crewed to sail to Norfolk. The ship sailed on 9 April 1922 arriving without incident at the shipyard on 10 April.[15] There the ship began a 14-month reconditioning and refurbishment.[18] All wiring, plumbing, and interior layouts were stripped while her hull was strengthened and her boilers converted from coal to oil; virtually a new ship emerged.[17]

While the ship was undergoing reconstruction, the Hoboken facilities were modified to be more suitable for such a large ship's operation. Pier #5 was removed and the space between #4 and #6 was dredged to a depth of 45 ft (13.7 m). The plan changed and the ship was to be docked in Manhattan with an agreement with United American Lines to use Pier 86 at the foot of 46th Street. As a result of that decision the pier itself required strengthening and dredging was required to provide both a channel and turning basin. For 1,000 ft (304.8 m) up and down river and to the New Jersey shore dredging to 42 ft (12.8 m) and clearance of obstructions with aid of divers prepared a berth for the ship.[19]

Leviathan operated by United States Lines, after her reconversion as an ocean liner, c. 1930s

The Ritz-Carlton of Leviathan

The decorations and fittings, designed by New York architects Walker & Gillette, retained much of her prewar splendor of Edwardian, Georgian, and Louis XVI styles now merged with modern 1920s touches.[20] The biggest deviation was an art deco night club supplanting the original Verandah Cafe. In June 1923 she was given back to the Shipping Board. Leviathan's measured tonnage had increased to 59,956.65 GRT and her speed trials showed an average of 27.48 knots. Thanks in part to Gibbs' clever accounting and the Gulf stream, she was advertised as the world's largest and fastest ship.[18][17][20] This claim was immediately challenged by the Cunard Line, with a reminder that its RMS Mauretania still held the official speed record for trans-Atlantic crossing, as well as the White Star Line, which claimed the RMS Majestic as the world's longest ship, with a higher gross tonnage if properly calculated. In the next fiscal year, 30 July 1923 to 30 June 1924, new and more efficient three bladed propellers were designed to replace the original four bladed propellers to be installed at the next dry docking. The design was expected to increase speed at 6,000 less horsepower than the originals.[21]

Advertising poster for United States Lines of the late 1920s, depicting Leviathan

United States Lines, the trade name of an operating entity of the USSB's Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC), was obligated to run Leviathan for a minimum of five return voyages on the Atlantic run per year. All the line's finances were controlled by the USSB which also owned all the ships.[22] The Gibbs Brothers Inc would run her for her first voyages and train the crew.[18] She immediately proved popular with the American public in the '20s, starting her career fully booked for her maiden voyage departing on 4 July 1923.[23]

On 21 December 1923 Leviathan grounded on the west side of the channel at New York near Robbins Reef Light at 10:44 in the morning; remaining grounded until lifted by tide and pulled by tugs at 5:30 in the afternoon. The ship's course was altered by a strong tidal current and though going at a reasonable speed and engines were put full astern the ship grounded from bow to just forward of the bridge. The ship's outboard engines had been reported for some time to be inoperative astern. Though investigation by the United States Steamboat Inspection Service found no negligence they noted that the grounding might have been avoided if the wing propellers had been fully operational astern. It further noted that a ship of that size was very difficult to maneuver in the harbor. One result was to withdraw waters reserved for large naval vessels so that commercial vessels were forced to make a turn in the "Narrows" into the upper bay. The grounding led to a full review of the costs and technical difficulties of repairing the inoperative reverse turbines.[24]

The ship's orchestra, the "SS Leviathan Orchestra", directed by Nelson Maples, was well regarded enough that in 1923 and 1924 Victor Records engaged it to record eleven selections at their New York studios, of which eight were commercially released. Decades later the name would be the inspiration for the New Leviathan Oriental Fox-Trot Orchestra.[25]

Her passenger average reached 1,300 by 1926, making her the second most traveled ship on the Atlantic that year, but given her capacity of 3,000 it was too little to be profitable.[17] Her economic problems lay primarily in high labor costs and fuel costs which were compounded by Prohibition. From 1920 all US registered ships counted as an extension of US territory, making them "dry ships" according to the National Prohibition Act. With the Atlantic shipping capacity oversaturated, especially after the Immigration Act of 1924, alcohol-seeking passengers readily chose other liners.[17] But Leviathan was an American symbol of power and prestige, which despite her economic failings, made her a popular ship with loyal travelers. She attracted attention as the largest and fastest ship in the American merchant marine and featured in countless advertisements. The only serious incident occurred one day out of Cherbourg on a winter crossing in 1924 where she met a fierce storm with 90 ft waves and winds up to 100 mph, at times forcing her into 20 degree rolls. Eleven portholes were smashed and 32 passengers were injured by the time the storm abated.[26]

Captain Herbert Hartley commanded Leviathan from July 1923 until he retired in February 1928. (Hartley published his autobiography titled Home Is the Sailor in 1955). By 1927 the "good years" were over, in which time the United States Lines had been sold and re-nationalized. In 1929 Leviathan was finally allowed to serve "medicinal alcohol" outside US territorial waters to make her more competitive with foreign lines and was quickly sent on Booze Cruises to make money.[27][28]

In 1929 the United States Lines was advertised to be sold with two ships, Monticello and Mount Vernon, as purchase options which were not included in the final bid that was accepted.[note 3] Six bids were received and opened on 15 January 1929. On 14 February, after hearings in the Senate Committee on Commerce had raised no objection, the bid of P. W. Chapman Co. of New York was accepted. The sale included another USSB entity, American Merchant Lines, which merged into the commercial United States Lines, Incorporated. The sale was executed on 21 March 1929, with Leviathan being the first ship delivered to the new line on 8 April. A requirement of the sale mandated the new owners, with the construction loan fund, build two first class liners with plans approved by the USSB and U.S. Navy, to operate with Leviathan. Another condition of sale was an obligation to operate the vessels for ten years with a minimum of 61 voyages per year of all the vessels purchased by the new line. Sale of the two lines and eleven vessels for $16,082,000 divested the USSB of the last passenger services.[29] The price of Leviathan was a significant portion of the sale at $6,782,000.[30] The lines had been supervised by the Merchant Fleet Corporation under USSB/EFC with 630 employees and that organization began dissolution.[29]

Leviathan in drydock, December 1931.

In October 1931 United States Lines had been reincorporated with the aid of the USSB as United States Lines of Nevada, Inc. after financial difficulties.[31] IMM, which acquired the line at auction, was just as eager to be rid of the white elephant. The Great Depression was the final nail in the coffin.[32] The USSB was abolished and its functions reduced to a Bureau within the Department of Commerce on 10 August 1933.[33] United States Lines actively lobbied for the government to either take the Leviathan back or provide a subsidy for her operation. She was laid up at her pier in Hoboken, New Jersey, in June 1933, having lost $75,000 per round trip since 1929.[32] The government steadfastly stipulated that Leviathan should sail, and so she did after a refurbishment costing $150,000, for another five round trips. The first round trip sailed on 9 June 1934, high season on the Atlantic, and tallied a loss of $143,000. By Leviathan's fifth voyage she sailed at barely half capacity. IMM paid the US government $500,000 for permission to retire her while keeping her in running order until 1936.[34]

In 1937 she was sold to the British Metal Industries Ltd. On 26 January 1938 Leviathan set out on her 301st and last transatlantic voyage under the command of Captain John Binks, retired master of the RMS Olympic, with a crew of 125 officers and men who had been hired to deliver the ship to the breakers. To quote author Melvin Maddocks, Binks was not the luckiest of men now he had a ship to match him...it was no easier steering the old monster to her slaughter than it was to steer her any where else.[35] Leviathan arrived at Rosyth, Scotland, on 14 February. In the 13 years that she served United States Lines she carried more than a quarter-million passengers, never making a profit. Due to the size of the vessel and the outbreak of the Second World War, final demolition took place only in 1946.[17]

• SS Vaterland, USS Leviathan, SS Leviathan
• 
  Swimming pool aboard the Vaterland
• 
  USS Leviathan escorted by USS Allen, both in dazzle camouflage, painted by Burnell Poole, 1918
• 
  USS Imperator (at left) and USS Leviathan (at right) at Hoboken, New Jersey, circa 1919
• 
  SS ''Leviathan'', painted in 1925